S Poddar
Pedro Almodóvar is one of the most interesting Spanish filmmakers who colours up and adds emotion to film scenes. In The Room Next Door, he tries his hand at English speaking for the first time. It is amongst one of his first films produced in the English language, a huge change from other Spanish-speaking film projects. He doesn’t disappoint as he addresses this sensitive and personal topic of growing up and mortality. Adaptation of a novel written by Sigrid Nunez, viewers can see Julianne Moore and Tilda Swinton perform in ways they never have before.
The story focuses on Moore’s Ingrid and Swinton’s Martha, who begin as inseparable magazine journalists in 1980s New York, then get older and farther apart. Moore has become an author and faces her fear of death through words, while Martha has carved out a career as a fearless war reporter. Their reunion is prompted by Ingrid’s discovery that Martha is undergoing treatment for cervical cancer in a Manhattan hospital. They reconnect, their bond starts sizzling again in deeply intense ways.
Martha, whose health has deteriorated alarmingly, reveals that she has obtained on the dark web a euthanasia pill and is going to take it. She asks Ingrid to be present in the next room for the moment of truth. This sets up a very personal and emotional type of story.
The film is right from the beginning of Almighty Almodóvar, as far as its enamel colours go, to some very unconventional character choices. Besides, the film derives its strangeness from its New York setting juxtaposed with the Spanish flavor inside. The dialogue, often redolent of Woody Allen’s later films, is sometimes overly formal, in certain scenes when Martha talks of her estranged daughter, relating their relationship in phrases of elaborate proportions. A little of this stiffness could, of course, be put to Almodóvar’s use of the English language, but at times, that does reduce the smoothness of the movie.
Despite these moments of awkward dialogue, The Room Next Door becomes poignant as it progresses. The transition of the movie from New York to a sumptuous, remote house in the mountains reflects a story that becomes warmer and more touching. It is here that Martha will spend her remaining days with Ingrid, their relationship deepening, telling of an honest emotional connection between these two characters. Supporting performances by John Turturro and Alessandro Nivola further enrich the story. Turturro plays a past boyfriend who has now become an elocutionist on climate change, while Nivola brings tension as a detective with moral objections to suicide.
At 74, Almodóvar is not keeping his thoughts about dying. The Room Next Door is full of mature themes and can be humorous at moments, melodramatic; telling a story that not only is it not particularly deep but deeply touching since the end of life is nearing, and how joy is found in the worst of conditions. Singular for its rare combination of sensitivity and insight, offering the viewer a unique and compelling cinematic experience.
