Now, admittedly, he was speaking through a translator when Pedro Almodovar was interviewed by Reuters at the Cannes Film Festival, but knowing him even a little bit, you don't get the sense anything was lost in translation.

Almodovar held forth on why he hasn't yet directed in English, refering to the studios as a "straitjacket" that he wasn't interested in trying on, and also discussed his new film, "Volver" - the English title for which could easily be, "All About My Dead Mother."

Viz,

Featuring an almost exclusively female cast, the film tells the story of Raimunda (Penelope Cruz), a feisty housewife, and her sister Sole (Lola Duenas), a hairdresser, who are being visited by the very lively ghost of their dead mother..."I wanted to show a ghost on a daily basis. A ghost that goes to the bathroom, hides under the bed and even farts in the film," Almodovar said.

Which begs the question: Why didn't Almodovar cast Haley Joel Osment? He'd have been perfect: Quavering, whispering desperately:

"I smell dead people."