Pedro Almodovar’s strong men
In his new film «Hable con Ella» (Talk to Her), which opened in Greece on Friday in one if its international premieres, Pedro Almodovar, «the women’s director,» seeming more mature, deeper and more sensitive, has given the leading roles to men. The two male protagonists, Benino (Javier Camara) and Marco (Dario Grandinetti), are represented as far more sensitive and vulnerable than any of the other men in Almodovar’s previous films. This is all because of the women they love. Lydia (Rosario Flores) and Alicia (Leonor Watling), a bullfighter and a dancer respectively, have both been dealt a fateful blow and wind up in a coma. These four characters live out intense situations and portray deep emotions in a complex love story which manages to combine erotic passion, including a rape, with the dance of choreographer Pina Bausch. The two lead actors came to Athens for the film’s premiere. Kathimerini spoke to them about the intensity of the heroes whom they play and their collaboration with Almodovar. Grandinetti was more distant, Camara more direct and jovial. The latter was waiting for the interview to end so that he could go out and buy a CD of Haris Alexiou. You are new members to Almodovar’s cinematographic family. How easy or difficult was it to work with him? JC: We were passionate about the work, it was an enjoyable experience. The filming was something which evolved completely naturally. DG: We didn’t need to go into any particular analysis. JC: We expected that working with such a famous director would be more difficult, but ultimately he was simple in his approach and in his collaboration with the actors. It was an experience full of passion and intensity and we felt that our work was being rewarded. How did you prepare your roles? Especially Javier, who had to deal with a controversial moral issue, that of rape. JC: My role has two aspects. For the first, that of my profession as a nurse, I had to do some research, just as in an earlier film where I played a bullfighter, I had to take some lessons in order to be convincing. As for the issue of rape, I think that Pedro made his position quite clear in the film. The important thing is not what the actor thinks, but what the viewer thinks. Pedro made a decision as to how the story was to develop, but from that point on the viewer intervenes. He or she decides what is good, what is bad, if he or she identifies with the character or not, if he or she likes or dislikes Benino. DG: Pedro’s screenplays contain a lot of information and are structured in a clear way. He writes everything relating to the situations and the characters very clearly. Whenever you ask him a question, he’ll give you a 10-15 minute reply and give you even more detail. Everything is completely clear when filming begins: What is the situation, how the characters react, etc. I did some preparation, but the problem with cinema is that it is difficult when shooting to put into practice some things you have thought about the role. It depends on the scenery, the limits placed on it, as well as the actions of the other actors, who determine to a certain extent your own interpretation, so that there is synchronization and chemistry. When a screenplay contains such specific ideas about a role, what room is there for the actor to participate in the creation of the character? DG: There was much more freedom than we thought there would be. Pedro made us improvise and to continue the scenes’ momentum, without ever planning to use them in the final edit. We had clear in our minds the ideas laid out in the screenplay, and from there we began to develop the characters and the situations. The character that I play, Marco, is an Argentinean. Pedro does not know the expressions used in Argentine Spanish, so he would say to me, «speak Argentinean, not Spanish.» It’s important for an actor to feel that the director trusts him; we felt this. JC: Even though the screenplay is so explicit, Pedro changed it constantly during the filming. We continuously improvised. One day I was depressed, and this changed the whole scene. This was strange for us because we considered him to be something of a totem, a tyrannical figure for us actors. We saw that he is not like this. He is human; he is an artist who is influenced by his emotions. You think that he has the film prepared in his mind before he even leaves his home to go to the shoot. But what he has absolutely clear in his mind is the idea of the scene. The dialogues can change at any moment. For example, in the scene where I am on the balcony of the hospital with Alicia (Leonor Watling) and Geraldine Chaplin and we are discussing dance productions, the dialogue was completely improvised. Almodovar doesn’t have the screenplay like a Bible. With technical things, he is incredibly strict, but, as regards the actors, he allows much freedom, he creates an almost religious atmosphere. And this is something which makes us happy. In contrast with most of Almodovar’s films, where the lead characters are women, here, they are men. How did you deal with this distinction? JC: In Pedro’s films men are usually strong, but the emotions belong to the women. It’s true that in «Hable con Ella» the men’s positions have surprised some. They cry; they are passionate and full of emotions. It’s wonderful, and extremely interesting. DG: Everyone talks about Almodovar’s women and so I was eager to play in one of his films where the main focus fell on the men. I don’t understand, however, what those who talk about the «Almodovarian» female environment mean. The truth is that Pedro is a director. He has ideas, develops them and makes films. He’s written roles for men in the past, such as in «Matador,» «Atame!» or «Carne Tremula.» I don’t understand this label, this predetermined «female» image people have of his films. I believe this film explodes the myth that he creates roles for women only. You have referred to the powerful emotions that your characters experience. Do you ever consider that the characters whom you portray experience more powerful situations than those in real life? DG: In my case, no. I have a very intense and emotional life. JC: Benino is a very special case. I searched my mind, my body, my passions and my emotions in order to mold and develop his character. There is a little piece of my heart in him. Thanks to him, I learnt a little more about love. I came to love him as a person full of extreme emotions because of love. His tragic story contains the deeper meaning of love.
