Magazin für unabhängiges Kino
Filmwecker
Filmnotiz

Neue Notiz

The Room Next Door

In Pedro Almodóvar’s first English-speaking film, Tilda Swinton and Julianne Moore play former friends Ingrid and Martha. When they reconnect, Martha is terminally ill with cancer.

More

THE ROOM NEXT DOOR, which just won the Golden Lion in Venice, is Pedro Almodóvar’s first English-speaking film. Tilda Swinton and Julianne Moore play two friends who used to be very close and who also share an ex-lover, but have lost touch a long time ago. During a reading in New York, Ingrid (Moore), who is a successful writer, finds out that Martha (Swinton), who worked as a war correspondent, has terminal cancer. She visits Martha in the hospital and almost by chance, because she is there and also because she cannot say no, she becomes an ally in Martha's last days. Martha wants to have a self-determined death, which she has planned in meticulous detail as if it’s a sophisticated crime, and she wants a person who will be close by then.

The fact that the way Martha involves Ingrid in her plans borders on emotional blackmail is just as much a part of the rough edges of the story as the fact that Ingrid does not tell Martha that she is still in contact with the aforementioned ex-lover. THE ROOM NEXT DOOR, adapted from the novel “What Are You Going Through?“ by Sigrid Nunez, is like Almodóvar’s colorful fantasy of a good death in the face of disease and decay, and the set pieces differ from his usual cinematic offerings, which usually entail dreams of reconciliation with loved ones, liberation from guilt, and ruthless honesty. Conversations often revolve around art that endures even when everything else becomes uninteresting - "The Dead" by Joyce is quoted again and again -, the color scheme revels in tasteful contrasts, and the central theme is, as so often with Almodóvar, the radically self-determined design of one's own life.

THE ROOM NEXT DOOR is reminiscent of Almodóvar’s PAIN AND GLORY in the way in which individual characters and conversations are more like vehicles for the director’s reflections than psychologically believable people. That is especially apparent in Julianne Moore, who is known for her more nuanced, naturalistic performances. One of Almodóvar's positions is the vehement commitment to the legalization of euthanasia. But the film also formulates the opposing position. At some point Ingrid says: “It’s about the right to die with dignity“ and her counterpart laconically counters “don’t worry, if the healthcare system collapses, we all will.“

Hendrike Bake

Translation: Elinor Lewy

Credits

Spanien 2024, 110 min
Genre: Drama, Tragicomedy
Director: Pedro Almodóvar
Author: Pedro Almodovar
DOP: Eduard Grau
Montage: Teresa Font
Music: Alberto Iglesias
Distributor: Warner Bros.
Cast: Tilda Swinton, Julianne Moore, John Turturro, Alessandro Nivola, Juan Diego Botto
Release: 24.10.2024

Website
IMDB

Screenings

  • OV Original version
  • OmU Original with German subtitles
  • OmeU Original with English subtitles
Filter
  • OV Original version
  • OmU Original with German subtitles
  • OmeU Original with English subtitles
Multiplexe anzeigen

The Room Next Door

Spanien 2024 | Drama, Tragicomedy | R: Pedro Almodóvar

In Pedro Almodóvar’s first English-speaking film, Tilda Swinton and Julianne Moore play former friends Ingrid and Martha. When they reconnect, Martha is terminally ill with cancer.

Screenings

Friedrichshain

b-ware! ladenkino

TODAY

OmU14:45

15.02. – Sat

TicketsBuy Tickets OmU14:45

17.02. – Mon

TicketsBuy Tickets OmU14:45

18.02. – Tue

TicketsBuy Tickets OmU14:45

ALLE ANGABEN OHNE GEWÄHR.
Die Inhalte dieser Webseite dürfen nicht gehandelt oder weitergegeben werden. Jede Vervielfältigung, Veröffentlichung oder andere Nutzung dieser Inhalte ist verboten, soweit die INDIEKINO BERLIN UG (haftungsbeschränkt) nicht ausdrücklich schriftlich ihr Einverständnis erklärt hat.