Mexican native Ana Mushkadiz is the star of the brilliant and controversial Battle in Heaven. Battle in Heaven features explicit real sex and was nominated for the Golden Palm at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival. The film is the second feature film from Carlos Reygadas whose first film, Japon, also featured real sex and had real sex in it. Battle in Heaven is about a man [played by Marcos Hernandez] and his wife who kidnap a baby for ransom money, but it goes tragically wrong when the infant dies. Marcos confesses his guilt to Ana [played by Ana Mushkadiz] who prostitutes herself for pleasure.
Buy the DVD of Battle in Heaven
Daniel Robert Epstein: Howd you get involved in Battle in Heaven since you werent a professional actor?
Ana Mushkadiz: It was coincidence. A girl that I knew went to do the casting and then she told the director about me. Then the director called me and we met.
DRE: Did you actually audition or did you just meet with him?
ANA: No, we met.
DRE: Had you heard of Carlos before?
ANA: Yeah. I already had seen his first movie Japon so I was really excited of meeting him. But Ive never been into acting. I do arts and poetry.
DRE: What kind of artwork do you do?
ANA: Like painting and mixed technique with photography and writing on top of everything.
DRE: Did you ask Carlos why he was going with people that werent professional actors?
ANA: He likes to work with non professional actors because he thinks that real people are more spontaneous about everything and have more capacity for turning things around. Mainly what hes looking from people are energies. People that he can put in front of a camera and only by their face and by their energy give a feeling to the audience.
DRE: Was the script much different from the final movie?
ANA: I dont know because I never read the script. But I think not. I think its pretty much what Carlos wanted.
DRE: What did you think of the final film?
ANA: I really liked it. Of course in one way its a movie that I worked six months and I gave a lot of myself to but on the other hand I think its an amazing work and I think its very honest and very deep. I really like the movie.
DRE: Did you feel like you had any trouble understanding anything because you are not an actor?
ANA: I think at the beginning its always hard because youre so self aware of your face and every moment. But then slowly you start getting confidence between you and the camera and what youre doing, so everything gets more relaxed and becomes much more natural. A good thing about Carlos is that hes a great director in terms that he knows what he wants so I was always sure that he was never going to say cut until he got what he wanted. So that made me pretty comfortable.
DRE: Since you didnt read the script, were any scenes more difficult for you because you didnt know what was going to happen exactly?
ANA: No because all the movies are in the same mood. The only condition of Carlos was not to act and to try to always be very cold and very precise without jumping or crying or over acting or doing anything. I think it was great not to know what was coming first so that we wouldnt program ourselves with Oh yeah. So now we should be sad and then automatically you start trying to act.
DRE: Were you completely okay with doing the real sex in the movie?
ANA: Carlos was pretty smart about all these sex scenes because they were done at the very beginning of the shooting. So the day that I arrived to the set, he was like, Oh, yes, today were doing the sex scene between you and Marcos. Carlos saw it as such a normal thing and he made us all believe that it was normal and that it was beautiful and that it was no problem. It was a challenge and after that I felt like I could do anything. So I thought it was a smart move on his part.
DRE: Sometimes on movies like this the actors wont socialize with one another, did anything like that happen with Marcos?
ANA: Its not that we were drinking coffee every time we had a break or anything. But there was a very intimate relationship in terms of respect and being really polite with each other and I think we had a very good relationship.
DRE: Did you feel that the movie was going to be controversial because of the real sex?
ANA: I always knew there was going to be controversy about the movie. But I never thought it was going to be so much like it was. For some reason I thought that the world was more prepared for seeing this thing. Every time I turn on the TV I see violence and sex everywhere even on E! Entertainment. Theres always sex like The Sopranos and Sex and the City. Of course I thought that people were going to be surprised that there was a movie that showed sex in such a simple way, but I never thought it would get this much attention. Although it doesnt really surprise me because this is society nowadays. It doesnt really create any conflict in me at all.
DRE: Were you at the screenings at the Cannes Film Festival where people booed?
ANA: Yeah but I dont remember booing anywhere.
DRE: They always people who boo at every screening at Cannes.
ANA: At the screening that I was at there was very good response.
DRE: What was it like being at Cannes?
ANA: It was really beautiful. For me, I was really grateful to be there after so much work that we all did. I think we as a team that made a movie, we deserve our movie to be shown there. The rest of Cannes is a big one week party.
DRE: I didnt realize until I did my research that Carlos was such a young man. I just assumed that hes 70 and has been making films for 50 years.
ANA: Yeah. I know.
