The Cannes Film Festival wrapped up on Sunday and Pedro Almodovar‘s The Skin I Live In was one of the many successes, with only a few detractors among a plethora of praise. So predictably, after whetting the appetites of critics, many are asking what is next for the Spanish auteur. He said the following.
I have a few different projects right now and one of them is in English – for the first time. It’s based on a story and it’s pretty far along actually, but I don’t want to talk about it too much right now because everyone will keep asking me about it…
Almodovar doesn’t speak a great deal of English so presumably the script will be written in Spanish and will then be translated by another script writer, who will likely be altering the language to fit for Western audiences. Personally I don’t see why he feels the need to move into the English language, he’s darn successful as is in Spanish, I doubt it is more the subject matter than the language barrier that stops his films from being mainstream hits. But of course, an Almodovar project is always something to look forward to, no matter what language it’s in.
In other news, after working for years in the English language, with hits like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Be Kind Rewind and more recently making a hash of The Green Hornet, Michel Gondry will return to his native French language. He said at a press conference in Cannes, where he headed the Short Film Jury, that:
I have a little Bolex camera, you crank to rewind it, and you shoot film – 16 millimeter. I’m doing a lot of short film in different subject. When I wanted to convince an actress to be part of my next project, I did an animation of me asking her with flowers and things, and flying, and sky.
Apparently this actress will be Audrey Tautou and he will be directing it in French. So far there are no other details but this probably won’t materialise for a while as Gondry has a documentary for 2013 to complete. So interesting news of two auteurs crossing language barriers, do you think this is good move? Let us know in the comments. (The Film Stage)
