Pedro Almodóvar, the Spanish director known for colorful films full of melodramatic twists, has unveiled his first English-language feature film. The room next door delves into the inevitability of death and its inextricable connection to life.
“I don't believe in God… I don't accept death,” the 75-year-old director told NPR's A Martínez. He shares his discomfort with Ingrid, played by Julianne Moore. Her long-lost friend Martha (Tilda Swinton) has failed cancer treatment and asks Ingrid to accompany her during her final days in upstate New York.
“As Julianne said at the beginning of the film, it is unnatural for something living to die,” Almodóvar added. He wrote the screenplay, which was adapted from part of Sigrid Nunez's novel What are you going through? (2020).
Iglesias Más / © El Deseo. Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics
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© El Deseo. Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics
The film received the main prize (Golden Lion) at the Venice Film Festival. While it was rejected for Best Film at the Goya Awards in Spain, the director and his two leading actors each received individual praise. Swinton was also nominated for Best Actress at the Golden Globes.
Almodóvar says he chose to shoot The room next door in English, simply because the story required it. Martha wants to die on her own terms, painlessly and peacefully, by taking a euthanasia pill she purchased on the dark web.
Euthanasia is legal in Spain. However, it is still banned in the United States, although some jurisdictions such as Washington, DC and Oregon allow assisted suicide.
“When I am terribly sick, when life offers me nothing but pain, then I want to be the owner of my death,” Almodóvar said. “And I think that’s a human right that we all have.”
Iglesias Más / © El Deseo. Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics
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© El Deseo. Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics
Parallel to Martha's journey to death is Ingrid's transformation as she overcomes her own fear of the ethical and legal dilemma of helping Martha end her life.
In the stylish house in the forest where Martha spends her last days, there are three characters – the two women and death itself, explains the director. “Ingrid learns to appreciate the little things in life in this sweet, apocalyptic moment. She learns to appreciate nature: snowfall, sunrise, the chirping of birds.”
Short story by James Joyce The dead is quoted as pink snow falls on the landscape: “His soul slowly fainted as he heard the snow falling silently through the universe, falling silently, like the demise of their ultimate end, upon all the living and the dead.”
It's not all doom and gloom – there are moments of lightness and plenty of reflection. Almodóvar had initially written much more dark, ironic humor and said Swinton was willing to do it, but Moore “was a little less willing to do it because she was afraid it might offend people.”
Iglesias Mas. © El Deseo. Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics /
Almodóvar has his own way of dealing with the fragility of life – by creating. “Pleasure for me is a way to escape death by writing and making films,” he said.
In Pain and glory (2019), the mother of a writer and director (Antonio Banderas) gives specific instructions on how she would like to be dressed and made up after her death. Almodóvar, who incorporates parts of his own life into his films, says he had the same experience with his own mother.
The plot of this story may have required it, but the decision to make his 23rd feature film in English was not an easy one for Almodóvar, who apologized in the interview for his “very bad” English and at times spoke through an interpreter.
He first tested the terrain with two 30-minute short films in English, Strange way of life And The human voice (The latter shows Swinton). The experience, he said, “was like making my first film. I was very excited.”
Iglesias Mas. © El Deseo. Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics /
At the time, Almodóvar had planned to make a feature film with Cate Blanchett based on Lucia Berlin's collection of short stories A handbook for cleaning ladies. But the travel required for the monumental project proved too daunting for Almodóvar, who suffered from back pain following the operation, and he withdrew.
Create The room next doorwhich was largely shot in Madrid, Almodóvar has made “much more open to making a film in English than before.” Although it depends on the story at hand, “I found that I can understand the actors and that the actors understand me too.”
The broadcast version of this story was produced by Barry Gordemer. The digital version was edited by Majd al-Waheidi.
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