Pedro Almodovar is one of the most prominent European directors in the world. He’s also one of the most prominent gay directors – or rather director who happens to be gay, as he’d probably prefer it put. He’s back with I’m So Excited, a movie which perhaps has the most overt gay sensibility of any of his films.

The film hits DVD in the UK on August 26th, and to celebrate that we have an interview with Pedro, where he talks about the movie, how it’s a metaphor for modern Spain, and what it was like being gay as a young man in the era of General Franco.

Your new film, which is a great joy to watch and a great joy to experience. It was really great fun. I really enjoyed it.
Yeah, it was very funny to do it. I actually thought that making this film would be a much lighter experience for me than the films I’ve been making. But that was actually silly to think that. It wasn’t like that at all. Why should I ever think that? Because in fact comedy is perhaps one of the most difficult genres of films that you can make because it requires much more precision. It’s much tougher to make. And for me, in fact, that whole process of filming was a process where I had to have eyes on everything. I had to have eyes in the back of my head to watch what was going on, but in fact the film itself was a celebration for all of us.  It was a joy for all of us to make, particularly because it took me back to the tone of the first films that I made when I started off my career: The comedies. [Read more…]