Almodovar`s pays tribute to his `love` of movies

Spanish director Pedro Almodovar said his latest oeuvre `Broken Embraces` (Los Abrazos Rotos) was a personal tribute to his love of movies.

Madrid, Mar 13: Spanish director Pedro Almodovar said Friday his latest oeuvre "Broken Embraces" (Los Abrazos Rotos) was a personal tribute to his love of movies.

"It`s a personal declaration, my declaration of love for the cinema," the cinema great said of the film, which features Penelope Cruz, who has starred in several Almodovar films. The film, the costliest made by Almodovar at 12 million euros (15.4 million dollars), recounts the tragic love affair of an ageing director who has turned blind and wants to make his swansong film, and a young actress. "My films represent my economic, emotional and artistic heritage," he said. Almodovar and Cruz have a collaboration that has lasted more than a decade, with such films as "Live Flesh," "All About My Mother," and "Volver," for which the 34-year-old actress picked up an Oscar nomination in 2006. Cruz, who this year became the first Spanish actress to win an Academy Award when she took the Oscar for her performance in the Woody Allen comedy "Vicky Cristina Barcelona," had thanked thanked Almodovar in her acceptance speech "for having made me part of so many of his adventures." Cruz said her role in the new film was a difficult one. "Its a very different personality from my own and very different from all the roles I have played before ... a survivor who I think always has a black cloud over her head." But she underscored her fondness and admiration for Almodovar. "If I had to work with only one director for the rest of my life, it`s clear to me that it would be him," she said. Almodovar is "someone who is very important in my career," she said, adding: "and in my life." Bureau Report