Venice Film FestivalCriticism
Opinion piece that describes, praises or censures, in whole or in part, a cultural or entertainment work. It should always be written by an expert in the field.
The first feature film in another language from the most famous director of Spanish cinema offers a fascinating and measured reflection on death, with two great performances by Tilda Swinton and Julianne Moore, although it suffers from some minor problems.
Trailer for Pedro Almodóvar’s ‘The Room Next Door’
n “}},”video_agency”:false,”alt_image”:”Trailer ‘The Room Next Door’, by Pedro Almodóvar”},”url”:” ‘The Room Next Door’, by Pedro Almodóvar”}); Director Pedro Almodóvar, between the actresses of ‘The Room Next Door’, Tilda Swinton (left) and Julianne Moore, at the Venice Film Festival. Photo: Yara Nardi (Reuters)
Life is full of wars. The deadliest ones are fought in Ukraine or Gaza. Just like in Bosnia in the past. But there are also conflicts around every corner. Even in the living rooms of the best homes, bullets sometimes whistle. The struggle to get through each day and not get hurt too much in the attempt. Pedro Almodóvar, for years, fought with his desire to film a movie in English. He came close, he moved away, he gave up, he tried again. It’s everyone’s battle. He dared to take two small steps, in the format of a medium-length film. And finally, today, Monday, his dream has come true at the Venice festival. With two such outstanding protagonists as Julianne Moore and Tilda Swinton. With the intention of talking about the multiple struggles of life. Including the one that should never be called a “struggle”: the one that confronts patients with illness and death. And the importance, in the worst of times, of having someone to support you, comfort you or just listen quietly. Someone, in short, in the next room.
A strange feeling surrounds the beginning of the film. Alberto Iglesias’ music. The credits. The opening shot. Clearly, Almodóvar is back. The change of language has not affected the filmmaker’s touch. Simply, now what we see is not “directed and written by”, but “filmed and written by”. But, somehow, the strangeness spreads to the first sequences. Just as in Madres separadoras, his previous premiere at the Mostra, the pieces do not fit together, situations and dialogues seem forced. A small flashback dedicated to a soldier is probably the lowest moment of the film. Just then, however, the film begins to rise. The performances, the restraint, the sensitivity, the always impeccable staging and chromatic vision. The room next door takes time to take off. But it ends up flying very high.
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The film tells the story of a reunion between two friends. Ingrid (Moore) has become a successful non-fiction author and has just released her latest book, Sudden Deaths. While presenting it, she hears from Martha (Swinton) for the first time in a long time. They had lost sight of each other so much that she doesn’t even know she’s in the hospital. And the prognosis, as she tells him when he goes to visit her, leaves no room for hope: the former war correspondent for The New York Times faces the epilogue of her existence. She knows she must leave. She says she’s ready. Ingrid is much less prepared, but she stays with her. At least they have each other. And the audience gets a master class in acting, scriptwriting and directing.
The language changes, but the essence of Almodóvar remains. Nothing tearful, no over-emphasized emotion. At the heart of the film beats humanity and dignity. The last days must also be lived. They have, of course, tears and despair. But also everyday moments. Eating, washing dishes, reading, watching a film. And talking, a lot. As in other moments, however, it is best not to say anything. Based on the book What is your torment, by Sigrid Nunez, the Spanish director is able to film a story as beautiful as it is profound, much more moving precisely because of its restraint. Death is terrifying. But that does not prevent him from showing it in a simple, delicate, even blushing way. The director himself has confessed that he thinks about it “every day.” He said that the film was “soothing” for him and helped him “understand.”
Trailer for Pedro Almodóvar’s ‘The Room Next Door’
n “}},”video_agency”:false,”alt_image”:”Trailer for ‘The Room Next Door’, by Pedro Almodóvar”},”url”:” ‘The Room Next Door’, by Pedro Almodóvar”}); Trailer for ‘The Room Next Door’.
