Religion And Justice Relationship Explored In Alfonso Pineda Ulloa’s ‘There Are No Saints’

Hollywood & Entertainment Religion And Justice Relationship Explored In Alfonso Pineda Ulloa’s ‘There Are No Saints’ Angela Dawson Contributor Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. I am an intrepid journalist who has covered Hollywood for two decades May 27, 2022, 10:00am EDT | New! Click on the conversation bubble to join the conversation Got it! Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin (From Left) Shannyn Sossaman plays a bartender who helps former hitman Niento/The Jesuit (Jose Maria . .

. [+] Yazpik) track down his kidnapped son in Mexico in ‘There Are No Saints. ‘ © Paramount Pictures and Saban Films Mexican filmmaker Alfonso Pineda Ulloa recalls a Cherokee legend about the two wolves that dwell within us—one represents goodness, peace, love and joy and the other represents evil, jealousy, greed and lies.

When an elderly brave tells his grandson this story, the child asks, “Which wolf wins?” to which the older man replies, “The one that you feed. ” That inner conflict frequently emerges in Ulloa’s work, which includes 2012’s Restos and Amor, Dolar Y Vice Vers a ( Love, Pain And Vice Versa ). His latest film, the gritty crime-thriller There Are No Saints , follows a former hitman who tries to reconnect with his young son after getting an early release from prison.

Though Niente (played by Jose Maria “Chema” Yazpik, Neflix’s Narcos: Mexico ) realizes that if he stays in Texas, not only are his criminal enemies going to come after him but also corrupt individuals in law enforcement. Ignoring his attorney’s (Tim Roth) advice to leave Texas pronto, Niente briefly reunites with his boy before the child is kidnapped by an enemy (Neal McDonough) who trades him to a ruthless cartel boss (Ron Perlman), living in a well-fortified compound across the border in Mexico. Befriending a border town nightclub bartender (Shannyn Sossamon), Niente (a.

k. a. The Jesuit) goes on a Quixotic rescue mission to save his son, even though he knows the odds are against him of either of them coming out alive.

There Are No Saints is written by Oscar nominee Paul Schrader ( Taxi Driver , First Reformed ) and was filmed mostly on location in Mexico. Reached via Zoom in Mexico City, Ulloa spoke about bringing the film, which delves into themes of religion and justice, to the screen. Paramount PARA Pictures and Saban Films’ There Are No Saints is now in theaters, On Demand and on Digital.

MORE FOR YOU ‘Dune’ Tops Foreign Box Office With Promising $77M Cume ‘Shang-Chi’ Box Office: Marvel Movie Tops $360M Worldwide 4 Series Coming To Netflix In October That Are Worth The Binge Angela Dawson: This is a very intense and violent film. What was the appeal of the material to you? Alfonso Pineda Ulloa : I’ve always been curious about the relationship between justice and religion, at least what Judeo-Christian religion has taught us about what justice is, starting with an eye-for-an-eye. In their eyes, what is justice and how do we acquire it—especially if you’re on a revenge journey.

Also, being a Mexican and living in Mexico for as long as I’ve lived and for as long as I can remember, violence has always been around. You can breathe it as much as you can breathe the pollution. Waking up and reading the newspapers and seeing people getting hanged or being dissolved in chemicals, it’s not like you feel you’re in the room with those people but you start to normalize the violence.

To me having (the film’s antihero) Niente (Yazpik) who in his past life had violence embedded in his soul—he saw it every day—my questions were 1) How can that person walk away from the monster that is inside of him and 2) How can he slay that monster? When you break your own moral code, you’re definitely going to have to pay the consequences and these consequences will have the same strength as you used in your previous life. Dawson: It’s almost as though Niente knows, subconsciously, that he has to have a reckoning, of his past despicable actions, right? Ulloa : Yes. The worst thing that has happened to him is being released from prison.

He knows that as soon as he steps out the door, (his enemies) are going to come after him. But he wants to see his son. Maybe if he had a better relationship with his ex (played by Paz Vega), they might have gotten on a plane immediately and left Texas.

But that doesn’t happen. He knows he has to pay the consequence but he’s hoping that’s not the case. Soon enough, though, he discovers he has to go save his (kidnapped) son.

