I am a guy that has a lot of hope. But to arrive at the light, you have to go through a very painful or dark process 
Former Mexican commercials director Alejandro González Iñárritu broke through onto the world stage as a powerful new voice in filmmaking with his stunning, multi-story debut, Amores Perros. His follow-up, 21 Grams, was unveiled at the Venice Film Festival in 2003, and proved that lightning can strike twice.
You made 21 Grams in the US with English-speaking actors. Is that a commercial or an artistic concern for you?
I was true to the film. As it is now, I can tell you it's exactly the film that I had in my mind doing it two years ago.
But the script was in Spanish originally, wasn't it?
Yeah, we developed the script over three years and we wrote it in Spanish, because Guillermo [Arriaga, scriptwriter] and I, our English is very bad. Then I decided to do it in English to get the best cast I can get from around the world. You go to the supermarket to get the best products for your soup.
Did you have any restrictions working in the United States?
The restrictions are my English, that I didn't learn nothing. And that my head aches when I talk for more than one hour. Basically, there are some limitations because there's so many unions and so many syndicates, and there's rules and rules and rules. I thought I was in Russia in the 1950s. I understand why those rules have to be, but as a guy who comes from a country where everything can be improvised, this is not the way to do it here. But I learned a lot and I'm a little bit more disciplined.
21 Grams and Amores Perros are quite downbeat. Are you a pessimist?
I like sad things. Musically speaking, it's hard for me to hear Britney Spears. But no, generally I am a guy that has a lot of hope. But I think that to arrive at the light, you have to go through a very painful or dark process. I consider myself a positive guy and I feel that 21 Grams is a film about hope, basically. At the end there is forgiveness and redemption and acceptance. I think all the characters learn something very powerful and beautiful that will make them better human beings, more alive, and more conscious of what they have. So that's what I feel, that life is a painful lesson.
Will you continue to make these hard-hitting dramas or will you try other genres?
I would like to make some children's film. My children have seen nothing of what I have done. I would love to do a comedy but that is for the masters, I think. You have to be a great director.
