They say 21 grams is the weight we lose when we die. The weight of five nickels, of a hummingbird, of a chocolate bar - and perhaps also of a human soul.
 
21 Grams is the new film from the Academy Award-nominated director of Amores perros, Alejandro González Iñárritu. As with his previous feature, time warps the narrative structure. The storytelling moves fluidly through past and present, but always en route to the promise of redemption in the future. Viewers are active participants from the first frame. "The audience figures out as we go along what is happening and how it fits together," says producer Robert Salerno.

Reuniting with Amores perros screenwriter Guillermo Arriaga, Iñárritu once again combines unflinching gritty realism with complete faith in life's possibilities. The new film is, he says, "a meditation that explores some of the things in our complex lives: loss, addiction, love, guilt, coincidence, vengeance, obligation, faith, hope, and redemption. I like multi-dimensional and contradictory characters, as I am and as, I guess, are all human beings that I know. No one is simply good or bad. We are just floating in an immense universe of circumstances. I like to show their weaknesses and their strengths without judging them, because only then can they reveal things about our human condition."

His collaborator Arriaga adds, "There is always a moral issue in all of my work; moral in the sense that decisions have consequences. Almost all of my work is about the dead influencing the living."

The 21 Grams script, originally conceived and written in Spanish and initially envisioned but not written for a Mexico City setting, evolved through dozens of drafts into one unfolding in a Middle American landscape that would encompass universal truths. However, Iñárritu notes that "there was never a preconceived concept. I wanted to tell the story in the best way I could. It was a long process of almost three years for Guillermo and I, as was Amores perros." As in Amores perros, three individual people are linked by one accident and the narrative moves through different stages of their internal - and external - evolutions.

Many of those who worked with the director on Amores perros, such as production designer Brigitte Broch and composer Gustavo Santaolalla, were aboard the new film from early on. Iñárritu muses, "I felt like we were a rock-'n'-roll band, touring through the United States and playing a universal song."

Another returning core member of the filmmaking team is cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto, who has shot 21 Grams in what he calls an "absolutely realistic" style befitting a film whose subjects are "birth, living, and dying."

There was never any question that Prieto would not do the film. "Alejandro is like family," notes Prieto. "We've developed not only a very good working relationship but also a friendship - and, fortunately, there's no sense of competition," he laughs.

"I admire and respect Alejandro. If there's something in particular he wants in a scene, and he feels he has to get it, I know we have to get it; I know he's right and I'll do whatever it takes, because I trust his vision. He's a risk-taker and he encourages his team to take risks. He's not afraid of mistakes because even in making them you are exploring alternatives. He and I like to plan things out - we shot list, not storyboard - but when we're on the set and the actors do a different thing, we adjust."

Nearly every shot in 21 Grams was done with a hand-held camera, resulting in a heightened sense of tension that will be deeply felt by audiences. Prieto, who operated his own camera on the film, prefers the hand-held method because of its "immediacy, the sense of 'anything can happen.' I react to what the actors are doing - I mostly know what's going to happen, but I try to forget about that and just feel 'in the moment.' I try to be empathetic for what the actors are feeling. As a DP, you risk breaking an actor's particular concentration or mood by walking in with an exposure meter and giving instructions. I try to be sensitive to that as much as possible. The camera is also a witness to what's happening to these characters. When the camera is rolling, I'm right in there and I get close and intimate, and the actors have to feel comfortable with that.

"On 21 Grams, with the calibre of actors we had, it was incredible to see them perform and be the closest to them as they were doing it. I got really involved in some of the scenes and emotions, and cried once or twice."

Iñárritu notes, "We're using hand-held again [as on Amores perros] but in a different way. It gives the freedom to be more flexible in the narrative and in the style of the film. Sometimes the camera is just an observer, breathing with the scene and being very passive; other times, it can be descriptive and very active. I tried to use the camera as a painter uses his brush."

Prieto adds that the titular 21 grams "is not represented visually. Yet the characters in the movie are all close to dying, or people close to them have died. It's death that pushes things forward in their lives. Through death, they discover life.

"The story itself is shocking. Yet the images aren't screaming out at you. The overall look of the film is textured - realism, but with an edge. Life has beauty even in its roughness."

