There was even the staging of the press conference for the winners of the Venice Film Festival that highlighted the absolute reverence felt around the world for Pedro Almodóvar. It wasn’t just that he was in the middle—his Golden Lion put him there even if he didn’t want it—but it was noticeable in the way the filmmakers next to him listened to him, looked at him, or even thanked him there for the films he had made for them. It was directed by Brady Corbet, winner of the Best Director award for The brutalist, and Maura Delpero did it, surprise, with Vermilionof this edition of the competition which ended with a historic victory for Spanish cinema.
Almodóvar did not win a major festival jackpot in his 44-year career, but that curse has ended thanks to The next pieceher first film in English and in which she tells the story of a friend who accompanies another when she decides she wants to die with dignity. They are Juliane Moore and Tilda Swinton, and in the hands of the Spanish director, they deliver two colossal performances that the jury also highlighted when evoking the reasons for this unbeatable Golden Lion.
Almodóvar recalled these 44 years of career in the press conference that followed the closing and defined them as “very fertile both artistically and personally”, but he also emphasizes it “as a Spanish citizen”. “In these 44 years, we have seen how we went from an atrocious dictatorship to access to all freedoms for everyone in just a few years. My career has been closely linked to the arrival of democracy in Spain, and that in itself is something to celebrate. It is indescribable to explain what it is like to live under the Franco regime and how it is to live in a democracy. “It is such an extraordinary experience that there are no words,” he began by saying.
He confessed that there was a time when awards would have been good for him, at the beginning of his career, because they would have “saved his life”, but later he learned to save it himself. That is why he said he was “very happy”, because he did not think he would win. Of course, he does not intend to give up. “When you have it, you become addicted to the award. From now on, I could not live without this award, but until yesterday, I lived perfectly without it”, he said, making the audience laugh.
Once again, he showed that everything is political and that his speaker always serves to put the magnifying glass where others do not want to look. His film talks about that, about how in a world that is collapsing, friendship and optimism save us, which is why he considers himself “optimistic, for a matter of mental health.” “There is something that Julianne Moore’s character says in the film, which is that if the extreme right and fierce neoliberalism go hand in hand, it is the worst thing that can happen to all of us, and right now they go hand in hand, and it will be “It is very important, even if we do not live in the United States, to see what will happen in these elections.”
A few minutes later, and without letting go of the Golden Lion, Almodóvar spoke to the Spanish press present in Venice. His smile persisted despite his fatigue and he showed him the messages that the actresses present in Toronto to present the film had sent him. In secret, he said that they had called him, but that between the noise and the emotion he had not understood what they were saying. “It’s a wonderful evening,” he said of his first feelings after winning the award. Even if you look for an explanation, you never know why your films work or don’t work. The only thing he knows is that he does everything he can. “I give myself and I give my whole life. “Before, I lived to be able to tell stories, and now my life is cinema, so that’s everything right now,” he said, now without a costume and more relaxed.
There’s something that Julianne Moore’s character says in the film, which is that if the far right and fierce neoliberalism go hand in hand, it’s the worst thing that can happen to all of us.
Pedro Almodovar
— Director
He was also moved by the reaction of people on social networks, by the messages of affection received these days, and stressed the importance for the people of his country to feel represented and excited by their achievements: “There are many people who tell me that he learned Spanish to understand my films, that he loves the country because of my films, but that I cannot take credit for all of Spain. I belong to one of them and I give voice to one of them. But there are many others. It also happened to me with All About My Motherthat I really noticed that people were taking ownership of this award and sharing it, and it’s a wonderful feeling and it’s a double award. It’s an award that your countrymen identify with the award that they just gave you. That’s as important as receiving it itself.
He once again emphasized the political message that is in his film and that he launched at the press conference last Monday, and on stage a few minutes before. Because in the end, his film “is about a woman who is dying in a world that is dying.” But there, she finds in a friend the person who will be by her side until the end. “Being next to someone is a superior quality. Sitting there, listening, in silence, is the best thing you can do. This type of solidarity, especially in the world we live in, should be extended to many other factors and realities that we observe,” he began by saying.
Then he repeated how he too The next piece It is a “response to the hate speeches that we hear in Spain.” “It is a film in favor of absolute solidarity, of deep empathy. The discourse that is taking place in Europe against immigration, against unaccompanied children, treating them as if they were criminals, as if they were invaders, is grotesque. I did not write the film with this intention, but at the moment I think it is a response to all these negative things. There is a great Spain in which I feel integrated and that is not there because of the work of these speeches. There should even be a sanction once it is known that they are hoaxes, because they put a strain on the society in which we live. And we do not deserve it,” he concluded.
Now he is thinking about the next film. He has written it, and after that there will be another one, because he thinks he does not know how to do anything other than cinema: “My limit is not in my hand, it is in biology. I will continue to make films. I will tell you more, I will continue even if they are bad. If there comes a time when I have no more ideas, I think the need to make films will be the same.”
