‘Secret bathroom’ movie from Spain vies for Golden Goblet Awards

By Viola Ko

Spanish film “A Bathroom of One's Own” is vying for the 26th Shanghai International Film Festival’s Main Competition Golden Goblet Awards and having its premiere screening in the city.

In the film, Antonia, an exemplary 65-year-old housewife, has a strange secret: she is obsessed with the bathroom, the only place where she can stay "busy," and people leave her alone.

It is where she gives free rein to her true vocation, that of a writer, and escapes from her monotonous life.

According to director Lucia Casan Rodriguez, she discussed with lead actress Nuria Gonzalez if they could find a private space in a house that belonged to women.

"A family may have a study, but it often belongs to men," said Rodriguez. "Then I thought of the bathroom, which is a very good carrier for the film. There, we women can be alone and have our own creations."

She said that she hoped to express that, within a confined space, a woman can transcend its limitations and experience a sense of self-liberation, a form of spiritual independence.

In the movie, Antonia has two worlds: the real one in which she lives, and the other where she conjures her own inner world.

During this process, she strongly desires to step from the real world into this inner world to create and become the person she wants to be, Rodriguez said.

However, sometimes as a woman, when she spends a long time alone, she feels lonely.

She then needs to return to the original family life and atmosphere. But at this point, her family already sees her as a strange person, treating her as if she were a foreigner. 

So, on a spiritual level, she wants to pursue self-fulfillment but also hopes for recognition from the real world in which she exists.

Rodriguez revealed that her next movie will also have a female theme, mainly motivational and about young women. 

"The protagonist is a 25-year-old young woman. It's a film that tells the story through three generations: the grandmother, the mother, and this young woman, focusing on a female theme."