File picture of floats depicting "Catrinas" and other death-related characters and offerings during the first Big Parade of the City to celebrate the Day of the Dead in Mexico City on October 29, 2016. The parade is promoted by Mexico's City Municipality and it is inspired by the James Bond 007 movie "Spectre". / AFP PHOTO / MARIA CALLS
WHEN it comes to Mexican festivals known around the world, none is more iconic than its Día de Los Muertos or “Day of The Dead” - a festival on Nov 2 every year where the living remember and celebrate the lives of loved ones who have departed.
With that said, it has been claimed since 2015 that the annual Dia de Los Muertos parade in Mexico City was in fact started when one was staged for the opening scene in the James Bond movie “Spectre”.
Is it true that art inspired life in this way?
VERDICT:
TRUE
It might be surprising to learn this given how big the festival is in Mexico, no parade took place at the heart of the nation's capital until director Sam Mendes got a Day of the Dead parade going city as the backdrop to the intro to the 2015 James Bond movie “Spectre.” As explained in a BBC Radio Five Up All Night interview with Stacy Perskie – the CEO of Redrum, the production company that organised the parade – the whole thing was the brainchild of Mendes as director.
“He had the idea of depicting the Day of the Dead celebrations as a very spectacular parade with dancing, floats and stuff like that. "The art department, production designer, costume designer and all the Mexican creative team helped to create this amazing parade with all the craftsmanship and artwork inspired by the traditional Day of the Dead decorations, dancing and traditional music,” he said. “It was so spectacular that when the film came out, the city was inspired to continue with the parade. Each year since then, it’s become more and more popular,” he added.
And as for the original 2015 shoot iself, Perskie said it was quite the scene to set up.
“Creating the opening sequence was a massive task. We had to shut down the main square of Mexico City and all the streets around it for 10 days and bring in around 1,600 extras to be part of the on-screen parade, who all had to be in costume with painted faces and wigs,” he said.
“We assembled a team of artists from different parts of the country from very humble, small communities and villages, who had the opportunity to showcase their beautiful craftsmanship on screen. We’re very proud of having been able to put that together,” added Perskie.
So yes, sometimes art does inspire life – and put a new spin on centuries-old traditional celebrations.
SOURCES:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p07sqpmg
