There was nothing painful about the reception at Cannes A Bitter ChristmasPedro Almodóvar’s latest Spanish melodrama—his 23rd feature and eighth at the festival (not including 2023 A Strange Way of Lifehis 30-minute western hero starring Ethan Hawke and Pedro Pascal).
A standing ovation greeted her as she entered the Grand Lumière Theater for the premiere of her film, which has attracted everyone from Juliette Binoche to filmmakers such as Abel Ferrara, Darren Aronofsky and two-time Palme d’Or winner Ken Loach. Even gay Instagram sensation Jordan Firstman was there, whose first name directed the script, a beautiful father-son drama. Club Kidit was the toast of Cannes a few days ago and sold for $17 million to A24.
“Merci beaucoup,” Almodóvar said to the adoring crowd after the screening. “Of all the audiences I meet when watching my films, the audience of this big hall I think are the warmest and most loving people I have ever met.
Then he took a brilliant turn. “I will miss it a lot in the future, when I will be away and only have to watch it on television.”
Is the 76-year-old director planning to retire? Or is he starting to feel his age? “It wasn’t a goodbye. On the contrary, I already have ideas for my next film,” he assured reporters at the film’s press conference. But the day I can no longer come because I don’t have a movie or—I don’t know how high the situation might be—of course, I will miss things deeply. I have a lot of anticipation and a lot of love for this festival.”
Despite its name, A Bitter Christmas It’s a little holiday film and a reflection on Pirandello’s storytelling, creativity and the questionable moral origins of inspiration. It also resembles Almodóvar’s 2019 semiautobiographical film Pain and Glorywhich starred Antonio Banderas as Almodóvar’s alter ego showing how his filmmaking life is intertwined with physical ailments such as his chronic back pain.
A Bitter Christmas it combines two stories: the account of a famous filmmaker named Raúl (Leonardo Sbaraglia, sporting an Almodóvarian salt-and-pepper beard and shaggy locks); and a screenplay she’s in the middle of writing, which follows a troubled cult film director named Elsa (Bárbara Lennie) who suffers from migraines.
Raúl’s screenwriting process strains her relationship with her boyfriend Santi (Quim Gutiérrez) and longtime assistant Mónica (Aitana Sánchez-Gijón), as Elsa’s story and the characters that populate it are full of real events that Raúl recycles into plot points. “He’s deceiving us,” Mónica said at one point, accusing Raúl of exploiting the people around him.
“A Bitter Christmas again Pain and Glory it might seem connected, like a kind of diptych, because I’m talking about myself in both films,” says Almodóvar. A Bitter Christmasthe pain is a moral pain, a mental pain, which is felt as endless, and I see myself as part of Raúl. It is an unbearable situation, you feel that you are dealing with the worst problem there is.”
At times, the film feels like a confessional, and it certainly ranks among the most soul-searching dramas he’s made in the last fifty years. “At least I try to make sure that I don’t hurt anyone in the whole process,” he said. “But Raúl doesn’t care. It’s the nature of a creative person, he’s selfish. And it’s very dangerous for everyone around him. There’s a moral debate that hasn’t really been clarified, which affects the moral sensitivity of the creator. The pain is all over the film. Everyone is dealing with some kind of bereavement.”
Actors in A Bitter Christmas dealing with panic attacks, infidelity, emotionally neglected partners and even the death of a child. For Raúl—and for Almodóvar—everything is old fodder ready to be licked off, whether it comes from reality or fantasy. And that can be hard to stand for, even if it hurts people in real life. “Creation is mysterious and powerful,” he said. “And when you feel inspired, it’s impossible not to follow that path—even if I don’t know where it will lead.”
When a reporter asked the director if he was interested in exploring other titles, Almodóvar readily agreed. “Yes, of course, I’m tired,” he admitted. “I don’t want to turn to myself to continue writing. I would really like to change direction. This film is clear, it’s probably my last. I think the next film will be different. It will have a lot of dark humor.”
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