- Title: Pedro Almodovar back with female focused drama 'Julieta'
- Date: 17th May 2016
- Summary: CANNES, FRANCE (MAY 17, 2016) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) DIRECTOR, PEDRO ALMODOVAR, ASKED ABOUT THE PANAMA PAPERS, SAYING: 'My name as well as the name of my brother are some of the least important names that appear in the Panama papers - if the Panama papers were a film our names - we wouldn't even be extras in that film, if the Panama papers were a film. But one of the problems is the Spanish press has been treating us as if we were the leading roles in the Panama papers - and that's not fair. But your question is general and it includes so many different aspects, what you're asking, so ...Panama papers and so many names involved - we don't even actually know what this is actually all about, there hasn't been enough investigation or research carried out yet so - it didn't stop you from seeing the film, did it? You even liked the film - didn't you? So that's what I am hoping will happen with the rest of movie goers." JULIETA SIGNING AUTOGRAPHS AND LEAVING ALMODOVAR SIGNING AUTOGRAPHS ACTORS DANIEL GRAO, ADRIANA UGARTE AND ROSSY DE PALMA SIGNING AUTOGRAPHS VARIOUS ALMODOVAR LEAVING NEWS CONFERENCE
- Embargoed: 1st June 2016 18:58
- Keywords: Pedro Almodovar Julieta Emma Suarez Cannes film festival
- Location: CANNES, FRANCE / VARIOUS FILM LOCATIONS
- City: CANNES, FRANCE / VARIOUS FILM LOCATIONS
- Country: France
- Topics: Film
- Reuters ID: LVA0074I75QH9
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: SPANISH TRANSLATION PROVIDED BY OFFICIAL FESTIVAL INTERPRETER
With "Julieta", which premieres at the Cannes Film Festival on Tuesday (May 17), director Pedro Almodovar returns to the "feminine universe" in trademark colourful fashion.
The film, starring Emma Suarez as the older woman and Adriana Ugarte as her younger self, shows a mother drifting into depression after her daughter disappears. Her husband Xoan, played by Daniel Grao, has died several years beforehand.
"I think I have come back to a place - a place that I will never leave all together which is the universe of women - the feminine universe," Almodovar, who won the Best Director award in Cannes for "All About my Mother" in 1999, said.
He has not made a woman-focused film since "Volver" ten years ago, and in "Julieta" he also explores another favourite theme - mothers.
"I have done lots of movies about mothers but I believe this mother ... if you compare her with other mothers, she's the most vulnerable mother," he told a news conference on Tuesday.
"If we compare her to all other mothers in my films who are all powerful women with an ability to struggle which seems above human - but I turned Julieta her into the victim of losses."
Almodovar's 20th movie uses two actresses to play the role of Julieta, a decision the filmmaker said adds wealth as the character changes with the challenges her life presents.
Questioned about his and his brother's name being cited in the Panama Papers as having ties with an offshore company in the 1990s, he said: "If the Panama papers were a film ... we wouldn't even be extras in that film." - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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