(Winner of the Best Actor Prize to Antonio Banderas and Best Soundtrack Award to Alberto Iglesias at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival)
The film revolves around a filmmaker at the twilight of his film career as he is coping with severe back pain as he learned that one of his older films has been restored where he reunites with an actor from that film while reflecting on his childhood. It’s a film that is a look into a man that is dealing with a lot as well as the fact that he is going through writer’s block, regrets, loss, and severe physical pain. Pedro Almodovar’s screenplay explores the life of filmmaker Salvador Mallo (Antonio Banderas) as he receives word that one of his old films had been remastered and restored for a special screening where he bumps into an old friend who gives him the number and address of an actor from that film whom he hadn’t spoken to in more than 30 years. Upon his reunion with Alberto Crespo (Asier Etxeandia), the two discuss the past while Salvador tries heroin for the first time as it forces him to think about his time as a child (Asier Flores) where he and his mother Jacinta (Penelope Cruz) move into a cave house that his father bought.
It is where the young Salvador teaches a young laborer/draughtsman in Eduardo (Cesar Vicente) to read and write while he would later be sent to a school where he would learn a lot about art and cinema. Still, Salvador feels like he hasn’t done enough as it relates to his mother while he is also dealing with the severe physical pain that has him choking often at times where he uses heroin to cope with the pain. Another unlikely reunion in a former lover in Federico (Leonardo Sbaraglia) would also force him to realize what is going on as he reflects on the last days with his mother (Julieta Serrano) before her passing while turning to his longtime assistant Mercedes (Nora Navas) for help as she believes something else isn’t right.
Almodovar’s direction does have its flair of style that he’s known for in his compositions yet it opens with Salvador in a pool as he’s underwater as it is this metaphorical image of a man that is believing he’s about to encounter his final days. Shot on location in Madrid as well as the province of Valencia with Paterna being a major location of the film as it plays into the life of the young Salvador. Almodovar’s compositions are largely straightforward yet he knows when to create something that is striking and evocative in a simple shot. Whether it’s in some of the wide shots of the Paterna exteriors or certain locations in Madrid to the more intimate shots at a small theater or Salvador’s apartment home with its medium shots and close-ups. Notably in the way he stages a one-man performance Alberto does where Federico watches as it play into this key moment for Salvador even though he doesn’t watch Alberto’s performance.
Almodovar’s direction would include these somber scenes that revolves around Salvador’s childhood that are presented with an intimacy in the cave home which is claustrophobic at times yet there is also a moment that also play into events that would affect Salvador’s sexuality as well his own sense of nostalgia as an adult. Almodovar would also infuse some voice-over narration from Salvador that includes an animation sequence by Juan Gatti that explores Salvador’s journey as a filmmaker and his fascination with science and geography that would inspire much of Salvador’s work. The film’s third act plays into Salvador’s faults as well as the realization that he’s been shielding himself from his past including his childhood along with his own desperation to rid the physical pain he’s enduring. Overall, Almodovar crafts an intoxicating and touching film about a filmmaker dealing with his past, regrets, and the twilight of his life and career.
Cinematographer Jose Luis Alcaine does brilliant work with the film’s lush and colorful cinematography with a naturalistic look for many of the film’s daytime scenes as well as the interior scenes at the cave-house along with some stylish lighting for some of the interior scenes set in Madrid. Editor Teresa Font does excellent work with the editing as it is stylized with its fast-cuts and montages for some parts while also being straightforward for much of the film in playing up the drama. Production designer Antxon Gomez, with set decorator Vicent Diaz and art director Maria Claria Notari, does amazing work with the look of the cave-house as well as Salvador’s apartment with so much attention to detail from his collection of paintings to his bedroom. Costume designer Paola Torres does fantastic work with the colorful clothes that the characters wear including a few stylish suits that Salvador wears to the ragged look of Alberto as well as the dresses the young Jacinta wears.