DRE: Whats he like?
ANA: Hes amazing. Hes a lawyer so hes very intelligent. Hes very good manipulating everything around him, which thats why hes such a great director. He has a lot of confidence and trust in what he wants. So its wonderful to work with such a person who has such high standards of himself and who has so much decision about everything and every step that hes doing. It gives everybody a lot of confidence as well and makes you love the project like it was yours. I loved working with him and I loved meeting him.
DRE: Im not looking for gossip or anything, but sometimes the directors and actors have arguments or loud discussions. But since you were a first time actor, maybe you didnt have the confidence to do that. Did you and Carlos have any conflicts?
ANA: No, not at all.
DRE: Do you want to keep acting?
ANA: Yeah. Im really focused on my art and my poetry and what I want to do with my life. I think I still have a long way to walk in what has always been my dream, but I feel Im also very lucky to have the opportunity to make films and have directors calling me for doing roles in their movies. As long as a project is good, I will gladly do it.
DRE: Would you have real sex in a movie again?
ANA: It would have to be a director like Carlos for me to do something like that. It would have to be somebody who thinks about sex the same way that I do and the way that Carlos thinks about sex and somebody that has the capacity and sensibility to show sex in a way that it wont be considered porn.
DRE: What do you think about sex?
ANA: I just think that its something completely normal. Two people getting together in bed and trying to show each other what their feelings are. Battle in Heaven shows two people in a plain blanket in a plain white bed having sex without being shy from each other or their bodies. I think its really beautiful. I dont think its the simplicity of the sex in this movie that causes people go into so much controversy but because they wanted to see the boom bam of sex. They have trouble seeing something so simple and honest like this. If I were to shoot a sex scene, Im sure I would shoot it that way as well.
DRE: Is there anyway to look at your artwork online?
ANA: No, not yet. Hopefully it will be soon. Im working on that. Ive been analog for the past years of my life.
DRE: Who are some artists you admire?
ANA: My favorite poets are actually American. One is Kenneth Patchem and the other one would be E.E. Cummings.
DRE: Where did you lean to speak English so well?
ANA: I went to an arts school here in America, in Vermont.
DRE: Theres a movie called Hate 2.0 that says you are in.
ANA: Oh yeah. Its this movie I did last year in Italy.
DRE: Are you the star of the movie?
ANA: No, Im not. There are five girls who go and then they all die because one girl kills all. I hear its really good.
by Daniel Robert Epstein
SG Username: AndersWolleck
Buy the DVD of Battle in Heaven
Daniel Robert Epstein: Howd you get involved in Battle in Heaven since you werent a professional actor?
Ana Mushkadiz: It was coincidence. A girl that I knew went to do the casting and then she told the director about me. Then the director called me and we met.
DRE: Did you actually audition or did you just meet with him?
ANA: No, we met.
DRE: Had you heard of Carlos before?
ANA: Yeah. I already had seen his first movie Japon so I was really excited of meeting him. But Ive never been into acting. I do arts and poetry.
DRE: What kind of artwork do you do?
ANA: Like painting and mixed technique with photography and writing on top of everything.
DRE: Did you ask Carlos why he was going with people that werent professional actors?
ANA: He likes to work with non professional actors because he thinks that real people are more spontaneous about everything and have more capacity for turning things around. Mainly what hes looking from people are energies. People that he can put in front of a camera and only by their face and by their energy give a feeling to the audience.
DRE: Was the script much different from the final movie?
ANA: I dont know because I never read the script. But I think not. I think its pretty much what Carlos wanted.
DRE: What did you think of the final film?
ANA: I really liked it. Of course in one way its a movie that I worked six months and I gave a lot of myself to but on the other hand I think its an amazing work and I think its very honest and very deep. I really like the movie.
DRE: Did you feel like you had any trouble understanding anything because you are not an actor?
ANA: I think at the beginning its always hard because youre so self aware of your face and every moment. But then slowly you start getting confidence between you and the camera and what youre doing, so everything gets more relaxed and becomes much more natural. A good thing about Carlos is that hes a great director in terms that he knows what he wants so I was always sure that he was never going to say cut until he got what he wanted. So that made me pretty comfortable.
DRE: Since you didnt read the script, were any scenes more difficult for you because you didnt know what was going to happen exactly?
ANA: No because all the movies are in the same mood. The only condition of Carlos was not to act and to try to always be very cold and very precise without jumping or crying or over acting or doing anything. I think it was great not to know what was coming first so that we wouldnt program ourselves with Oh yeah. So now we should be sad and then automatically you start trying to act.
