Pablo Larraín, director of "Neruda" and "Jackie." (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

It’s fun and it’s poetic and it’s political. It’s an interesting cocktail for cinema. ... and it creates, I think, a beautiful mirror of our societies.

We reached Pablo Larraín at his home in Santiago, Chile, where it was late morning, five hours ahead of time in Los Angeles, when the Golden Globe nominations were announced. The foreign language film nomination for his drama "Neruda" is the director's second nod in a row from the Hollywood Foreign Press Assn. Last year, the group nominated his film "The Club."

Over the phone, he said he was excited not only for his own recognition, but for Natalie Portman's nod in the drama category, acknowledging her performance in "Jackie," which he directed.

"It’s interesting," he said of having both films singled out, "because it’s the perspective of the foreign press there, and it’s not necessarily what everybody else sees. It’s the group point of view and it’s fantastic because 'Jackie' is out now and 'Neruda' will be released on Friday, so this will probably deliver more attention to the film and more people will get to see it. That’s always amazing. It’s just exciting ... so many years of work and other people involved. It’s great news and it gives a very beautiful attention to the film, which is always a blessing.