It’s already here. After decades of waiting, rumors and frustrated projects, Pedro Almodovar (Calzada de Calatrava, 1949) culminated his American adventure with The next piecehis first film shot entirely in English.
This does not imply any imposture in the Manchego’s career, since we find ourselves in front of the usual filmmakerin a film that once again addresses motherhood, that maintains this taste for mixing genres and bright, brilliant colors, that makes freedom and desire its flag.
Of course, the director of Parallel mothers (2021) continues to immerse himself in the formal purification of his earlier workswith a somewhat ghostly and less tumultuous story than those of his early years, in which Bergman and Hitchcock have more weight than Berlanga. And the question of The next piece He does not lend himself much to comedy (even if Almodóvar never gives it up).
The story tells of the reunion of two old friends in a New York hospital: Martha (Tilda Swinton), a former war journalist, who is receiving treatment for cancer with a bleak prognosis, and Ingrid (Julianne Moore), a writer, who seems to accompany her after years without seeing each other. The two soon rediscover their complicity, but Martha is going to make a radical decision that will require Ingrid’s help.
Never before had Almodóvar approached the subject of death with such emotion. A parallel could even be drawn between her moment in life and that of Julianne Moore’s character, who signs copies of the book she has just published at the beginning of the film, Sudden deathswith which he tries to “understand and accept death”.
Ask. Did this film help you in this sense?
Answer. That’s what I thought, because In The next piece There are four of us: the actresses, me and this abstraction of the environment, death.. But these days, my cat Pepito, with whom I had shared 14 years, died and I realized that I still do not understand how a living being disappears overnight. Of course, there are the memories, the traces it leaves and the spirit, which must remain somewhere. I have never communicated with anyone, although when my mother died I had dreams about her so strong that they did not seem like dreams.
Almodovar He assists us in his office at the production company El Deseolocated near the Plaza de Manuel Becerra in Madrid. During the conversation, emotion resurfaces when he remembers his feline companion, whose death delayed the appointment by a few days.
Before starting to speak, the director asks for a paper and a pen, because He likes to write down ideas as he speaks. He does so in a torrential manner, leaving little room for questions, with frequent digressions that usually lead to unexpected revelations. Thus, for a little less than an hour, he dissects his new film.
“In Spain we hear hate speech every day that tries to provoke anger in society”
After a triumphant premiere in Venice, where it won a historic Golden Lion, and before being released in theaters on October 18, The next piece arrives at the San Sebastian Festival, where Almodóvar will receive the Donostia Prize.
“I am very happy to have received this award, I will receive it with pride,” says the filmmaker. “With San Sebastian, which has a great audience, I have a very long relationship because Pepi, Luci, Bom and other girls from the group I was there in 1980. It was very funny because I coincided with Ventura Pons, who presented Ocaña, intermittent portrait (1978), and Iván Zulueta, with Rapture (1979). In San Sebastian, there has never been so much talk about cocks, drugs, cross-dressing…“.
Q. Already in the late 80s, his name began to be heard loud and clear in Hollywood…
A. At that time, Jane Fonda wanted me to direct her in an adaptation of Women on the verge of nervous breakdown (1988). Later, Kim Basinger took over the rights to tie me up (1989). They also offered me Sisters Law (1992), but I had already done between the darkness (1983) and I didn’t want to repeat myself. In any case, The most interesting project was to realize Brokeback Mountain (2005).
Q. Why did you refuse it?
A. I never trusted Hollywood studios. When they call me, they always offer me artistic freedom. But of course, I’ve spoken to many important directors there, like Scorsese, and I know that’s a lie. And losing your freedom is very difficult for an author. Even more so for someone like me who works in a family business like El Deseo in a very artisanal way, in which everything passes through my hands. In fact, even if The next piece It’s shot in English and we went to New York, it’s another Deseo film, with European manners and capital.
Q. Now that your English-language film is out, is it a dream come true or a weight lifted off your shoulders?
A. It certainly wasn’t a burden. I like Hollywood cinema from the 30s to the 80s. Since then, I’ve been less interested in it. That’s why perhaps I never had the ambition to go there to make a blockbuster. In the end, filming in English was like tackling a genre, I was just waiting for the right material.
