Writer/director Javier Fesser on Camino
Writer/director Javier Fesser discusses his controversial film about the Catholic cult of suffering
"God is doing a wondrous thing for this little girl," says Gloria (Carme Elias) when her 11-year-old daughter Camino (Nerea Camacho) gets cancer. A harrowing depiction of Catholic self-flagellation, Camino is also a heartbreaking story of adolescent love. Written and directed by Javier Fesser, the movie swept the Spanish Academy Awards (Goyas) last year, winning best film, best director and best actress.
This film, to me, is about terrorism. Gloria is a fundamentalist sacrificing her child to God - so that her child becomes a saint.
Gloria loves her daughter but she has particular beliefs that are absolutely fundamentalist, absolutely radical. But one of the most beautiful moments for me is when Camino is dying and the mother finally says, "Let's buy her the dress with the red cloth." This woman has a big heart, but she has a big wall around it.
Has the film been taken as an attack on the Catholic sect Opus Dei?
Opus Dei is a small but powerful section of the Catholic Church. They have said to their members not to see or talk about the movie; if they see the movie, it's a sin. Opus Dei is trying to promote their false idea that this is a movie against believers, but real believers love the movie and do not love Opus Dei.
Are you Catholic?
I had a very Catholic education, like my whole generation, but right now I am not so close to that. I don't feel comfortable with the term 'atheist' because I don't know that God doesn't exist. But I tried to tell this story in a objective, direct and honest way. I think everybody has their own religion and in the movie the main point is love. If you believe in love, who needs religion?
'Camino' has a double meaning, doesn't it?
Camino is the name of the main character. And Camino is the title of the book by Saint Josemaría Escrivá, the founder of Opus Dei. It's a book that says there is only one way, and this is the right way. And Camino the movie says the opposite thing.
Was it difficult to find your radiant 11-year-old star?
I though when we were in preproduction that to find Camino was the real challenge of the project. We were looking for an angel, and we found one in Nerea Camacho. She's a gorgeous girl, but I wasn't looking for a beautiful girl; I was looking for a beautiful heart. When I met Nerea I felt, at first sight, "the movie is already done."
As a father it must be a confronting thing to make a film about a child dying of cancer.
It's a scary thing, but it's a very liberating film. The movie talks very directly about religion, God, illness, death and life. These topics are very painful but finally the feeling is of liberation. Nick Dent
Camino screens from 16 Apr.
