Tilda Swinton and Julianne Moore could have spoken forever, it seems, on the genius of Pedro Almodóvar.
The Spaniard, who has created films such as Woman on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, All About My Mother, and Volver, will see the world premiere of his first-ever English language feature at the 81st Venice Film Festival, entitled The Room Next Door.
His film, an adaptation of Sigrid Nunez’s novel What Are You Going Through, follows best-selling writer Ingrid (Moore) and Martha (Swinton) as they rekindle their friendship after losing touch. As they immerse themselves in past memories, anecdotes, art and movies, Martha, battling terminal cervical cancer, wants to die with dignity and asks Ingrid to be in the next room when she takes a euthanasia pill.
“I’m personally not frightened of death and I have never been,” Swinton said at the movie’s press conference at the Venice Film Festival Monday afternoon. “I know that we stop. And I think the whole journey towards accepting death can be long for some people, for some reason and with certain experiences in my life, it came quite early… One of the things this film is a portrait of is self-determination, someone who decides to take her life and her living and her dying into her own hands.
“It’s about a triumph, I think, this film,” she continued.
Moore was certain that this film, too, is a celebration of love and friendship as much as it is an underlining of humanity’s need to make peace with the reality of death. She took the opportunity to sing Almodóvar’s praises and touch on her own personal relationship with Swinton, and how female friendship – especially among older women – is not fairly represented in film.
The star began: “I think what is so compelling about this film and the lens that Pedro puts on this relationship is that not only do we have a mother and daughter story, which we see actually often in literature and in film, but we very rarely see a story about female friendship, and especially female friends who are older… I don’t know that there’s another filmmaker in the world would do that.”
She continued to explain that the portrayal of Martha and Ingrid in Almodóvar’s film is extremely profound. “Obviously, we have romantic relationships, we have familiar relationships. But the importance of those cannot be overvalued. I mean, they really, really are tremendous. And the fact that he chose to portray this relationship, to elevate it, to show us the love story that it is, I think, is truly extraordinary, and it felt special to us, too, to me and Tilda.”
Swinton also lauded the 74-year-old’s directorial chops, explaining that a long time ago she told Almodóvar she would do anything to work with him: “One day, when I was in the same space as him, I said: ‘Listen, I’ll learn Spanish for you. I don’t care.’”
“He has continued to be the master that he always works to be there for this film. To feel the freshness and the rigor and absolute discipline of him is awe-inspiring, and I still feel like a student seeing his first film.”
Almodóvar had just as many compliments for his two lead actresses. “They understood exactly the tone that I wanted to tell this story,” he told the packed press conference. “I was really, really, very lucky, because there are many subjects in this movie, but the main thing in the movie is just to see the festival that they give, Tilda and Julianne together… Two wonderful actresses.”
The Room Next Door gets its world premiere Monday night at the Venice International Film Festival, and will receive its U.S. premiere as the centerpiece selection for the 2024 New York Film Festival on Oct. 4.