Makeup designer Ana Lozano does terrific work with the look of the characters from the bearded look of Salvador as well as the look of the older Jacinta. Sound designer Pelayo Gutierrez does superb work with the sound as it play into the atmosphere of some of the locations as well as how music is played on a boom box to maintain that sense of realism. The film’s music by Alberto Iglesias is incredible for its lush and rapturous orchestral score that play into some of the film’s melodrama as well as the air of nostalgia for the past as it is a major highlight of the film with a soundtrack that features folk and pop music of the time period that the characters live in.
The casting by Eva Leira and Yolanda Serrano is wonderful as it feature some notable small roles and appearances from producer Augustin Almodovar as a priest, Luis Calero as the music teacher for young Salvador, the trio of Marisol Muriel, Paqui Horcajo, and the Spanish pop singer Rosalia as women washing clothes with the young Jacinta early in the film, Pedro Casablanc as Dr. Galindo who expresses concerns for Salvador’s health, Julian Lopez as a movie theater presenter wanting to interview Salvador and Alberto, Susi Sanchez as a family friend of Jacinta in Beata, Sara Sierra as a young village woman in Conchita, Raul Arevalo as Salvador’s father Venancio, and Cecilia Roth in a terrific one-scene performance as an old friend of Salvador in Zulema who gives him Alberto’s address.
Cesar Vicente is superb as a young laborer/painter in Eduardo whom the young Salvador teaches to read and writer as he is proven to be a gifted painter that helps the young Salvador and young Jacinta. Asier Flores is fantastic as the young Salvador as a young boy who is fascinated by cinema and books while is unsure about going to this prestigious school fearing he would never see his family again. Nora Navas is excellent as Salvador’s personal assistant Mercedes as a woman who is aware of Salvador’s ailing health and growing depression as she does what she can to help him but also aware of what is the cause of his physical pain. Penelope Cruz and Julieta Serrano are amazing in their respective performances as the younger and older versions of Salvador’s mother Jacinta with Cruz providing this sense of warmth expected in a maternal role but also frustrations over her new living situation and what her son wants. Serrano’s performance as the older version of Jacinta is more restrained as a woman just frustrated that she is on her way out as she also laments over Salvador’s choices in life and in his career while maintaining that maternal warmth.
Leonardo Sbaraglia is brilliant as an old lover of Salvador in Federico as a man from Salvador’s past who makes a brief visit to Madrid from Buenos Aires as he watches Alberto’s one-man show that prompts him to visit Salvador where they reminisce the past. Asier Etxeandia is incredible as Alberto Crespo as an actor who worked with Salvador in their greatest collaboration together as he hadn’t seen Alberto in more than 30 years where they re-establish their friendship and talk about past issues Etxeandia provides a charisma and charm to a man that is an admitted heroin addict but also a man of control. Finally, there’s Antonio Banderas in a tremendous performance as Salvador Mallo as a once-revered filmmaker who is at the twilight of his career as he deals with immense physical and emotional pain as he thinks about his past as well as the idea that he might not have much time left. Banderas also provides this physicality in the way he struggles in getting out of a car or to express the physical pain he’s in as it is this performance full of restraint and dark humor as he showcases a man struggling with himself as well as trying to find some hope in the end as it is a performance for the ages.
Dolor y gloria is a magnificent film from Pedro Almodovar featuring a phenomenal leading performance from Antonio Banderas. Along with its ensemble supporting cast, ravishing visuals, somber themes of nostalgia and uncertainty, and a luscious music score by Alberto Iglesias. The film isn’t just this fascinating story of an artist dealing with the possible end of his life and career but also reflecting on his roots and the events that shaped his life. In the end, Dolor y gloria is an outstanding film from Pedro Almodovar.
