Tilda Swinton, Julianne Moore and Pedro Almodóvar are forces to be reckoned with, judging by the reception they received in Venice.
The trio enjoyed thunderous applause in the Sala Grande at the Venice Film Festival on Monday night, where the world premiere of Almodóvar’s first English-language feature was greeted with a 17-minute standing ovation.
His touching film The room next dooran adaptation of the novel by Sigrid Nunez What are you going through?follows best-selling author Ingrid (Moore) and Martha (Swinton) as they rekindle their friendship after losing touch. As they delve into memories, anecdotes, art and films, Martha, who is battling terminal cervical cancer, wants to die with dignity and asks Ingrid to be in the next room when she takes a euthanasia pill.
At the film's press conference held this morning, the Spanish author, known for films such as Woman on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown AND All about my motherhe discussed how the film is pro-euthanasia. “This film is pro-euthanasia,” he said.
“That's something we admire about Tilda's character, she decides that getting rid of cancer can only be done by making the decision that she actually makes… 'If I get there first, cancer won't beat me,' she says. And so she finds a way to achieve her goal with the help of her friend, but they have to act like they're criminals.” She added: “There should be the possibility of having euthanasia all over the world.”
Swinton and Moore are certainly big fans of the director and used their stay in Venice to sing his praises. Moore said that he doesn't know of a director in the world who could have made a better film about female friendship.
“The lens that Pedro puts on this relationship is that not only do we have a mother-daughter story, which we actually see a lot of in literature and movies, but we very rarely see a story of female friendship, and particularly of older friends,” Moore said.
She added: “I don't know if there's another director in the world who would do that.” Her comments were made all the more touching by the obvious camaraderie between her and Swinton during the photoshoot before the press conference.
Swinton also praised the 74-year-old's directorial skills, explaining that she told Almodóvar a long time ago that she would do anything to work with him: “One day, when I was in the same space as him, I said to him: 'Listen, I'll learn Spanish for you. I don't care.' He continued to be the master who always works to be there for this film. To feel the freshness, the rigor and the absolute discipline of him is impressive, and I still feel like a student watching her first film.”
The room next door will have its world premiere on Monday night at the Venice International Film Festival and its U.S. premiere as a highlight of the 2024 New York Film Festival on October 4.
The film will be released in theaters on December 20, after being acquired by Sony Pictures Classics.