VENICE FILM FESTIVAL 2024 – GOLDEN LION
Anchored by a pair of terrific performances swathed in vivid colors, Spanish auteur Pedro Almodóvar’s English-language feature debut attests to his universal fluency in provocative filmmaking.
DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT
“The Room Next Door is my first feature film in English. My insecurity disappeared after the first table read with the actresses, with the exchange of the first indications. The language wasn’t going to be a problem, and not because I master English, but because of the total disposition of the whole cast to understand me and to make it easy for me to understand them.
People talk a lot in my films. Among all the narrative elements (all of them important and in which I am unreservedly involved), it is the actors who really tell the story. In The Room Next Door Tilda Swinton and Julianne Moore carry the weight of the whole film on their shoulders, and they are a spectacle. I have been fortunate in that both give a veritable recital. At times during shooting, both the crew and I were on the verge of tears watching them. It was a very moving shoot and, in some way, blessed.” – PEDRO ALMODOVAR