Pedro Almodovar Films: Pepi, Luci, Bom - Labyrinth of Passion - Dark Habits - What Have I Done to Deserve This? - Matador - Law of Desire - Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown - Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! - High Heels - Kika - The Flower of My Secret - Live Flesh - All About My Mother - Talk to Her - Bad Education - Volver - Broken Embraces - The Skin I Live In - I'm So Excited! - Julieta - (The Human Voice (2020 short film)) – (Parallel Mothers)
The Auteurs #37: Pedro Almodovar: Pt. 1 Pt. 2
© thevoid99 2021
Written and directed by Pedro Almodovar, Pepi, Luci, Bom, y otras chicas del monton (Pepi, Luci, Bom, and Other Girls on the Heap) is the story about the friendship of three different women who live very different lives as they try to help each other. The film marks the feature-film debut of Pedro Almodovar as it is all told in a comedic style that would become a definitive trademark of Almodovar’s early work. Starring Carmen Maura, Eva Siva, and Olvido “Alaska” Gara. Pepi, Luci, Bom y otras chicas del monton is a weird yet exciting film from Pedro Almodovar.
The film explores the lives of three different women in Madrid during the post-Franco La Movida Madrilena period in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The three women come together as part of a revenge scheme against an abusive police officer as they would later be part of a new and exciting world in Madrid where they delve into drugs and all sorts of excitement. What makes the film so unique are the different personalities of the women in the story. Pepi (Carmen Maura) is an independent woman who wants to become an artist as she grows marijuana plants in her apartment. Luci (Eva Siva) is the masochistic housewife of a corrupt policeman who enjoys beatings as she is seeking an escape from her dreary home life. Bom (Olvido “Alaska” Gara) is a young punk singer eager to make it as she falls for Luci where the two have a strange relationship.
Pedro Almodovar’s script is very loose where there isn’t much plot other than Pepi wanting to seek revenge on Luci’s husband (Felix Rotaeta) for raping her over her marijuana plants. Bom would help Pepi in the revenge scheme but things don’t go well over a case of mistaken identity as Luci becomes involved where her relationship with Bom becomes this unconventional masochistic relationship. In the course of the film, a lot of partying as well as Pepi getting a job in advertisement, after her father cuts her finances, would play into the lives of these women finding themselves as women and as individuals.
Almodovar’s direction is pretty loose as it’s shot on 16mm film blown-up into 35mm where it does have a unique style that recalls the style of John Cassavetes as well as the colorful look of Federico Fellini. That approach to loose filmmaking where it feels like it’s shot entirely in the urban areas of Madrid and in the actual city where it has a verite style in some respects but also an element of camp to play into this this very lively post-Franco period of Spain. The campiness just doesn’t play into some of the ideas that Pepi would create in the commercials but also in some of the misadventures the three women encounter. There’s also elements of very bawdy behavior and gross-out moments that is obviously inspired by John Waters as it plays to the masochistic relationship between Luci and Bom which amps up the film’s humor. Overall, Almodovar creates a very flourishing and lively film about three women living in a new world in post-Franco Spain.
Cinematographer Paco Femenia does nice work with the film‘s colorful yet grainy 16mm look of the film for much of its daytime and nighttime exterior scenes. Editor Jose Salcedo does excellent work with the editing by emphasizing on style with some jump-cuts and a few inter-title cards to play into the film‘s structure. Costume designer Manuela Camacho does fantastic work with the lavish look of the film to play into the women and the new world they‘re in as opposed to the more conservative look of Luci‘s husband.
The makeup work of Juan Farsac is wonderful as it plays into that lavish world the women are in. The sound work of Miguel Angel Polo is terrific for some of the sound effects that is created as well as some of the post-dubbing voices to play into its humor. The film’s music by Alaska y los Pegamoides is superb as it plays into that world of new wave and punk that often dominates the film along with some flamenco and classical music in the film.
