Upon sharing his favorite films of all-time late last year, we were curious what would be next for Pedro Almodóvar, the director whose last film was 2013’s I’m So Excited and has since produced the Argentinian Oscar contender Wild Tales. Just a short time later we now have the answer, thanks to a recent conversation with Financial Times.
“It’s a return to the cinema of women, of great female protagonists, and it’s a hard-hitting drama, which excites me,” he says. Revealing the title, he adds, “It’s called Silencio because that’s the principal element that drives the worst things that happen to the main female protagonist.” Not to be confused to Martin Scorsese‘s upcoming Silence, Almodóvar also reveals we might not see his regulars among the cast. While the script is finished and an April production is set, he adds, “We are involved in casting at the moment, which is complicated because what I’ve written doesn’t quite work with my actores amigos.”
As we greatly look forward to the project, he also opens up a bit about his Hollywood experience (or lack of possibility there). “I might make a film in English but not necessarily in Hollywood,” he said. “They offered me Brokeback Mountain but I had many doubts. Thinking about it, I don’t know if I made a mistake or not [in turning it down]. They promised me total artistic freedom and final cut but it was a story that was so physical — it’s not just that the characters sleep together once — and that has to be there. I think Ang Lee went as far as he could and I like his version very much. But I always imagined it differently and I don’t think I would have been able to make it the way I wanted. They wouldn’t have let me.”
Are you looking forward to his next film? Would you have liked to see his Brokeback Mountain?