You know at this point Spanish superstar director Pedro Almodovar has nothing to prove. Not only his resume filled with classics like “Woman on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown,” “Volver,” “Parallel Mothers,” “All About My Mother” etc etc etc. But also he gave us his first short film in English, “Strange Way of Life.”
“Strange Way” was kind of the appetizer for a colossal Almodovar experience with “The Room Next Door,” starring Tilda Swinton as a cancer ridden patient who wants her friend, Julianne Moore, to witness her death. This a three hander since John Turturro plays their mutual ex boyfriend, now friend.
Sometimes when you’re reading the English subtitles on Almodovar films, the story set up seems a little awkward. Then the plot kicks in, and the films sail on smooth water. So it’s funny the same is true of “Room,” even in English, as Almodovar gets the characters into place. He has to establish who Swinton and Moore are, their world, and how they will play out his beats.
A lot of “Room” riffs on James Joyce’s “The Dead,” especially the John Huston movie (you must see it anyway if you never have). The reason “Room” won the Venice Film Festival earlier this month is because it operates on so many levels. In a very Joycesian way, “Room” washes over you with a lyrical poetry and a wry sense of humor so that it’s never maudlin. The sound of it is so authentic you’re happy to go on this ride.
There’s no question that “Room” will be a big awards entry with Best Picture, Actresses, Screenplay, etc all in the mix. Alberto Iglesias’s score gives the film almost a Hitchcock like feel that underpins the main section, when Swinton’s Martha and Moore’s Ingrid go to an architectural dream of a house in the woods for Martha’s ending. The score becomes a character in this inevitable dance of life and death.
There’s also a startling twist in the third act — another SPOILER that must never be given away. The great Alessandro Nivola turns up as a voice of reason after the plot thus far has had a dreamy grip on the audience. But he has to deal with the aftermath in Martha’s estranged daughter.
By the way, it’s not like “Room” is a three hanky tear jerker or desperately sad despite the subject matter. Moore in particular gets a lot of space to make the audience at least chortle when Swinton confronts her with her proposition. In a moment, Almodovar and Moore put the audience at ease when Ingrid says to Martha something everyone in the dark is thinking.
Nobody writes relationships among women like Almodovar, and he doesn’t let us down here. What a career arc he’s had — these women are no longer on the verge of nervous breakdowns. They’ve transcended all of that for something far richer.