The film’s cast would include and appearance from Almodovar as a host of a penis-erection contest along with other future Almodovar collaborators like Cecilia Roth as a commercial actress, Julietta Serrano as a theater actress dressed like Scarlett O’Hara, Kiti Manver as a singer/model the ladies meet late in the film, and Fabio McNamara as a transvestite named Roxy. Concha Gregori is terrific as Luci’s neighbor Charito who has feelings for Luci’s brother-in-law Juan whom she has never properly met while Felix Rotaeta is wonderfully slimy in a dual role as Luci’s very abusive husband and his very innocent twin brother.
Olvido “Alaska” Gara is excellent as the very abrasive yet determined punk singer Bom who falls for Luci while becoming unsure about the sadomasochistic relationship. Eva Siva is brilliant as the masochistic housewife Luci who finds pleasure in being beaten as she falls for Bom while being part of a new and vibrant world that she is unaware about. Finally, there’s Carmen Maura in a dazzling performance as Pepi as this very independent woman seeking to find herself in a new world she’s glad to be a part of while helping out her friends find their own direction as it’s truly a fun performance from Maura.
Pepi, Luci, Bom y otras chicas del monton is a stellar yet lively film from Pedro Almodovar. Thanks to its cast and campy presentation, it is a film that plays into that world of post-Franco Spain and the emergence of freedom that was emerging for all sorts of people. In the end, Pepi, Luci, Bom y otras chicas del monton is a dazzling film from Pedro Almodovar.
Pedro Almodovar Films: Labyrinth of Passion - Dark Habits - What Have I Done to Deserve This? - Matador - Law of Desire - Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown - Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! - High Heels - Kika - The Flower of My Secret - Live Flesh - All About My Mother - Talk to Her - Bad Education - Volver - Broken Embraces - The Skin I Live In - I'm So Excited - Julieta - Pain & Glory - (The Human Voice (2020 short film)) - (Parallel Mothers)
The Auteurs #37: Pedro Almodovar Pt. 1 - Pt. 2
© thevoid99 2014
Written and directed by Pedro Almodovar, Mujeres al borde de un ataque de nervios (Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown) is the story of an actress who has been dumped by her married lover as she goes into despair and tries to find him as she learns more about herself. The film is a comedy that explores a woman dealing with heartbreak as she finds herself in a strange situation and eventually finds reason for not needing a man. Starring Carmen Maura, Antonio Banderas, Julieta Serrano, Rossy de Palma, and Maria Barranco. Mujeres al borde de un ataque de nervios is a wild yet sensational film from Pedro Almodovar.
After splitting up from her longtime lover Ivan (Fernando Guillen), Pepa (Carmen Maura) is in despair over the breakup as she receives a message from him asking her to pack his things in a suitcase that he’ll pick up later. Pepa is a TV actress who also does dubbing for English-language films as she is obsessed with needing to talk to Ivan but he’s never around. After waiting to get messages from him, all Pepa receives are frantic phone messages from her friend Candela (Maria Barranco) who later arrives to Pepa’s penthouse apartment revealing she’s in trouble. Also arriving shortly to the penthouse are a young couple in Carlos (Antonio Banderas) and his fiancée` Marisa (Rossy de Palma) who are interested in renting Pepa’s penthouse. Carlos is revealed to be Ivan’s son from a previous marriage as they learn who Pepa is while they save Candela from trying to kill herself.
After Candela revealed that she had an affair with a man who she learned is a Shiite terrorist, Marisa had drank some gazpacho that had been spiked with sleeping pills as she fell asleep. While Pepa had to do errands, Carlos stays at the apartment to fix the phone while helping out Candela with her situation where he makes a quick phone call to the police about what the Shiite terrorists are doing. Under Carlos’s suggestion to help Candela, Pepa sees the renowned feminist lawyer Paulina Morales (Kiti Manver) who acts strangely towards Pepa who returns home where she gets a call from Carlos’ mother Lucia (Julieta Serrano) who wants to talk to Pepa about Ivan as she plans to arrive to the apartment for a confrontation.
