Spanish movie legend Pedro Almod¨®var puts out a different kind of picture

Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almod¨®var spent much of 2017 holed up inside his office, writing the screenplay for his upcoming movie Dolor y gloria (Pain and Glory), which is set to reunite some of his past cast members Pen¨¦lope Cruz and Antonio Banderas.

¡°I try to shut everything out so nothing will distract me from my writing; for instance I listen to music without lyrics, so they will not get in the way,¡± explains the 69-year-old director of some of Spain¡¯s most internationally acclaimed movies, including Talk to Her, Volver, and the 1980s comedy classic Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown.

I like films about movie directors in crisis

Pedro Almod¨®var

During the entire time that he spent on the script, Almod¨®var has allowed himself one form of entertainment: photography. This art often crops up in his films, yet he himself had never tried his hand at it.

Using just two backgrounds ¨C the view to the left from his office chair, and a window and electrical socket in the kitchen ¨C Almod¨®var began creating still-life compositions using decorative elements in his house.

¡°I used photography like anxiety medication while I was taking breaks from the screenplay,¡± he confesses.

The results of that work first went on display in September at La Fresh Gallery, where proceeds from sales went to charitable organizations. Now, Almod¨®var¡¯s photographs are up again at the Marlborough gallery as part of the PHotoEspa?a photography festival.

¡°I don¡¯t want to call it a hobby because I don¡¯t practice it, and I don¡¯t have high aspirations with this either,¡± says Almod¨®var, sitting in a room adjoining the exhibition space. Above all, he defends ¡°the narrative power of photography,¡± which is the reason it is always present in his films.

¡°I find photographs a lot more evocative than videos or the old Super-8 films,¡± he says. ¡°They contain a great mystery. Time plays in favor of the expressive content of photographs, giving it new meanings.¡±

¡°Many of the photos that show up in my movies also have great sentimental value, like the shot of Pina Bausch at the head of Leonor Watling¡¯s bed in Talk To Her,¡± he explains. ¡°In general, I show portraits that have something to do with me.¡±

The name of the exhibition is Vida detenida, the literal translation of ¡°still life¡± (the artistic genre is known in Spanish as bodeg¨®n). ¡°I use flowers, vases, objects within my reach. It is very satisfying because these are my things, and I feel that they are talking to me. But it¡¯s just a form of entertainment, I cannot presume to rival the use of flowers by people such as Robert Mapplethorpe, for instance.¡±

Almod¨®var reveals that he used a digital camera and natural light, and did not touch up his work at all. ¡°I create pretty, pleasant compositions that are easy to live with,¡± he says, laughing before the inevitable question crops up: ¡°Exactly the opposite of my films, which are unsettling, based on provocation, on the sense of questioning things.¡±

Still life

Although still life is a genre that has been practiced by artists across Europe, it has a place of honor in Spanish art, and Almod¨®var wanted to pay tribute to that.

¡°From S¨¢nchez Cot¨¢n, whose still-life works are well represented at the Prado, to Zurbar¨¢n, I think that all painters have tackled this genre at some point. Picasso, Antonio L¨®pez... I would like to underscore that most of them captured moments in life, not dead things, and that is the meaning of my exhibition title. I feel very influenced by Antonio L¨®pez, by his hyper-realism and portraits of solitude. This solitude is the genesis for my new project.¡±

A drama, Pain and Glory follows a film director played by Antonio Banderas in his waning years. ¡°I like films about movie directors in crisis,¡± says Almod¨®var, mentioning Fellini¡¯s 8? and Truffaut¡¯s Day for Night. Shooting will begin in mid-July. ¡°But the movie bears no relation to these pictures,¡± he warns.

English version by Susana Urra.