“Perfectos Desconocidos (Perfect Strangers)” has had a versión in several different languages, but actor Bruno Bichir finds that this universal story lends itself to take on sensitive topics in the Latino culture.
There’s flaws and differences in everyone, which this film touch upon magnificently, yet each character in this film the flaws are not exactly apparent until they consume the character.
"This character is so ambiguous that I, I love so much ambiguous art in any form, in any platform and in any way or shape," Bichir said. "This character is so ambiguous because he seems like he's honest, intelligent, sensitive and caring, but who know, the best liars perfectly lie."With the discovery of secrets from each character, the story seems to build up to a massive secret to be discovered, but it comes from an unexpected place.
Then as the characters come to another climactic moment another twist sends them to yet another unpredictable place which combines to present dilemmas and comments of some of the Mexican culture's stereotypes.
"We Mexicans are very complex people. We deal with death and don't know if we are laughing, crying, guilty or cynical," Bichir said. "We don't know if we are very open minded or very closed off."Bichir takes on a character that creates an opportunity for him to enforce the message of the story through subtleties in the way the character behaves.
Along with guidance from director Manolo Caro, Bichir establishes a character which many people can identify with.
This character is in every group of friends and if the audience cannot identify personally with him, they know the member of their friend circle which can.
"The first challenge is it's me and everyone I know represented in this character. So, I thought I should be somehow me, me naked, obviously it's not me, I'm not that character at all," Bichir said. "In order to transmit, to transcend the message, feelings and thoughts of these situations and character, I thought I should be naked."After all that, Bichir is just one piece of the great puzzle which is put together in this film by a brilliant director and fabulous cast.
Through the scenes audiences can look at the characters on the screen and get caught up in such a manner that it is like peeking in on a group of friends.
The story is so universal that it has been recreated different times by different cultures in different countries.
"It seems all human beings are in the midst of that struggle," Bichir said. "We are trying to open our hearts and minds to the new human beings we are all trying to be."
PERFECTOS DESCONOSIDOS
(PERFECT STRANGERS)
In Theaters January 11, 2019
