Of course he would say that.
Usually, filmmakers try to avoid commenting on the negative reception their films get, they just leave it up to audiences and critics to do the talking. Not Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu.
His latest film, “Bardo,” has been mostly panned by critics, it’s become one of the big, if not the biggest, disappointment of the fall festival season.
In an interview with Vanity Fair, Inarritu says the lukewarm reception his film received is from people who “misunderstood” his film:
To be honest, I haven't read one single review in completion. Obviously, the team has been giving me some notes, and I know that is has been misunderstood on many levels. I respect anybody’s opinion. I think everybody has a heart and everybody has a mind and they can make their own conclusions. As I understand it, one of the things that people said is that it is self-indulgent or narcissistic. I think I have the right as a writer and a filmmaker to have access to my emotional baggage. I think that's the best source that I can bring to a film, and especially to this film. It's a shame that people misunderstood that, and that can impregnate the whole perception. I feel that, cinematically, I know what I achieved. I hope that people will just take the time to really try to understand where this film comes from … I actually don’t know if I will do another film, to be honest.
Wait, did Inarritu just hint at retirement?
It's hard not to see the narcissism in this response. I’ve already said that I’m very excited to watch Inarritu’s “Bardo,” despite the tepid reviews. It just sounds like something that warrants attention given that it is a swing-for-the-fences statement from the Mexican filmmaker. However, Inarritu should really just let his film do the talking.