“Life is everywhere and it is the strongest”

The face of empathy is that of Julianne Moore. There is a softness, intensity and humanity about her that permeate her roles. She modulates them as she pleases, knows how to tinge them with ambiguity or darkness, as in the recent May Decemberby Todd Haynes, where his character turned out to be less pleasant than expected, facing Natalie Portman, herself quite toxic in the end. It’s another feminine face-to-face that illuminates The Room Next Doorfirst film in English by Pedro Almodóvar, Golden Lion at the last Venice Film Festival. Here, no antagonism but an unconditional friendship, beyond judgment, between the two heroines, Ingrid, a successful writer (Julianne Moore) and Martha, a former war correspondent (Tilda Swinton). The latter has terminal cancer and offers this newfound friend to accompany her until the end, to stay in “the room next door” when she decides to end it with help. of a lethal drug obtained on the darknet. Far from his usual register, Almodóvar orchestrates this existential melodrama with delicacy, sobriety and without pathos. Her actresses are remarkable, Tilda Swinton, on reprieve, condemned determined to die with dignity, and even more so Julianne Moore in the more complex score of the devoted friend who awaits the inevitable, her benevolent love as the only defense against distress.

A female friendship

“I loved working with Tilda Swinton. We didn’t really know each other, but throughout filming, she became more than a partner: a friend, which produced a sort of mirror effect to the film’s story. The Room Next Door talks about that, about friendship, companionship, support. Usually, in cinema, we see either antagonistic or conflicting characters, or romantic characters. Friendship, which is nevertheless one of the pillars of our existence, a fundamental theme, is not so often treated, especially when it comes to female friendship. Before Pedro’s film, I appeared in another women’s story, May Decemberby Todd Haynes, with Natalie Portman. But, in this one, the mechanism is completely different since it is a power struggle: who holds the keys to the story of a life, the actress who will interpret it or the woman who lived? Here, it is not a question of control or power, but of empathy, love, transmission and listening: Ingrid, my character, collects Martha’s story, which she will then pass on to her daughter. »

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Pedro Almodovar

“It’s totally crazy to have toured with Pedro. I never imagined that this could ever happen. I have admired him since the beginning, since he emerged on the international scene, with Matador or Women on the verge of a nervous breakdown. He is an essential author, a completely original artistic voice. I remember meeting him in the 1990s, at a function in New York. I found him charming. Over the years, I have encountered him here and there, at film festivals, in Cannes or Venice, or at fashion shows where we were invited. He knew that I admired him, I knew that he was a generous director and a lover of actresses. Each time, he came to greet me, very considerate. It’s been years since it was announced that Pedro was going to direct an English-language film, but each time he seemed to backtrack, and the announced projects fell through. And, one morning, suddenly, I received an e-mail telling me that he was going to adapt Sigrid Nunez’s book, What Are You Going Throughthat the film was in English and that he had thought of me for the character of Ingrid. I was in shock! »

It’s totally crazy to have toured with Pedro. I have admired him since the beginning

Julianne Moore

The filming

“The film can also be seen as a sort of fairy tale, death lurks throughout the story, but not only that. There is an elevation and poetry. Even in his first English-language film, Pedro remained very close to his European world. This is the characteristic of great authors: they understand the world in a very particular way. We immediately feel it in its sensitivity, of course, but also in its cinematography, artistic direction, composition, colors, music and even the language, which is not entirely American. There is a different rhythm and musicality here. We shot most of the film in Madrid, and Pedro’s New York is not really New York, but his idea of ​​New York. What we see from the windows of Tilda’s character’s apartment doesn’t exist in Manhattan, but that doesn’t matter, and it doesn’t matter to her. Furthermore, Pedro looks at his actors as few filmmakers look at them. It probably doesn’t change our game, but it sure intensifies it. Tilda and I, he filmed us a lot in close-up. He wanted the story to be read on our faces, in our eyes, on our lips. This makes the film even more touching, I think…”

Female directors

“Pedro Almodóvar, like Todd Haynes, puts women at the heart of the story. They are not focused on their gender. They are interested in women, and this leads them to make them their favorite heroines and to tell us about them differently. Pedro was a little boy who listened to his mother a lot. He was hidden under the kitchen table, and he didn’t miss a word of his mother’s conversations with her neighbors or her friends. These stories probably stuck in his head forever and shaped a part of him. Todd would say the same thing about his mother…”

Hollywood

“It’s not because more women’s stories are filmed there that Hollywood is necessarily changing its face. Besides, it’s difficult to talk about Hollywood as an entity, I don’t see it like that. There are a thousand ways to approach a film. And then, for example, neither May December in The Room Next Door were not considered as commercial films. When you think about Hollywood, you think about business, you think about the market, and there’s nothing wrong with thinking like that. Many films from the cinema industry are produced with profit in mind. Although, sometimes, the boundaries are blurred: I think, for example, of Wickedwhich is a wonderful film, a box office hit, which I loved – I saw the musical from which it is based three times and my daughter seven times. It’s a film with commercial potential, of course, but it’s also a women’s film and an activist film in its own way. This proves that women’s stories can be profitable, and that’s gratifying. But there is still a long way to go. We women represent 52% of the world’s population and continue to be underrepresented. »

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Trump

“I don’t want to bring it up. I don’t want him to take up my speaking space. This is how I feel. »

Inspirations

“I don’t know if I really had role models… It was only when I seriously considered becoming an actress that I felt admired. Meryl (Streep), obviously. But also Sissy Spacek, Vanessa Redgrave, Catherine Deneuve or my friend Isabelle Huppert. They are extraordinary actresses that I love watching in the cinema. I particularly like European actresses. They radiate a humanity that belongs only to them. In America, in so-called commercial cinema, we sometimes tend to focus on flashiness. As a result, things don’t always seem real. European actresses, we have the impression that we could touch them. They are real people in the greatest beauty possible. I felt that way when I discovered Without roof or lawby Agnès Varda. I was stunned. This realism resonated with me. I would love to tour in France! I am very sensitive to the cinema of Justine Triet and that of Audrey Diwan. »

Euthanasia

“It’s a considerably emotional subject: it’s difficult to take a position. There is the reality of death, inevitable, and as we age, the experience of the death of others, of our own, is significant. However, it remains unacceptable. I remember myself at 20, when the AIDS epidemic hit my generation hard. I lost so many friends at a young age, it was a horrible shock to go through… In the United States, legislation on euthanasia varies by state. In New York, where I live, it is not authorized, nor is assisted suicide. I believe that we are completely helpless in the face of the outbreak of the disease. In Pedro’s film, the character of Tilda suffers so much that she can no longer enjoy anything, that nothing can relieve her, neither reading, nor music, nor even conversation. The film makes you think about all this. And at the same time, it is in no way a depressive film. It is also a celebration of life. This is the reason why, in the film, Tilda and I are wearing makeup, doing our hair, and wearing brightly colored clothes. In the house they rented in the forest, there are flowers and fruits everywhere which heighten the senses, reminding us that life is everywhere and that it is the strongest. In Venice, where he won the Golden Lion, Pedro was asked a lot about death and aging. He invariably replied that every day gained is a victory…”

The room next door, by Pedro Almodóvar, in theaters January 8, 2025.