Pedro x Javis: the iron art of devotion

I came to Almodóvar through Chavela. I'd love to say I came to him through my mother, but my mother kept that to herself in a very intimate way that I only understood years later. The fact is, although Almodóvar had always been a part of my life (and whose hadn't he?), I didn't enter his universe until I saw the Chavela documentary .

That means I arrived at the gesture before the work. At the companion before the creator. At the devotee before the genius. Because Almodóvar, in Chavela , appeared as just another fan and friend, recounting how he had accompanied the Mexican artist in that second life she had back on stage. A kind of The Room Next Door , only with rancheras and boleros in the background.

This isn't the first time this has happened to me. I came to Patti Smith through the beautiful tribute she paid to photographer Robert Mapplethorpe in Just Kids , and to Tilda Swinton through the exquisite documentary about John Berger , *The Seasons in Quincey* , where the two sat peeling apples while talking about life. As someone who practices the ironclad art of devotion, I wish we knew the artists we love by the place of their passions. Then the works will come, of course. Then we can devour the films in marathon sessions and understand the intimate gestures of our mothers. But first, let devotion always come.

I thought all this while watching Pedro x Javis , the documentary miniseries that has just premiered on Movistar +, with a script by Brais Efe and Paloma Rando , halfway between a tribute, a making-of, an interview, a musical and, of course, absolute devotion. A beautiful, tender, super emotional, intimate thing, made by fans and for fans, like a conversation between friends that you wish would never end. Now I know that I would have loved to discover Los Javis like this. I thought this while I saw their excited faces every time Pedro (impossible not to address him informally after the series) opened his mouth and remembered that boy from the provinces who bought a Super-8 with his first salary from Telefónica and revolutionized cinema with his quilted dressing gown.

I was also thinking about how incredible it is when a director stops looking at himself and focuses the camera on others. Because if there's one magnificent thing about Pedro x Javis , it's that it's an ultra-generous documentary. In the midst of the homage to Almodóvar, there's also a homage to Marisa Paredes, Chus Lampreave, Carmen Maura , Julieta Serrano, Rossy de Palma, Carmen Machi, Penélope Cruz, Antonio Banderas, Agustín Almodóvar, José Luis Alcaine, and Alberto Iglesias. They also find themselves without any fear of the past coming back to haunt them.