Q. Why did you find it in the novel? What is your torment?by Sigrid Nunez?
A. Before, I had tried unsuccessfully to obtain the rights to other novels. For example, The human stainby Philippe Roth The readerby Bernhard Schlink, or The hoursby Michael Cunningham, for which I would have given anything. First, What is your torment? It seemed to me to be an unadaptable book, because it is a kind of autofiction about a character who tells what happens to him in a somewhat erratic way. However, I was captivated by the fragment in which the protagonist goes to see a friend who has cancer. Buñuel said that the best way to adapt a book was to read it first, then forget it. That’s what I did naturally, and I started to follow what the characters themselves and the action itself asked of me. I always had absolute freedom in my adaptation. In The skin I live in (2011) the original disappears directly, it does not exist.
“I like Hollywood cinema from the 30s to the 80s. Since then, I’m less interested in it”
Q. What’s it like working with two stars like Tilda Swinton and Julienne Moore?
A. I got along wonderfully with both of them. Even though they have worked a lot in Hollywood, they are not typical Anglo-Saxon actresses. I think Tilda has never taken on a role like this, and it seems to me to be a huge and very surprising job. AND What Julianne does for most of the film, listening with her heart and letting it show in her eyes, is very difficult. They didn’t know each other, but they immediately became good friends. This personal chemistry just had to be developed during filming.
Q. Did you have to trust the actresses more this time because of the language problem?
A. I usually start by giving a lot of information about each sentence and word, and here I may not have been as exhaustive. But I don’t think it gave them any more freedom either. The actors are free, I just have to be content with what they do. A couple of times we changed an expression because of what Julianne suggested. It’s funny, but Americans don’t care if a thousand different Latin accents resonate in a drug movie, but with English they’re extremely demanding.
Q. In the film there are references to Hopper, John Huston, Dora Carrington, Rossellini, Buster Keaton… What role do they play in the film?
A. The books I read, the movies I watch, and what I talk about with others are part of who I am. In The next piece becomes very important The Dublinersby John Huston, but I think it’s a very organic referenceIt’s not so much a tribute as something alive in the characters. But in my films, as a good film buff, there are always films by others. In Far heels Victoria Abril’s character uses autumn sonata (Ingmar Bergman, 1978) to talk about his relationship with his mother, as if it were Liv Ullman and Ingrid Bergman. Cinema for me is an experience and as such I use it in my work… but asking for rights, I’m not that wild.
Julianne Moore and Tilda Swinton prepare for one of the scenes from “The Room Next Door”
Q. In the film, there are two political allegations, one from Martha, on euthanasia, and the other from the character played by John Turturro, on climate change. Do you subscribe to the words of each?
A. Yes, absolutely. I am for euthanasia, so as not to prolong the pain of a patient. Fortunately, we have a law in Spain that regulates it, although it remains to be seen how it works. Without going any further, the Christian Lawyers managed to stop the euthanasia of a 23-year-old girl from Barcelona, at the beginning of August. A law like this should be born with more force, be more agile, because no one requests euthanasia on a whim.
Q. What about climate change?
A. As John Turturro’s character says, The worst news is that neoliberalism and the far right go hand in hand. It seems incredible to me that climate change is being questioned, but it seems that the deniers are winning. As if that were not enough, in Spain we hear hate speeches every day that try to provoke anger in society, and many times they are made by politicians themselves. Hate is a negative energy, but also a driving force. Look at what is still happening in Ferraz, near my home.
“I am absolutely in favor of euthanasia, so as not to prolong the pain of a patient”
Q. So, did you want to send a message with this film?
A. I never thought that my films had to have a message, and if they do, it’s “don’t hesitate”, whether you’re a housewife, a nun or a modern girl. As an author, I seek to offer this moral autonomy to exercise freedom. But I don’t understand what the extreme right, which is against abortion, sends xenophobic messages and wants the mass repatriation of immigrants, including many children who have nowhere to go, promises. How come? The message of this film is that we need camaraderie and empathy, and we need to develop them with common sense. In agony there are moments to enjoy and celebrate life.