Salerno notes, "Collaborating with Alejandro means high energy. He likes to hear from everybody - his DP, his costume designer, his production designer, whoever - and then puts the pieces together. He is passionate about everything that goes into a script and a film. That energy and passion inspire the crew and the actors."

A few weeks of rehearsals preceded the start of production, and exhaustive research was the key element in both character construction and pre-production. Background research was required for every profession that appeared in the script, so hundreds of hours were spent interviewing doctors, professors, and ministers. Extras were, whenever possible, what they appeared to be; cardiologists played cardiologists, nurses were nurses. Even restaurant patrons were corralled from regulars at the eatery location. Workout enthusiasts appeared in the swimming pool and community center scenes.

the cast
Cast as Jack, an ex-con now on the straight-and-narrow for his family's sake (if not his own), Academy Award winner Benicio Del Toro first met with Iñárritu after having seen and admired Amores perros. He laughingly recalls that they initially "spoke in Spanglish. We talked about movies, directors - a lot of gossip."

From the start, Del Toro felt that the screenplay for 21 Grams "was superb. It has a lot of soul. It digs deep as drama, and it's three very human stories." Once on the set, he found the director to be "encouraging. He was like the father of our family - a good father. He got everybody together. We'd talk things through, and if he didn't understand something he'd ask."


The actor sees his own character as "a good soul who's banking on religion to secure his destiny in some ways. Some people turn to alcohol, some people turn to drugs; Jack Jordan turns to his faith. In everyone's life, there are moments that you wish you could erase, and in 21 Grams, Jack has that moment. Then he starts questioning his faith, and everywhere he turns, he's not getting the right answer. He has to re-evaluate everything he believed in."

Iñárritu notes that, similarly, Del Toro himself "questioned and analyzed every bit of the script and his character. He wanted to know a reason for everything before the shooting starts. He wants to know the character in every aspect you could possibly imagine. I began working with him five months before we started shooting.

"One of the most important things in an actor is their interior life, and Benicio has a deep one. You can see a lot of things going on in him just by putting the camera in front of his face. By doing nothing, he speaks with his eyes and a lot of things are going on. He is a cinematic animal."

Taking on the film's lead female role, Naomi Watts is Cristina, a now-affluent wife and mother who has overcome a drug-dependent past but now faces a devastated present and an uncertain future. "When I read the script I thought, 'This is the second brilliant role of my life,' after Mulholland Drive. It's a very difficult journey that the characters go through, there is suffering but also the realization of how valuable our lives are; we only have this one, now. Cristina goes through so many emotions. I loved her right away; she's a beautiful soul."

Watts also immediately took to Iñárritu's mandates of authenticity, research, and preparation. "I trusted Alejandro. He wants to see what's possible. It was challenging every day; the emotional stakes were so high, and I wanted to create a character with real backbone. I developed Cristina during the rehearsal period and with my own research.

"I found my way into group therapy meetings of parents who have lost children, where I deeply connected with one woman. I feel I was able to come a little bit close with my portrayal, but that pain remains unimaginable…"

"It was like working with an open heart," Iñárritu remembers. "Naomi lost her voice a couple of times during the shoot. She gave her all in every take. She has an amazing range, and can improvise with the material expertly."


Penn stars as Paul Rivers, a mathematician who is grappling with - all at once - his marriage and his mortality until a new lease on life radically redirects his priorities.

Iñárritu enthuses, "Working with Sean Penn is like playing soccer with David Beckham or riding a bicycle with Lance Armstrong - the level of the game is immediately raised or is above your expectations. He doesn't rationalize; he's just intuition and pure emotion. We read, discussed, and rehearsed a couple of times and he got and absorbed everything.

"He gives it life right in front of your eyes, like a magician. He has a unique, quiet, and internal process; he doesn't like to rehearse or think too much in advance."

When asked what drew him to 21 Grams, Penn responds, "It's as simple as this: a very adventurous narrative, very human characters, and a director whose first film had struck a very serious chord with me. The aggressive nature of Alejandro's filmmaking, in the way that it harmonizes with very real characters and circumstances, really gets me going."

Go behind the scenes and find out how the film was made

Find out more about the director and screenwriter