Stepping from out of the shadow of a massive figure is never simple to do for any artist.

That could not be more true for Rodrigo Garcia, son of Colombia's most internationally-renowned author Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Most people would buckle under the pressure of being constantly referenced in the same breath as their parents, especially a Nobel-winner that is constantly lauded as his country's greatest creative genius. But despite being the offspring of the author of "One Hundred Years of Solitude," Garcia has carved out his own path in the world of film.

Raised in Mexico for most of his early life, Garcia's career dates back to 1989 when he was a cinematographer. He directed his first feature film "Things You Can Tell Just By Looking At Her" in 2000. He followed that up with six films over the next decade before earning international acclaim for directing Glenn Close in "Albert Nobbs."

He has also directed a number of episodes for such prominent TV series as "The Sopranos," Six Feet Under" and "Blue" among others.

The filmmaker recently directed "Last Days in the Desert," an adaptation of Jesus' time in the desert. The film narrates how the savior of mankind struggles with his own insecurities and demons while containing a conflict between a family of three. The film stars Ewan McGregor and features incredibly gorgeous imagery by Oscar-winning cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki.

"Last Days in the Desert" gets it home video release on Tuesday, August 9, and Garcia reflected on his experiences making the film during an exclusive interview with Latin Post.

Latin Post: We are living in a time when Christian-based films are extremely popular and many have been categorized under the "genre" of "faith-based." Why do you think that these films are so popular at this point in our society?

Rodrigo Garcia: I think we live in a time where people are very outspoken and defining themselves by their religion. But its uncommon to find people defining themselves in religious terms and certainly in the last couple of decades. American Evangelists have really grown as a group and become more vocal so a lot of out these Christian movies find an audience there. It's hard to say why. Is faith-based a genre? I don't know. But a lot of movies with Christian themes mobilize Christian audiences.

LP: What is your relationship to the Christianity and how did it influence your approach to this material?

RG: I grew up in Mexico which is part of the Catholic world. Although I am not a deeply religious person I grew up reading the Bible and reading the gospel and always being fascinated by the story of Jesus and the different takes on the story of Jesus. So when I thought about this story, Jesus in the world of a father and son in the desert, the idea came to me just like that. Jesus getting involved in the conflict between a father and a son and I brought everything I thought I knew about Jesus into it. It's not that it influenced my approach to this material. this material is in many ways about Jesus and my thoughts about him.

LP: What made Ewan McGregor the perfect Jesus Christ and his own alter-ego in your opinion?

RG: Ewan is an excellent actor, which is the starter. But also he brings a lot of intelligence to his characters and a lot of inner life. But also a great deal of compassion and interest in a lot of people. He conveys a lot of empathy and a lot of humanity. And so I cast him for that role, the role Jeshua. Obviously he was going to play the role of the demon and I think he brought a lot of intelligence and humor to it which I think was very welcome. And I think he did a very good job with both roles.

LP: You depart greatly in many respects from the story told in the Bible regarding Jesus' time in the desert. What inspired you to take this different path? What aspects of Jesus' character in the Bible influenced this decision?

RG: It's not that departed greatly, it's that I took what I thought would be his last three days in the desert and since those are not particularly addressed in the gospel I thought that I would invent them as it were. Anything you write or shoot about Jesus, you're always interpreting him. He's a complicated figure and very rich in circumstances. And if you want to see him from a physiological point of view, it's also very interesting. So I wanted to see what it was like that time between his forty-day meditation and prayer and his actual ministry and what it was like to see him in a setting of a smaller scale. Just him interacting with a family of three in a desert. As to what parts of Jesus in the Bible influenced the film, I'm interested in his human side. I wanted to see how he is like me. He is of course part human and as a human he must have been curious, nervous and insecure of the road that lay ahead of him.

LP: What was the experience of working with Director of Photography Emmanuel Lubeski? Was most of the cinematography naturally lit?

RG: Must of the movie, except for the tent scenes which were really just one-day shooting, were shot with natural light. Obviously Emmanuel Lubezki is one of the top DP's out there and is very smart and has a great take on story. He is a very good collaborator on every area so it was great fun to work with him with no lights. It's almost like a documentary.

LP: What was the experience of shooting in the desert? Any stories of challenges that you had to overcome in making this movie?

RG: You have to know the desert and respect it to when you go out there. We knew that the desert could be exhausting and slow moving so we tried to go out there with a small company of people. It's still a few dozen but it's not a humongous team. And we tried to do it as lightly as we could. We're shooting in a park so obviously our footprints had to be very light. There were a lot of things that the park did not allow us to do but shooting in the desert is fantastic. There are many deserts that even when you don't move during the day when the light changes the desert is different. The challenges are that the terrain is tough but it's so beautiful despite its harshness just being out there.

LP: How has your father's work influenced your own? 

RG: I think what has influenced me is my father's work ethic and the way he approaches his work. The works are in different realms. He writes novels with his own world and experience. He comes from Colombia and was born in the 20's while I write about more contemporary subjects and a lot of people in the United States. The work requires different things but the art of storytelling was learned at home. Growing up in an environment where storytelling was so prevalent obviously influenced me.

LP: Since we only have time for one more question, is there any particular work of your father's that you are particularly close with?

RG: When all is said and done, "One Hundred Years of Solitude" is his greatest work. There are others of course and I'm sure not everyone agrees, but I would go with that one.