Pedro Almodóvar has described his latest film, Bitter Christmas, as the riskiest project of his career, while using the story to turn a critical eye on filmmaking, streaming platforms and even himself.
The 76-year-old Spanish director’s 24th feature explores the blurred line between reality and fiction through a story about a filmmaker whose creative work increasingly draws on the lives of those around her.
At the centre of Bitter Christmas is Elsa, played by Bárbara Lennie, a director who returns to filmmaking after years of making commercials. But the story quickly becomes more complicated when it emerges that another filmmaker, Raúl, played by Leonardo Sbaraglia, is writing a film about Elsa.
The result is a layered narrative in which a film contains another film, which itself revolves around another filmmaker. Almodóvar acknowledges that the structure demands considerable attention from audiences.
“I think it is the riskiest film I’ve ever made,” he said, adding that he knowingly took a series of chances with the project. He also suggested that modern audiences have become increasingly less willing to concentrate fully on films.
A film with a message for Netflix
The director also uses Bitter Christmas to revisit his long-running concerns about the growing dominance of streaming platforms.
A scene in the film includes a character suggesting that Raúl take his new project to Netflix, prompting a dismissive response about reducing his work to a television movie.
Almodóvar has been outspoken about Netflix for years. As president of the Cannes Film Festival jury in 2017, he opposed the inclusion of Netflix productions in the competition because they were not scheduled for theatrical release in France.
His concerns have only grown since then. According to Almodóvar, the traditional culture surrounding cinema is gradually disappearing as streaming becomes more dominant.
He pointed not only to theatrical releases but also to film posters, premieres and even the fashion surrounding red-carpet events as elements of cinema culture that are being lost.
“The excitement” is disappearing too, he argued.
His clash with Will Smith
Almodóvar also recalled his experience working with Will Smith on the Cannes jury in 2017. Smith had defended Netflix during the controversy, while Almodóvar remained firmly opposed to the platform’s position.
The Spanish director still has little sympathy for Smith’s arguments. Referring to the actor’s infamous confrontation with Chris Rock at the 2022 Academy Awards, Almodóvar mimicked a slap while recalling the controversy.
He said his experience as Cannes jury president had been unpleasant and admitted that he had not initially wanted to take on the role, agreeing only after persistent pressure from his brother Agustín Almodóvar and Cannes director Thierry Frémaux.
Almodóvar turns the criticism on himself
While the director has frequently drawn on his own experiences, Bitter Christmas takes the idea of artistic self-examination further.
Raúl is effectively an alter ego for Almodóvar. The filmmaker says that around 80% of the character’s dialogue consists of things he himself could say.
Raúl’s relationship with his assistant Mónica deteriorates after she discovers that he has used elements of her life in his screenplay. Through their confrontation, Almodóvar examines the potentially exploitative relationship between artists and the people who become their sources of inspiration.
The director admits that writers and filmmakers can become selfish when they turn personal experiences into art.
“Pain is what inspires me, not happiness,” he said, arguing that the creative process can make artists dangerous to the people around them.
That is why, he explained, he deliberately portrayed Raúl as almost the villain of the film.
‘Sometimes I’ve suffered during shoots’
Almodóvar has previously explored versions of himself through fictional filmmakers, most notably in Pain and Glory. But he says Bitter Christmas gave him an opportunity to be unusually direct in confronting his own behaviour.
In one scene, Mónica accuses Raúl of effectively “vampiring” her life for his work. Almodóvar found writing the confrontation surprisingly liberating because many of the accusations could equally be directed at himself.
He also acknowledged that he has not always been as careful as he claims when borrowing from real life.
He recalled an incident involving a friend whose traumatic experience with ETA militants was transformed into a comic storyline in Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown. His friend was angry when she saw the film, while Almodóvar initially believed he had transformed something painful into a kind of tribute.
The episode has made him more conscious of the potential consequences of using other people’s experiences in his work.
A political message for Europe
Although Bitter Christmas is primarily concerned with the inner world of artists, Almodóvar also used the interview to discuss politics.
He criticised Donald Trump and argued that the European Union should provide a stronger counterweight to what he sees as increasingly unpredictable American politics.
The director particularly praised Spain’s willingness to challenge Trump’s positions on Ukraine and Israel, saying Europe should insist that American policies respect European laws and principles.
Still driven by cinema
Despite health problems, including hearing loss and an eye infection, Almodóvar shows no signs of slowing down.
He is also preparing to publish his first novel, The Man Who Only Wrote on Airplanes, in Spain this October.
Asked about reaching the same age at which his cinematic hero Luis Buñuel made his final film, That Obscure Object of Desire, Almodóvar rejected any suggestion that he was approaching the end of his career.
Unlike Buñuel, he said, he remains completely driven by the desire to make films.
“Cinema is what motivates me and moves me to live,” he said. “And I don’t ever want to rest.”
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