Geekscape Reviews: ‘The Director’s Chair’ with Luis Valdez

Luis Valdez is an important name. Yet I don’t hear it often.

Perhaps it’s the circles I run in, but in both the classroom and in the outside world, I have noticed director’s names have become buzzwords for people to show off their cred, no matter how hollow they actually are. “I love Tarantino,” I hear often. “Oh yeah? I love Fincher.” “Kurosawa.” “Wright.” “Hitchcock.” “Nolan.” We turn artists into Pokemon cards, a symptom of our obsession of the “’90s kids” label.

But thanks to The Director’s Chair with Robert Rodriguez, we not only get to know better the important filmmakers we know and love — del Toro, Coppola, etc. — it’s a chance to really examine the artist, from his/her own perspective. In the newest episode, filmed in the Ricardo Montalban Theatre featuring “the father of Chicano cinema” Luis Valdez, Robert Rodriguez journeys with Valdez over his childhood, his career, and eventually to his biggest hits in films like Zoot Suit, La Bamba, and The Cisco Kid.

“Film is accessible to us,” Valdez says early on in his interview. “We can do film.” Today in 2015, where we all carry cameras in our pockets, that statement has never been more true.

Luis Valdez is relaxed. This episode of The Director’s Chair featuring him is such an easy 40+ minutes that you nearly forget you’re watching two prominent filmmakers talk. It’s startling considering the gravity of the subjects — racial, class inequality in mid-20th century American history, of which Valdez puts extremely well into the context of his career — because Valdez speaks just like a cool uncle or professor that we’ve all known at least once.

Valdez may not have the deep filmography of previous The Director’s Chair subjects, but that doesn’t make his insight any less enlightening or inspiring. Valdez’s real world run-ins with gangs — his cousin was a “pachuco” which served as a starting point for Zoot Suit — and front lines of protest colors him in ways more interesting than any filmmaker who just made a bunch of movies.

But beyond film, Valdez has been active elsewhere, particularly theatre. He admits in the episode that he’s 74-years-old, but that there is so much he still wants to do. In my interview with Valdez, he discusses working on his newest play, Valley of the Heart’s Delight, and he hopes to turn it into a film. I hope he does too.

“If you break in, you have to bring extra sledgehammers,” Rodriguez says to Valdez. He agrees. If there’s one thing that Valdez won me over in this forty-minute interview, it was his perspective on fighting for the next generation. His background as an activist surely inspired his understanding how difficult it is for new, young people to let their voice be heard.

In some ways, I’m kind of glad cinema snobs don’t mention names like Valdez often. It’s easy for me to discriminate against their false sense of superiority. As they continue to diminish art like they’re Magic the Gathering cards, dropping their knowledge to show off at their convenience, I’ll be here celebrating the visionaries who, like his (or her, in other cases) peers, intend to educate and positively influence the next generation. Valdez, above all, would know all about fighting for the future.

The Director’s Chair with Luis Valdez gets 4 out of 5 stars.

The special premieres tonight on El Rey Network at 8 PM EST/8:15 PT. It will be followed by Valdez’s 1987 classic, La Bamba immediately after at 9 PM EST/9:15 PT.