Pedro Almodovar, Golden Lion at Venice for his first American film, a plea on assisted suicide

L'émotion de Pedro Almodovar, ce samedi à Venise. MAXPPP – FABIO FRUSTACI

Le réalisateur espagnol a remporté le Lion d'or à Venise pour "The Room Next Door". Lors de son discours, trophée en mains, il a défendu un "droit fondamental".

The Venice Film Festival on Saturday awarded its Golden Lion to Spaniard Pedro Almodovar for his first American film, giving him the opportunity to make a plea in favor of assisted suicide, the central theme of “The Room Next Door”.

A feature film with a twilight tone, “The Room Next Door” tells the story of Ingrid (Julianne Moore), a novelist who is anxious about the end of her life, and Martha (Tilda Swinton), her childhood friend, a former war reporter accustomed to defying death, living alone in her beautiful New York apartment and who, suffering from cancer, decides to end her life.

Plaidoyer

“I believe that saying goodbye to this world properly and with dignity is a fundamental right of every human being”, said the former enfant terrible of Movida when receiving his award on the stage of the Palazzo del Cinema in Venice's Lido. “I know that this right goes against religions or beliefs that have God as the only source of life”, he added, urging “believers of all religions to respect and not interfere in individual decisions on this matter“. “Human beings must be free (…) to die when life is unbearable for them”, he concluded.

At 74, Almodovar, author of masterpieces such as “All About My Mother” and “Talk to Her”, which won Oscars, had never been awarded the top prize at a festival. It was finally the jury chaired by Isabelle Huppert, another great face of European auteur cinema, who awarded this distinction to the Spaniard, a filmmaker of women and feelings par excellence. “It's my first film in English but the spirit is Spanish”, he commented.

Increasingly tormented works

A colorful character, still appearing in Venice dressed in a salmon pink suit, Almodovar nonetheless harbors a certain darkness, more marked in recent years. While his name has long been synonymous with transgression, daring humor, flamboyant melodramas and unusual heroines, his works are increasingly tormented by physical decline and the fear of death. To explain this new seriousness, he often evokes his life as an aging man, reclusive with a cat and "fantasmas" (ghosts or fantasies).

Nicole Kidman and Vincent Lindon honored

The Silver Lion was awarded to "Vermiglio" by Italian director Maura Delpero, a family drama set in the Italian Alps during World War II. Australian Nicole Kidman won best actress for her role in “Babygirl” and Frenchman Vincent Lindon was named best actor for his performance in the French film “The Quiet Son”.