Pedro Almodóvar
Spain’s great moviemaker talks to Blue about Volver, his special relationship with Penélope Cruz, and his gay icon status.
Who can hold a candle to Pedro Almodóvar? Like a good Tempranillo, his films get richer and more delicious the older he gets. And with every new movie, his position as the world’s greatest auteur director becomes firmer and firmer. When he’s not breaking the boundaries of sexuality and gender (Law of Desire, Bad Education, High Heels), he’s touchingly exploring the worlds of grief (All about My Mother) and heterosexual desire (Talk to Her) and winning Oscars for it.
It’s a rare feeling in a cinema to be able to sit back and let a story unfold before your
eyes, never once worrying that the experience will be anything but joyous.
But from the opening shot of Volver – panning across a cemetery buzzing with activity as women of La Mancha scrub the graves of the dead – you know you’re in the hands of a storyteller at the height of his powers: a man who loves life as much as the toiling widows love their dear departed...
For more of this article, check out Blue+66