All About the Vibrant Decor in Pedro Almodóvar’s Films
Interior design is a key element in the Spanish director’s movies, including in his Oscar-nominated ‘Pain and Glory’
Interior design is an important storytelling tool for Spanish film director Pedro Almodóvar, as seen in his latest movie, Pain and Glory (2019), which features a home that is a replica of the director’s own home in Madrid. “For Pedro, interior design is a character in the movie,” says Antxón Gómez, Pain and Glory’s production director and a collaborator of Almodóvar’s for years. Icons of 20th-century design, art and other objects with Spanish character, and a palette dominated by red, are essential ingredients of his film sets.
Pain and Glory has been nominated for two Oscars: Best Foreign Language Film and Best Actor (Antonio Banderas). The Academy Awards ceremony is Sunday, Feb. 9. Here we look at the sets for Almodóvar’s current movie and well-known films from the past.
Pain and Glory has been nominated for two Oscars: Best Foreign Language Film and Best Actor (Antonio Banderas). The Academy Awards ceremony is Sunday, Feb. 9. Here we look at the sets for Almodóvar’s current movie and well-known films from the past.
“All About My Mother.” Photo by Teresa Isasi
As to why Almodóvar is so interested in interior design, Gómez says he believes that “it is because of the influence of classic Hollywood cinema, in which the universes where things happen are important. His movies seek to recall and re-create sets from the golden age of Hollywood.”
He adds, “Besides, Pedro is a sensitive person who is interested in art in general, objects and paintings.” Gómez handled the art direction for All About My Mother, seen here, as well as for Talk to Her (2002), The Skin I Live In (2011) and Pain and Glory.
As to why Almodóvar is so interested in interior design, Gómez says he believes that “it is because of the influence of classic Hollywood cinema, in which the universes where things happen are important. His movies seek to recall and re-create sets from the golden age of Hollywood.”
He adds, “Besides, Pedro is a sensitive person who is interested in art in general, objects and paintings.” Gómez handled the art direction for All About My Mother, seen here, as well as for Talk to Her (2002), The Skin I Live In (2011) and Pain and Glory.
“Pain and Glory” (2019). Photo by Manolo Pavón
“My job is to decide where we shoot, both the natural sets and those built in a studio. Interior design is an essential part of my work, and personally, I feel almost more linked to design and interior design than to cinema,” says Gómez, who dedicates about six months of work to each movie and who is one of the first people with whom Almodóvar shares his scripts.
In the photo here, we see the kitchen of the protagonist in Pain and Glory. It’s a replica of the director’s kitchen. The chairs are a design by Piet Hein Eek. On the wall to the right is a painting by Maruja Mallo, El Racimo de Uvas (1944).
“My job is to decide where we shoot, both the natural sets and those built in a studio. Interior design is an essential part of my work, and personally, I feel almost more linked to design and interior design than to cinema,” says Gómez, who dedicates about six months of work to each movie and who is one of the first people with whom Almodóvar shares his scripts.
In the photo here, we see the kitchen of the protagonist in Pain and Glory. It’s a replica of the director’s kitchen. The chairs are a design by Piet Hein Eek. On the wall to the right is a painting by Maruja Mallo, El Racimo de Uvas (1944).
“Pain and Glory.” Photo by Manolo Pavón
How Almodóvar Uses Decor in His Movies
After more than 20 movies, it can be said that there is an “Almodovarian” style in decor. It is eclectic, colorful and very loud all at once. His latest film maintains that color, though in a more casual manner.
In Pain and Glory, Salvador Mallo, alter ego of the director and played by Antonio Banderas, seen here, lives in a house full of pieces of art. The artworks include Maruja Mallo’s surrealist painting Máscaras Diagonal (1951), also seen here, as well as a black-and-white Man Ray photo.
In this photo, we see the Utrecht chair by Gerrit Rietveld; Strawberry Bearbrick bears, the result of a collaboration among Clot, Levi’s and Medicom Toys; and the white Fjord H chair, designed by Patricia Urquiola for Moroso, serving as a symbol of the recognition that the director has gained.
In the rooms, each furniture piece and accessory has a story behind it, accompanying and reinforcing the emotions of the character and the personal experiences of the director.
Hence the inclusion of El Racimo de Uvas. This small oil painting by Maruja Mallo mentioned above has long been an object of desire for the director. Almodóvar fell in love with it upon seeing it in a 2017 exhibition about Mallo at the Guillermo de Osma gallery in Madrid, according to the newspaper El País following the premiere of the movie.
How Almodóvar Uses Decor in His Movies
After more than 20 movies, it can be said that there is an “Almodovarian” style in decor. It is eclectic, colorful and very loud all at once. His latest film maintains that color, though in a more casual manner.
In Pain and Glory, Salvador Mallo, alter ego of the director and played by Antonio Banderas, seen here, lives in a house full of pieces of art. The artworks include Maruja Mallo’s surrealist painting Máscaras Diagonal (1951), also seen here, as well as a black-and-white Man Ray photo.