The tough competition at this 81st edition of the Mostra invites caution when predicting the Golden Lion. The Room Next Door seems to have been liked, but not enthusiastic either. The reviews from some of the main international media outlets in the sector range from the coldness of Cineuropa — “it is difficult to say whether it was worth the wait” — to the four stars out of five from The Guardian — “when it blooms, it seems like a small miracle. Its fragility is what makes it so beautiful” — to the approved ones, with The Hollywood Reporter doubtsand with some conviction from Variety and Deadline.
Brady Corbet’s The Brutalist, however, is the most striking film and the one that has generated the most consensus. However, despite the parade of stars such as Angelina Jolie and Nicole Kidman, who are also in complex roles that are perfect for the awards, a female performance like Swinton’s had not yet been seen at the festival. And even more so in a film with so many close-ups. Two years ago, she surprised the festival with two characters in the same film, The Eternal Daughter, by Joanna Hogg. This time, she outdoes herself. Her Martha becomes a woman of flesh and blood who is heading towards the end. With all that this means, in terms of difficulty and nuances that it demands. Moore also impresses, and above all, the humility of such a star to accept that the main performance of the film is the other, and to sustain it, is admirable. As her Ingrid does with Martha.
It even hurts to walk away from them. Because sooner or later it will have to happen, due to the emotion they convey. But also because the secondary elements of the film fall far short of such height. Every time the plot includes flashbacks —where the Spanish cast, with Victoria Luengo, Raúl Arévalo and Juan Diego Botto, have small roles— the feeling of disconnection and artifice returns. Although The Room Next Door suffers from some other problems. The director’s desire to raise all the issues he considers relevant or worrying seems praiseworthy. But accumulating in less than two hours references to climate change, the dark web, post-traumatic stress and mental health or religious fundamentalism —apart from euthanasia, friendship or motherhood, central to the work— prevents each issue from being treated as it deserves. It generates more confusion and superficiality than interest. Finally, the film allows us to point out a few literary recommendations. Although citing Faulkner, Hemingway, Marie Colvin, a biography of Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, among many others, and having a character wonder what Virginia Woolf would think of the death of [Dora] Carrington moves between the enriching and the pretentious. The director is known to like it. Much of the audience, one might suspect, is less so.
Today, however, another strong candidate for the prize list has emerged. A surprise, which did not appear on the list of the most anticipated, and perhaps for that reason even more pleasant. Vermiglio, by Maura Delpero, offered another example of subtlety, intention and ability to tell everything in the right tone and balance. Outlining, suggesting, never underlining. Like The Room Next Door, the Italian film also has a relationship with the war: it takes place near the eponymous village in the Dolomites, in 1944, although the village lives almost with its back to the conflict. Except for the sons who went to the front. And for a soldier who returns and is welcomed in one of the houses. That is where, in the words of the director, “the splinters” of the conflict end.
Almodóvar, at the Venice press conference: “My film is the response to hate speech”
With astonishing and measured talent, with images of great beauty, with few camera movements and an enormous sensitivity to understand and tell, without judging, all of his characters, Delpero tells the story of a family where the father tries to control the lives, minds and destiny of his offspring, but the young people are choosing their own path. In Vermilion, Men tend to raise children in the harsh mountains that surround the village on all sides. However, the identity and will of each daughter try to break through even through such rocky convictions. And it is the mother who actually holds all the reins at once: the home, the children, the teenagers, the husband, cows and chickens, the gossip of the village. The director said that the idea came to her after the death of her father, who also grew up in a tiny mountain village: “He appeared to me in a dream as a happy six-year-old boy, in his childhood home, as I had never known him before.”
From there, she was able to transfer so much pain along with that joy to the project. And connect it with a critical discourse on patriarchy and in defense of women’s liberation. The actors present also said they were inspired by their own grandparents. That is why the film becomes a celebration of memory. Of those who are no longer here. Of those who have just left. But also of the pleasure that good cinema offers. It is clear that no one escapes death. And life is full of wars. But, with films like this, it is easier to believe that you can win. Even if it is just for a day.
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Culture editor. He is dedicated to topics related to cinema, comics, copyright, cultural policy, literature and video games, as well as legal cases related to the artistic sector. He has a degree in Political Science from the University of Roma Tre and a Master’s degree in journalism from El País. He was born in Rome, but has long considered himself Italian.
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