Pedro Almodóvar says Hollywood films have too many cooks in the kitchen
The great Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar isn’t going to the dark side anytime soon.
Almodóvar described himself as an undisputed auteur who makes all the important decisions in his films, citing the reason why he has not made a single American film in his nearly 50-year cinematic career.
“I have a certain way of working and my intuition told me that this is not the way to work in Hollywood or with the studios,” Almodóvar said an interview with the Independent. “I mean, I’m a craftsman.”
Almodóvar, whose gay Western short film “Strange Way of Life” starring Pedro Pascal and Ethan Hawke hits theaters next month, didn’t describe himself as a “control freak,” but he made no secret of the fact that it’s not just in his films Has cards in hand – He always keeps the entire deck within easy reach.
“Everything here is mine,” he told the Independent, running his hand across his desk. “I’ll do anything.”
Almodóvar’s resume speaks for itself, perhaps more than any other foreign film director in the history of cinema.
There is no shortage of Spanish classics on his list of respected films, from “Tie Me Up!” (1989) to “Volver” (2006) to the more recent “Pain and Glory” (2019). His many awards include Oscars for 1999’s “All About My Mother” (Best Foreign Language Film) and 2002’s “Talk to Her” (Best Original Screenplay).
So, to outsiders, Almodóvar has the distinction of speaking authoritatively about Hollywood directors who, in his opinion, by and large don’t get enough credit.
“Even if you read [trade publications]“They talk about the actors, but not the directors,” Almodóvar said. “I mean, if so [Martin] Scorsese or [Quentin] Tarantino, you’re there – but it feels like the director is just part of the crew.
“It is a question of power,” Almodóvar added. “In my opinion, in this system the director has many voices that he needs to hear. They had to listen to the producers, the actors – in some cases even the agents. I don’t think that would be a system I could work in.”
But Almodóvar makes no apologies for using some of the best Hollywood actors of his time, including in his latest Oscar competition.
“One of my hopes is that after people see Strange Way of Life, a light goes on in people’s minds and they say, ‘He can do more than what we hire him to do.'” Almodóvar said of Pascal: “Not just epic roles! I have nothing against epic roles, but as an actor he is more versatile.”