13/05/2008

Pedro Almodóvar has revealed more clues about Broken Embraces, which will start shooting on May 26 in Lanzarote (Canary Islands), although the film will be set mostly in Madrid.

This isn’t the first time the director has talked about the preparations for his new film, as details have already been published on his new blog. However, nothing has yet been disclosed about the plot, which Almodóvar wants to keep under wraps until the film’s release.

The filmmaker has described the film as "a very dark drama, a thriller that encompasses a love story, in which the characters suffer a great deal and do awful things". Broken Embraces will be his longest production, almost 45 minutes longer than Volver [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Agustín Almodóvar
interview: Carmen Maura
interview: Pedro Almodóvar
interview: Pénélope Cruz
film profile] (i.e., around three hours), and his most expensive to date.

The film – written by Almodóvar – is inspired by a photograph taken in Lanzarote and is set over two time periods: the present day and the mid-1990s. The La Mancha-born filmmaker added enigmatically: “It will be a celebration of fiction, a great feast of story-telling".

The cast has also been confirmed and will include Penélope Cruz (who will sport a platinum blonde wig in her fourth film as an “Almodóvar girl”), Blanca Portillo, José Luis Gómez, Lluís Homar, Tamar Novas and Rubén Ochandiano. There will also be special appearances by Ángela Molina, Rosy de Palma and Chus Lampreave.

The soundtrack will be composed by Alberto Iglesias, who was nominated for the Best Original Score Oscar for The Kite Runner. The film will be lensed by Mexican DoP Rodrigo Prieto (Brokeback Mountain).

Broken Embraces will be Almodóvar’s 17th film and is produced, as usual, by his company El Deseo. For the first time in the director’s career, the film will be co-produced by a major US studio, Universal, while Focus Features will handle distribution in Spain.

(Translated from Spanish)