Even if he may not be successful, he still has to try. Dawson: When did you film this? Ulloa : It was 2016-17. Dawson: So, it took a while to find a distributor? Ulloa : Distribution has changed a lot since 2018, with the emergence of Netflix NFLX and streaming.

I actually think it’s better that the movie is coming out in 2022 than if it had come out in 2018 or 2019. Audiences’ tastes have become more refined. They’ve been asked to decide for themselves what they like and what they don’t like, and they might be willing to take bigger risks on watching a film.

Alfonso Pineda Ulloa directs ‘There Are No Saints,’ an action-thriller about a ex-con former hitman . . .

[+] who sets out on a dangerous mission to save his kidnapped son from a ruthless cartel boss. Alfonso Pineda Ulloa Dawson: With a screenplay by Paul Schrader, the writer of Taxi Driver , your film already has a certain pedigree. And you’ve got themes that are similar, such as the child in peril and the extreme violent nature of the characters.

What did you change or add? Ulloa : The script was pretty much intact. We did little tweaks to make the locations work. One of the difficulties of making this film was even though 40 percent of the story is set in the U.

S. and 60 percent in Mexico as Niente takes his journey south, we shot the film in six weeks, and 98 percent of it was shot in Mexico. So, we had to cheat some of the locations and it wasn’t always easy shooting Mexico for Texas.

And speaking of Schrader and the importance of kids, Senor Sans (Ron Perlman’s character) originally had an army of kids at his compound in the original script, but budget-wise, we weren’t about to include that. So, that was tweaked quite a lot and was the most fundamental change to the script that happened. Dawson: There’s a lot of inner conflict going on within Niente/The Jesuit.

Ulloa : I’ve always been fascinated by the (Native American) tale of two wolves, and which one you feed. I had a lot of discussions with Chema about how in this world, even today I think it’s more relevant as religion keeps fading from the lives of so many people. I was raised by a Catholic mother and a Jewish father so religion was very prominent in my young life, and the idea of which wolf do you feed is meaningful to me.

Which thoughts are you going to feed today? Your tragic thoughts and obsessions or what keeps you healthy and sane? So, to me, it was a lot about that—a personal issue that I constantly deal with. Niente always tries to avoid fighting but then the monster comes out and takes over. It’s his nature.

So, he has to (embark on a rescue mission) quickly. Otherwise, he will lose his son. Dawson: Jose Maria Yazpik is well-cast as your leading man.

You also have a great supporting cast in Tim Roth, Neal McDonough, Ron Perlman, Shannyn Sossamon and Paz Vega. Can you talk about your casting? Ulloa : It also started with “Chema” Yazpik. We made a conscious decision to have a John Wayne type—a man of few words with a big presence and very expressive eyes.

I told him that Niente, in a way, reminded me of my grandfather who, to me, remains a mystery. (He laughs. ) He said the character reminded him of his grandfather too—a man of very few words and a very strong man.

It’s almost as though the nightmare stays within his head; he doesn’t share much, emotion-wise. Then I cast Paz Vega, and she suggested Tim Roth (as Carl Abrahams, Niente’s attorney), whom she just co-starred in Grace Of Monaco with. I loved the idea of having Tim Roth.

Neal McDonough was a suggestion by our casting director, which I thought was great, and he was very happy to come down to Mexico to do it. All of them are great actors who taught me a lot and were great collaborators and they added great value and depth to the script. Dawson: The ending leaves open the possibility of a sequel.

Is that something you have in mind? Ulloa : It was the idea back then—Niente can go back and get his revenge. So, the door is always open. For Chema, it was a very demanding role.

He actually lost 20 pounds to do the film. I don’t know if he’s willing to do that again. I remember when we were on set, I was trying to match his diet and I was like, “No, I can’t do it.

” I don’t know how he did it. Dawson: What’s next for you? Ulloa : There’s a movie I really want to get done called Black Wings Has My Ange l. It’s based on the (Elliott Chaze) novel from the 1950s.

It’s a beautiful story of two damaged souls trying to fit in in 1950s America. They are successful in stealing an armored car but that also turns out to be their tragedy because it haunts them and leads to a tragic ending. As you can see, I’m all about tragic endings.

Angela Dawson Editorial Standards Print Reprints & Permissions.