Director Daniel Burman is "All In" with his latest Film

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Parent Category: Film and the Arts

Category: Interviews

Published on Saturday, 26 January 2013 21:02

Written by Laura Blum

Depending on your philosophy, the fact that Daniel Burman's newest film All In won audience kudos at the 2013 New York Jewish Film Festival -- not to mention the best screenplay award at the 2012 Tribeca Film Festival -- is a matter of chance or will. The romantic comedy about poker explores luck vs determination in shaping one´s destiny, as suggested in its original title, La suerte en tus manos (The Luck in Your Hands).

Burman, who wrote the script with longtime collaborator Sergio Dubcovsky, may have more than dumb luck to thank for his trophy collection. In 2004 his film Lost Embrace/El Abrazo Partido bagged Grand Jury prize at Berlin, joining the dozen or more other medals on his shelf since launching the ArgentineNew Wave with his first feature, A Chrysanthemum Bursts in Cincoesquinas/Un crisantemo estalla en cinco esquinas (1998).

The Argentine director is perhaps best known in the U.S. for his loose trilogy of comedies starring alter ego Daniel Hendler: Waiting for the Messiah/Esperando al Mesías (2000); the forementioned Lost Embrace and Family Law/Derecho de Familia (2006). Written and directed by Burman, they're largely drawn from his own life and take wry aim at the exploits of a Jewish neurotic in Buenos Aires. Not for naught have his comedic flourishes invited comparison with Woody Allen.

Jorge Drexler is Burman's newest face of anxiety. The celebrated composer and singer snared an Academy Award for his original song in The Motorcycle Diaries (which Burman co-produced), though All In marks his acting debut.

The film centers on divorced 40-something Uriel Cohan (Drexler), who practices his lying skills even when he's not at the game table. Calculating that a vasectomy will ease his dating life, the father of two goes under the knife. Bad timing: while on a gambling spree in Rosario he re-encounters his old flame Gloria (Valeria Bertuccelli, XXY). She unfondly recalls his withholding ways, but is game to give romance another go.

Uriel can't believe his flush hand. Yet the risk-averse lover plays his cards close to his chest, bluffing on sex (and why he must wait) and on his true profession as a financial geek. He even dissimulates with his son, who plays guitar with a rock band called the Rabbi-ing Stones, and daughter, who is wise beyond her years.

To what extent do we have agency over our fates? All In looks to Jewish teachings for an answer. We learn that Judaism doesn't prohibit gambling as long as the player is aware of his agency. The message is unmistakable: in real life as in poker, we're dealt a certain hand. What counts is what we do with it.

FilmFestivalTraveler.com sat down with Burman at the NYJFF, which is a collaboration between the Film Society of Lincoln Center and The Jewish Museum. When asked about the inspiration for his latest movie, he explained that he "wanted to tell a story about a masculine trait: the drive to build a family and then leave."

DB: I was interested in portraying a middle-aged man who's had time to build a family and do something with his life, but failed, and still had time to try again--and to fail again," said Burman. "Before, this wasn't possible, but now we live a lot longer and a man has things like viagra, so he has time and vitality to build a family three separate times--and to stray. Fear of failure at a certain age is especially pronounced precisely because of his expectation that he'll fail again. Masculine fear is a theme that's not often portrayed because we men appear secure, but in reality it's the exact opposite. There's social pressure to show a kind of self-confidence that men lack.

Q: So it's all a bluff... What lured you to the world and metaphor of poker?

DB: Paradoxically, poker contains far fewer wild cards than you play with any day of your quotidien life. In real life there are so many unpredictable variables, whereas in poker it's actually a controlled environment with a limited range of risks. In real life you don't win if you have a pair of aces. A pair of queens is not going to affect your destiny. It's much safer to just play cards.

Q: How pleasantly narcissistic.

DB: That's why so many people hit the poker table.

Q: Though, as we learn, from a Jewish perspective they must do so without believing in chance. 

DB: When I first started working on the script, I asked my rabbi if he was allowed to play poker. To my surprise, he said yes -- as long as he doesn't believe in chance, because that'd be as if to think that God has partners. (Also he can't give testimony to a third person.) That's when I became interested in the idea of "mazel," luck, and that it doesn't matter what cards a player has. In fact, people have won large tournaments without even looking at their cards.

Q: You deal with some pretty serious issues in this romantic comedy. What challenges did you encounter in weaving truth and will -- and how they impact fate?

DB: It's impossible not to be a bit self-referential in making a film. Whenever we dream of attaining something, say in my case of making a film, we have to reconcile fantasy and what really happens in life. I've always been interested in the idea of desiring something strongly and willing it into existence -- and what free will has to do with our destiny -- whether in my real life or in my writing.

Q: Some of the featured poker events have a documentary quality to them. Were these staged or real?

DB: We created a tournament for the film, but the participants played for real. So it was a mix of reality and fiction.

Q: What keeps Uriel at the poker table instead of meeting with his girlfriend (and children)?

DB: This is the decisive moment. In this moment it's not about the cards he's carrying or about winning; it's about deciding his destiny. He becomes aware of what he's doing, and in this minute he realizes that he must take a real decision, and he doesn't care about the cards he's holding.

Q: What about Jorge Drexler screamed "Uriel Cohan" to you?

DB: I happened to be in Barcelona when Jorge was giving a concert and I was seeking an actor to play Uriel Cohan. I gave him the script and he said that the issues Uriel deals with resonated with him as a musician. He felt he could bring this to bear on the character.

Q: Did you consider tapping his musical skills for the film?

DB: No, I didn't want to mix these things. 

Q: What are you currently working on?

DB: One script I'm writing is called The Mystery of Happiness. It's about the relationship between fidelity and happiness.

Q: You'll once again have a chance to investigate the theme of truth. What about it compels you?

DB: Men and woman have a different relationship with truth. Women take this notion of the truth too seriously. If you're on the phone ten blocks away but say you're only five blocks away when a woman asks, "Where are you?" for a man this is not really a lie; it's not meant to deceive. But for a woman it means he's slept with another woman.

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