Pedro Almodovar Returns To Female-Led Films With Silencio

Spanish director Pedro Almodovar has long been considered a “women’s director,” not least because the vast majority of his film focus on the lives of female characters. His last effort, I’m So Excited departed from the paradigm just a bit, but the director says he now has plans to return to female-led dramas with his next feature, Silencio.

In a conversation with the Financial Times (via The Film Stage), Almodovar discussed his return to “the cinema of women” and some of his hopes (and fears) about possibly making movies in America.

Here’s what he had to say on the subject of Silencio:

It’s a return to the cinema of women, of great female protagonists, and it’s a hard-hitting drama, which excites me…It’s called Silencio because that’s the principal element that drives the worst things that happen to the main female protagonist.

Set for production in April, Almodovar stated that we’re unlikely to see any of his usual cast popping up in the film because “what I’ve written doesn’t quite work with my actores amigos.” That seems an indicative statement that Silencio might still be somewhere outside Almodovar’s usual comfort zone.

Almodovar also said that he would not mind making a movie in America, though he’d likely shy away from doing a film in Hollywood:

They offered me Brokeback Mountain but I had many doubts. Thinking about it, I don’t know if I made a mistake or not [in turning it down]. They promised me total artistic freedom and final cut but it was a story that was so physical — it’s not just that the characters sleep together once — and that has to be there. I think Ang Lee went as far as he could and I like his version very much. But I always imagined it differently and I don’t think I would have been able to make it the way I wanted. They wouldn’t have let me.

Maybe I just was not paying attention back then, but I had no idea that he was up for Brokeback Mountain! Given Almodovar’s unflinching treatment of sexuality and gender in the majority of his films, it would have been fascinating to see what he might have made of that story.

In any case, it’s exciting to hear that one of the finest directors working today is going to return to making female-driven films again. Almodovar has a way of balancing comedy and dark drama that is fascinating to watch, so it will be interesting to see what form Silencio takes and what new actors he chooses to work with.

We will keep an eye out for new information about Silencio and let you know when we here anything. At the moment the film is set to start shooting in April.