DRE: Were you completely okay with doing the real sex in the movie?
ANA: Carlos was pretty smart about all these sex scenes because they were done at the very beginning of the shooting. So the day that I arrived to the set, he was like, Oh, yes, today were doing the sex scene between you and Marcos. Carlos saw it as such a normal thing and he made us all believe that it was normal and that it was beautiful and that it was no problem. It was a challenge and after that I felt like I could do anything. So I thought it was a smart move on his part.
DRE: Sometimes on movies like this the actors wont socialize with one another, did anything like that happen with Marcos?
ANA: Its not that we were drinking coffee every time we had a break or anything. But there was a very intimate relationship in terms of respect and being really polite with each other and I think we had a very good relationship.
DRE: Did you feel that the movie was going to be controversial because of the real sex?
ANA: I always knew there was going to be controversy about the movie. But I never thought it was going to be so much like it was. For some reason I thought that the world was more prepared for seeing this thing. Every time I turn on the TV I see violence and sex everywhere even on E! Entertainment. Theres always sex like The Sopranos and Sex and the City. Of course I thought that people were going to be surprised that there was a movie that showed sex in such a simple way, but I never thought it would get this much attention. Although it doesnt really surprise me because this is society nowadays. It doesnt really create any conflict in me at all.
DRE: Were you at the screenings at the Cannes Film Festival where people booed?
ANA: Yeah but I dont remember booing anywhere.
DRE: They always people who boo at every screening at Cannes.
ANA: At the screening that I was at there was very good response.
DRE: What was it like being at Cannes?
ANA: It was really beautiful. For me, I was really grateful to be there after so much work that we all did. I think we as a team that made a movie, we deserve our movie to be shown there. The rest of Cannes is a big one week party.
DRE: I didnt realize until I did my research that Carlos was such a young man. I just assumed that hes 70 and has been making films for 50 years.
ANA: Yeah. I know.
DRE: Whats he like?
ANA: Hes amazing. Hes a lawyer so hes very intelligent. Hes very good manipulating everything around him, which thats why hes such a great director. He has a lot of confidence and trust in what he wants. So its wonderful to work with such a person who has such high standards of himself and who has so much decision about everything and every step that hes doing. It gives everybody a lot of confidence as well and makes you love the project like it was yours. I loved working with him and I loved meeting him.
DRE: Im not looking for gossip or anything, but sometimes the directors and actors have arguments or loud discussions. But since you were a first time actor, maybe you didnt have the confidence to do that. Did you and Carlos have any conflicts?
ANA: No, not at all.
DRE: Do you want to keep acting?
ANA: Yeah. Im really focused on my art and my poetry and what I want to do with my life. I think I still have a long way to walk in what has always been my dream, but I feel Im also very lucky to have the opportunity to make films and have directors calling me for doing roles in their movies. As long as a project is good, I will gladly do it.
DRE: Would you have real sex in a movie again?
ANA: It would have to be a director like Carlos for me to do something like that. It would have to be somebody who thinks about sex the same way that I do and the way that Carlos thinks about sex and somebody that has the capacity and sensibility to show sex in a way that it wont be considered porn.
DRE: What do you think about sex?
ANA: I just think that its something completely normal. Two people getting together in bed and trying to show each other what their feelings are. Battle in Heaven shows two people in a plain blanket in a plain white bed having sex without being shy from each other or their bodies. I think its really beautiful. I dont think its the simplicity of the sex in this movie that causes people go into so much controversy but because they wanted to see the boom bam of sex. They have trouble seeing something so simple and honest like this. If I were to shoot a sex scene, Im sure I would shoot it that way as well.
DRE: Is there anyway to look at your artwork online?
ANA: No, not yet. Hopefully it will be soon. Im working on that. Ive been analog for the past years of my life.
DRE: Who are some artists you admire?
ANA: My favorite poets are actually American. One is Kenneth Patchem and the other one would be E.E. Cummings.
DRE: Where did you lean to speak English so well?
ANA: I went to an arts school here in America, in Vermont.
DRE: Theres a movie called Hate 2.0 that says you are in.
ANA: Oh yeah. Its this movie I did last year in Italy.
DRE: Are you the star of the movie?
ANA: No, Im not. There are five girls who go and then they all die because one girl kills all. I hear its really good.
by Daniel Robert Epstein
SG Username: AndersWolleck
I really liked Japn though, so that made BiH's awfulness even more depressing.
[Edited on Jun 04, 2006 by RayCasino]