In this photo, we see the Utrecht chair by Gerrit Rietveld; Strawberry Bearbrick bears, the result of a collaboration among Clot, Levi’s and Medicom Toys; and the white Fjord H chair, designed by Patricia Urquiola for Moroso, serving as a symbol of the recognition that the director has gained.
In the rooms, each furniture piece and accessory has a story behind it, accompanying and reinforcing the emotions of the character and the personal experiences of the director.
Hence the inclusion of El Racimo de Uvas. This small oil painting by Maruja Mallo mentioned above has long been an object of desire for the director. Almodóvar fell in love with it upon seeing it in a 2017 exhibition about Mallo at the Guillermo de Osma gallery in Madrid, according to the newspaper El País following the premiere of the movie.
“Pain and Glory.” Photo by Manolo Pavón
“It is evident that there is a personal seal in all his movies: the color red. He also uses blue-gray, ash green and apricot, usually avoiding white. There are no roses or mauves. In recent films, we have worked with masses of color. The sets are a base-color canvas where we place objects, which now feature prints,” says Gómez, winner of the award for production design at the 2019 European Film Awards for Pain and Glory. He also won a Goya Award in 2008 for his work on Che with Steven Soderbergh.
Seen here is the living room of another of the important locations in Pain and Glory, the house in the El Escorial district of Madrid where Alberto Crespo (Asier Echeandía) lives. The floor lamp is from Santa & Cole, specifically the Dórica model, a design by Jordi Miralbell and Mariona Raventós. On the sideboard is the lamp Fase Boomerang 2000 (1968), by Luis Pérez de la Oliva; and on the wall, a ’70s tapestry by Maria Assumpció Raventós. To the right is a Fun 1STM lamp, by Verner Panton.
“It is evident that there is a personal seal in all his movies: the color red. He also uses blue-gray, ash green and apricot, usually avoiding white. There are no roses or mauves. In recent films, we have worked with masses of color. The sets are a base-color canvas where we place objects, which now feature prints,” says Gómez, winner of the award for production design at the 2019 European Film Awards for Pain and Glory. He also won a Goya Award in 2008 for his work on Che with Steven Soderbergh.
Seen here is the living room of another of the important locations in Pain and Glory, the house in the El Escorial district of Madrid where Alberto Crespo (Asier Echeandía) lives. The floor lamp is from Santa & Cole, specifically the Dórica model, a design by Jordi Miralbell and Mariona Raventós. On the sideboard is the lamp Fase Boomerang 2000 (1968), by Luis Pérez de la Oliva; and on the wall, a ’70s tapestry by Maria Assumpció Raventós. To the right is a Fun 1STM lamp, by Verner Panton.
“Talk to Her” (2002). Photo by Miguel Bracho
“In all the movies are vases, with or without flowers, and sofas upholstered in such warm tones as reds and bright oranges. We try not to repeat ourselves. If an object has been used in one film, it won’t appear in the next one,” says Gómez, who arranged the set seen here, in Talk to Her (2002), with Gae Aulenti’s Tour table and Elio Martinelli’s Serpente lamp.
Of course, the buildings chosen to shoot key scenes in are also a display of Spanish architecture: the Paterna caves in Valencia; the Picasso Tower in Madrid; the Corona de Espinas building by Fernando Higueras and the houses near the M-30 freeway, also in Madrid; the modernist Casa Ramos in Barcelona; and the village houses of La Mancha. But this is another story to be told.
“In all the movies are vases, with or without flowers, and sofas upholstered in such warm tones as reds and bright oranges. We try not to repeat ourselves. If an object has been used in one film, it won’t appear in the next one,” says Gómez, who arranged the set seen here, in Talk to Her (2002), with Gae Aulenti’s Tour table and Elio Martinelli’s Serpente lamp.
Of course, the buildings chosen to shoot key scenes in are also a display of Spanish architecture: the Paterna caves in Valencia; the Picasso Tower in Madrid; the Corona de Espinas building by Fernando Higueras and the houses near the M-30 freeway, also in Madrid; the modernist Casa Ramos in Barcelona; and the village houses of La Mancha. But this is another story to be told.
The sets in Almodóvar’s movies have as much personality as his characters. Think of the large living room with a terrace in the home of Pepa Marcos (Carmen Maura) in Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (1988), with a green sofa and orange walls identical in color to the lethal gazpacho prepared by the protagonist. Or the Barcelona house that Manuela (Cecilia Roth) rents in All About My Mother (1999), with its ’70s wallpaper, seen here, that has become iconic. Or the kitchen in Julieta (2016), with dishes by the Galician porcelain company Sargadelos on one of the shelves.
And we see it in his latest work, Pain and Glory, for which Gómez re-created the director’s house in Madrid. The film house has the same furniture, books and pieces of art.