- Title: Pedro Almodovar back with female focused drama 'Julieta'
- Date: 17th May 2016
- Summary: CANNES, FRANCE (MAY 17, 2016) (REUTERS) **** WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY **** ACTORS ROSSY DE PALMA, ACTRESS ADRIANA UGARTE, DIRECTOR PEDRO ALMODOVAR AND ACTRESS EMMA SUAREZ ENTERING NEWS CONFERENCE MOBILE PHONES FILMING CONFERENCE ACTORS ROSSY DE PALMA, DANIEL GRAO, ADRIANA UGARTE, DIRECTOR PEDRO ALMODOVAR, ACTORS EMMA SUAREZ, MICHELLE JENNER, INMA CUESTA AND PRODUCER AGUSTIN ALMODOVAR SEATED AT 'JULIETA' PRESS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) DIRECTOR, PEDRO ALMODOVAR, SAYING: (TRANSLATION PROVIDED BY FESTIVAL TRANSLATOR) ''So once again I think I have come back to a place - a place that I will never leave altogether which is the universe of women - the feminine universe. I have done lots of movies about mothers but I believe this mother - the mother of this movie 'Julieta' if you compare her with other mothers she's the most vulnerable mother - the weakest - with the least capacity to fight - she resists passively and with desperation - if that's possible for something like that to exist, and that's if we compare to all other mothers in my films who are all powerful women with an ability to struggle which seems above human - but Julieta well - in thinking about her character as a scriptwriter I turned her into the victim of losses that happen throughout her life that begin to zap her power as a person - and the last scenes - interpreted by Emma Suarez she is like a zombie that walks through the streets without any particular direction.''
- 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: LVA0014I75QH9
- 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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