There are all kinds of friendships: close, casual, conflictual… And there is also the one in which, despite years of not seeing each other, we have the impression of having seen each other the day before. It is such a bond that unites Martha and Ingrid, who reconnect when the first, suffering from incurable cancer, intends to choose the moment of her death. Written and directed by Pedro Almodóvar, The Room Next Door (The room next door) offers a poignant, yet surprisingly luminous, end-of-life story. During virtual conferences in which Duty was invited, the filmmaker and actress Tilda Swinton look back on this film which won the Golden Lion in Venice.
Taken from a novel by Sigrid Nunez, The Room Next Door also stars Julianne Moore as Ingrid, the lost and found friend who Martha asks not to assist her, but simply to be there “in the next room” on time ultimate. The subject of the book immediately appealed to Pedro Almodóvar.
“If there is anything definitive, it is death,” he notes. Now, another thing that is definitive is the power of emotions. Death is a theme that generates great narrative energy. It is a powerful dramatic element, but its inclusion should not be gratuitous. My childhood was rocked by death. I see myself again, on these patios in La Manche, surrounded by all these women who talked about death in a very natural way… I come from that culture. »
For the record, this is a second collaboration for Tilda Swinton and Pedro Almodóvar after the short film The human voice (The human voice). Previously, Swinton had met Almodóvar only once, briefly.
“Like the vast majority of English-language actresses, I was hoping that these rumors of a possible English-language film for Pedro would one day come to fruition. Years ago, we crossed paths and I showed him my unconditional love by telling him that I had learned Spanish, but that I could play a mute person, or even a dog… He laughed, but I I didn’t expect him to ask me again. The human voice was an extraordinarily pleasant experience, despite COVID. »
Full of her reminiscences, Tilda Swinton smiles at some memory that has just resurfaced.
“I’m sure Pedro won’t mind if I say it, but at the time of The human voicehis English was very limited. Except that it was a revelation for me to see how little spoken language matters in cinema. Pedro is concerned with musicality, he watches for emotion…”
Shoot this short film, where the English actress plays a jealous lover, then the other short Strange Way of Life (Strange way of living), with Ethan Hawke and Pedro Pascal as cowboys in love, helped to embolden Pedro Almodóvar with regard to the language of Shakespeare.
” In Strange Way of Lifewords are of paramount importance. Because it’s not so much the bodies of the actors that are naked: it’s the words that are. Desire and eroticism are embodied in words,” summarizes the filmmaker.
The snow will fall three times
Returning to the question of language during their initial collaboration, Tilda Swinton makes this fascinating revelation: “Pedro and I spoke to each other using cinematic references. And again for this film. »
In this regard, the actress mentions the scene where Martha puts on makeup, which she usually never does. There is a reason for this, which we will not mention. Regardless, the close-up of her applying lipstick to her lips is a tribute to filmmakers Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger.
“It’s from the movie Black Narcissus (The black narcissus), says Tilda Swinton. In his cut, Pedro had decided that he would insert a close-up of the lipstick application. And I spontaneously mentioned Black Narcissus. We found the clip, and he said, “Sold!” We reproduced as closely as possible this shot and the way in which Kathleen Byron, who plays Sister Ruth, puts on lipstick. This anecdote reflects Pedro’s flexibility. »
For the account, the director loudly claims his cinematographic influences: “When I play a film extract in one of my films, I pay homage to this film, but I also appropriate the sequence cited. »
In The Room Next DoorMartha and Ingrid look like this The Dead (People from Dublin), John Huston’s swan song, based on a short story by James Joyce.
“What I wanted was to sort of ‘steal’ the emotion from one of the scenes in The Deadand integrate this emotion into my film, explains Almodóvar. In this sequence from Huston’s film, there is this reference to snow, and snow appears three times in my own film, as a motif. The first time comes when the characters talk about climate change — we filmed in May and it snowed twice: climate change was very present. »
The second time, it “indirectly” begins to snow, while we see the last shots of the said Huston film that Martha and Ingrid are watching, and in which large flakes fall.
“In my opinion, cinema is the best company there is,” says Almodóvar. And so they look The Deadwhere the narrator delivers this monologue. And suddenly, Tilda joins this narrator, and it becomes like a duet between the two films. The characters talk about the snow that falls “on the living and the dead”…”
« [La neige] had gathered on the twisted crosses and tombstones, on the spearheads of the little gate, on the stripped brushwood. His soul was fading little by little as he heard the snow faintly spreading over the entire universe as at the coming of the last hour over all the living and the dead,” to quote the passage in question.
“The third time it snows in my film,” continues Pedro Almodóvar, “is when Ingrid returns one last time to the house rented by Martha, at the end. For Ingrid, the snow is like a manifestation of Martha’s presence. She in turn resumes the monologue, but this time referring to the swimming pool where she and Martha did not swim, to the forest path that they took and where Martha had to rest… This moment is very important. »
Of infinite grace
Important, the film is entirely in the eyes of Tilda Swinton. Indeed, the actress invested herself in a very particular way in her role… but also in that of her partner.
“This film is incredibly personal to me,” she admits, overcome with a surge of emotion. I have made no secret of the fact that I have had the privilege, many times over the years, of being in Ingrid’s position. To have the opportunity to honor this position, but in the context of a film where I occupy the position of Martha… After having had the honor of accompanying several Marthas in their last moments… I was able to infuse my character and the film with my own experience. And what I feel now, having been able to translate this experience into a work of art, is a profound feeling of catharsis. »
For the actress, The Room Next Door there is nothing sad or distressing, on the contrary. As she told the audience after the North American premiere at TIFF: “This film is not about death, but about dying, and dying happens while you live: to live is to also die. So it’s really a film about life. »
To conclude Tilda Swinton: “Pedro’s vision was so clear, so right, and devoid of the slightest dramatic overkill. This is also an element which, I hope, will surprise and please people: the film talks about things which are of immense importance; perhaps THE most important thing of all, namely the way we approach the end of life. Pedro opted for such simplicity, such restraint… It is infinitely graceful. »
Well said.
The movie The Room Next Door hits theaters on January 10.
