NEW YORK 鈥� Pedro Almod贸var exposed all his vulnerability in the semi-autobiographical film 鈥淧ain and Glory.鈥� Now he returns his focus to women not only with the short film 鈥淭he Human Voice鈥�, an Oscar hopeful that arrives this week in the United States, but with an upcoming movie that reunites him with his muse Pen茅lope Cruz.
鈥淢adres paralelas鈥� (鈥淧arallel Mothers鈥�) will begin production on March 21 in Madrid 鈥渋f the virus does not interfere,鈥� said the Spanish director, who took advantage of the confinement and wrote the script after his plans to shoot for the first time in the U.S. were thwarted by the pandemic last year.
鈥淚 return to the female universe and to motherhood as well, which is a subject that has always fascinated me. But in this case, the mothers that appear are very different from the ones Pen茅lope has played before,鈥� Almod贸var said in Spanish during a recent interview with The Associated Press via Zoom from Madrid.
鈥淭hese are very imperfect mothers and as an author that鈥檚 what interested me the most, especially because I have already done several self-sacrificing and heroic mothers,鈥� he said. 鈥淪o this is a little bit about descendants, children, but also about ancestors, about family.鈥�
That鈥檚 not all he has in mind.
Having shot his first English production with Tilda Swinton 鈥� an adaptation of Jean Cocteau鈥檚 play 鈥淭he Human Voice鈥� 鈥� he plans another English-language short in a genre he hasn鈥檛 explored yet: the Western.
The thing is that making short films 鈥渉as been very refreshing for me, like recovering new airs,鈥� said Almod贸var.
鈥淚 have recovered a bit of that playful feeling that filming was for me in the first years, because I have allowed myself more freedom than I have been able to afford lately.鈥�
鈥淭he Human Voice鈥� opens Friday in northern California, Miami and Chicago before expanding to other markets.
Almod贸var, 71, who had COVID-19 just before the quarantine began in Spain a year ago, spoke with the AP about the confinement of his protagonist in 鈥淭he Human Voice,鈥� the technical freedoms that he took in this film, as well as the role of streaming during the pandemic and his desire to work with 鈥淭he Queen鈥檚 Gambit's鈥� star Anya Taylor-Joy.
Answers have been edited for brevity and clarity.
AP: You've been flirting with the idea of adapting 鈥淭he Human Voice鈥� for many years. Did the fact that the story unfolds in confinement had anything to do with the decision to make it now?
ALMOD脫VAR: The truth is that I had it in mind before the confinement started, but the film is, besides the story of a woman desperate because of her lover鈥檚 abandonment 鈥� that is confinement, the fact of not seeing the light at the end of the tunnel when someone is as madly in love as Tilda Swinton in the movie. It becomes a metaphor for this time, because she is confined first in the set that we have created as her house, but then that set is part of another closed space where she moves like a ghost, which is the studio where we filmed.
AP: The camera leaves the walls of the apartment more than once to show the set and the equipment to represent the outdoors. It seems a nod to the
ALMOD脫VAR: As an experiment, I really wanted to get out of the set and show the matter of the cinematographic artifice 鈥� the wood, the construction, the empty walls. But it was also not only a visual whim but for example, the fact that a woman is on a terrace looking at the skyline and we verify that there is no skyline but what there is a wall gives the impression that her loneliness is greater, that she lives in the dark almost like a ghost. The fact of also having the (telephone) conversation in motion with the earphones and not seeing who she is addressing gives the character a much greater feeling of loneliness. I tried to unite something purely theatrical, which is the monologue, with something essentially cinematographic, which is the place where it is shot. It is not filmed
AP: Swinton delivers a magnetic performance. What was it like working with her?
ALMOD脫VAR: I was a little scared to work in English, but on the other hand it was also one of the reasons for making this short, the fact that it鈥檚 30 minutes was kind of an exercise to see if I was able to direct in English. But the truth is that Tilda鈥檚 intervention has been key because from the first rehearsals there was an incredible chemistry between the two. We understood each other from the first moment and I didn鈥檛 feel that I was speaking in a different language. Ultimately, the language we both spoke was the language of the cinema.
AP: Your last short film was 2009's 鈥淭he Cannibalistic Councillor.鈥� How did it feel going back to this format?
ALMOD脫VAR: You know, when I finished 鈥淧ain and Glory鈥� ... what I wanted to do and what I dreamed of was making this short film. It鈥檚 not that I had lost my freedom while making 鈥淧ain and Glory,鈥� not at all. But the one hour and a half or two hours footage force you to do some things that you shouldn鈥檛 have to take into account. I mean, being 30 minutes, I allowed myself more freedom than in a feature film for a mere narrative fact.
AP: Like getting off the set...
ALMOD脫VAR: Of course. I wouldn鈥檛 have been able to get off the set in a feature film, because it wouldn鈥檛 make the sense it makes here.
AP: You鈥檝e always been an advocate for the big screen experience. Has the pandemic changed your perception of streaming?
ALMOD脫VAR: No, but the truth is that streaming has filled the void left in me of not being able to go to the movies. In Madrid there are cinemas open, but the programming is very modest because the great films are hijacked by the studios. Even so, I still go at least once a week. I鈥檓 not such a fan of TV series, but the last one I鈥檝e seen that I liked a lot is 鈥淭he Queen鈥檚 Gambit鈥� and I absolutely adore the actress, who I鈥檝e read in an interview wants to work with me and I鈥檓 going to tell her yes. I will contact her to tell her absolutely because she has an appearance that鈥檚 very interesting to me; she can be a thousand different characters and she鈥檚 a very good actress. I also follow faithfully 鈥淭he Crown,鈥� which is a real spectacle. My struggle is that the model of the movie
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Sigal Ratner-Arias, The Associated Press
