Enigmatic Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar was honored Monday night by NYC’s Film at Lincoln Center with the 50th annual Chaplin Award. Almodóvar is a fitting selection for the award’s 50th honoree, since he’s had 15 films screen at Lincoln Center’s New York Film Festival. Not to mention his prolific body of work that redefined creativity in storytelling on film, in my humble opinion. And here’s another reason to love Almodóvar: he used his acceptance speech to rip Trump to shreds, cursing Trump’s existence as one of the greatest blights on humanity, with all the gravitas and flair of a Shakespearean witch. And I say that as a compliment! Here are the Oscar-winning screenwriter’s words:
Pedro Almodóvar did not hold back on his opinion of Donald Trump as he accepted the 50th annual Chaplin award from Film at Lincoln Center on Monday evening in Manhattan.
As the celebrated Spanish filmmaker expressed his gratitude for the honor at Alice Tully Hall, he said, “I doubted if it was appropriate to come to a country ruled by a narcissistic authority, who doesn’t respect human rights. Trump and his friends, millionaires and oligarchs, cannot convince us that the reality we are seeing with our own eyes is the opposite of what we are living, however much he may twist the words, claiming that they mean the opposite of what they do. Immigrants are not criminals. It was Russia that invaded Ukraine.”
“Mr. Trump, I’m talking to you, and I hope that you hear what I’m going to say to you,” Almodóvar continued. “You will go down in history as the greatest mistake of our time. Your naiveté is only comparable to your violence. You will go down in history as one of the greatest damages to humanity… You will go down in history as a catastrophe.”
Almodóvar also spoke out about the trans rights being threatened by the Trump administration and talked about the events of his early life that helped form him as a filmmaker. Growing up under fascism under Francisco Franco, Almodóvar said that movies provided a form of escapism. As the country embraced democratic ideals in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s, he had the good fortune to come into his own as a director.
“It is impossible to explain what that feeling of absolute liberty meant for a young person who wanted to make films,” Almodóvar said.
Perfecto! And this isn’t melodramatic language, but an accurate assessment of the sad sack of orange suntanned carcass that is Donald Trump. If anything, the use of the honorific “Mr.” was too great a courtesy. Between Almodóvar’s speech here, and Pedro Pascal succinctly reading that anti-trans author for filth last week, the Pedros have been killing it lately. In a world of bigots and catastrophes against humanity, be a Pedro.
Almodóvar was presented his award — which he accepted donning a mint green suit, light pink shirt, and orange & hot pink ascot; divine, no notes — by a mix of friends and collaborators: Rossy de Palma, Mikhail Baryshnikov, John Turturro, Dua Lipa, and John Waters. And of course Waters, an American treasure, completely delivered with his remarks. He called Almodóvar “the best filmmaker in the world,” and offered as example Almodóvar’s ability to “tell a story without endless running time, make a dollar holler budget wise, [and] create screen goddesses out of non-traditional beauties.” That should be the mission statement of every film school!
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I want to be a Pedro in this world of insanity. Stand up for the right thing to do.
❤️
He is an absolute KING and he said it ALL here–no notes–standing up for trans folks too. What a gem of a man. ♥
That being said, the absolute shame I feel as an American. Sigh. I am so tired of being held hostage by the most ignorant people in this country. Even now, his base is still immovable. Just a selfish group of cultists who don’t care about anyone (including themselves apparently) or anything except one man. I don’t like saying that I hate what we’ve become because there’s always been some version of Trump’s pathological cruelty undergirding our country from slavery to the Japanese internment camps to a violent war predicated on a lie but this such an extreme culmination. Through all of the US’s debauchery at least the Constitution remained a north star–but no more.
We have to fight this regime with every tool we have and let the world know we reject Trump’s insanity.
I love this! Thank you! I’m going to save it so I can refer to it in the future. I’m so discouraged.
I love Pedro Almodovar and his movies. Love love love. Now I love him even more.
(Cue Emperor Fanta Babyfists threatening to deport him and bar any re-entry)
Like The Crow soundtrack shaped my music taste, PA’s films shaped my film tastes (Woman on the Edge of a Nervous Breakdown, All About My Mother are my early faves…)
Yup, surprised he was allowed in so I’m sure Trump will be having words with whoever.
Heather, I could have written this exact comment. Certain things shaped me a lot in the 90’s – both the soundtracks and the exposure to so many interesting filmmakers, from Linklater and Boyle to Almodovar and Smith.
I love Almodovar. I think his movies are fascinating because they are so different from each other but still definitely have his style – like Hable con ella is very different from Mujeres al borde… for example.
I also think this is very powerful coming from someone who remembers the Franco regime. The memory of franquismo is pretty strong and still casts a shadow over modern Spain. I mean he only died 50 years ago, which isn’t a long time; and the political and cultural history of spain after his death is pretty interesting if anyone wants to see how you recover from a dictatorship (I’m just saying, maybe useful information.) So for him to call out Trump in such clear and blatant terms is pretty powerful imo.
Such an amazing speech. The orange one is going to be pissed !