Overwhelmed by Ivan and all of his work, Pepa decides to get rid of the suitcase as she receives another message from as she, Carlos, and Candela listen where Pepa thinks something is going on. Later that night when Lucia arrives with two cops and a phone repairman, Pepa realizes how crazy Lucia is as well as who Ivan is going to Stockholm with.
The film is the story of two crazy days in the life of a heartbroken woman who is lost over her break-up while learning that her lover is leaving on a trip. Meanwhile, a few people such as a troubled friend and a young couple arrive to the penthouse for different reasons as they later become part of this woman’s messy life where they all help each other throughout this chaos involving Shiite terrorists, spiked gazpacho, a burned bed, a suitcase, and all sorts of things. Adding to the chaos is this mentally ill woman who is the wife of this woman’s lover as she just got out of the hospital and wants to kill her husband for all of the bad things that happened to her. All of it leads to a huge confrontation that is over-the-top while this heartbroken woman also has something she wants to tell to her lover.
Pedro Almodovar’s screenplay definitely explores the world of heartbreak as well as the role women play in a relationship. With the exception of Carlos, the Mambo cab driver (Guillermo Montesinos), and few other minor characters, men are portrayed as those who don’t treat women very well and are always lying. Carlos is the big exception as he’s just a very sensitive person who is engaged to a snobby woman as he has a hard time dealing with his mentally ill mother and a father he barely knows. In Pepa, Carlos finds someone who is like a mother that treats him well while he becomes one of the few men in the lives of these women who is very dependable and knows how to treat someone. Even as someone as troubled and naïve as Candela whom he falls for as she knows she’s a mess as she clings on to Carlos because he is honest and is willing to listen.
Still, the film is about Pepa and her tribulations over her break-up as she feels angry over what Ivan has done to her as she feels like she’s done a lot in the relationship. Still, she has something to tell as she does whatever to just talk to him yet he is never around or is always trying to reach her. While Candela and Carlos help her out as they would often converse over Ivan, there are still people that Pepa has to deal with that would cause trouble. The first is Carlos’ mother Lucia who has just learned that her husband has been unfaithful even though she hadn’t seen him in years. The other is a feminist lawyer named Paulina who is supposed to help Pepa about Candela’s tryst with a terrorist yet she acts rudely to Pepa that adds to the confusion. Eventually, it would comedown to a confrontation between Pepa and Lucia that involves a chase and two guns.
Almodovar’s direction is just intoxicating to watch in the way he presents the film not just as a genre-bending feminist film of sorts but something much more. There’s melodrama, there’s slapstick comedy, there’s a bit of action, a bit of suspense, and romance. Yet, Almodovar manages to infuse all of these genres into a film that has something for everyone yet makes it about a woman’s journey to get over her lover and find something for herself. Through his unique approach to framing as well as staging, it’s a film that is a mixture of freewheeling European cinema with a dash of old-school Hollywood as the scenes inside Pepa’s apartment features a backdrop of Madrid. It plays to a world that is Pepa where it is surrounded by extravagance including ducks, rabbits, and chickens who live outside on her balcony.
While Pepa’s apartment might seem like a world that is artificial though it features reminders of her reality, the world outside of that in downtown Madrid is much different. It’s crueler but also offbeat courtesy of this Mambo-loving taxi driver who always have something for his passengers. Pepa would find a way to deal with her situation that does include this confrontation between herself and Lucia. The confrontation definitely plays to the idea of a western where it doesn’t just involve guns but something else. It is a very strange approach to the showdown but it’s done with a degree of style as it alludes to a similar showdown in Nicholas Ray’s Johnny Guitar that is referenced earlier in a scene where Ivan is dubbing dialogue as Sterling Hayden’s character. It is all part of Almodovar’s extravagant presentation that leads to a chase and a climax that is quite big in a comical way. Overall, Almodovar creates a dazzling and fun film about heartbreak and independence.
Cinematographer Jose Luis Alcaine does great work with the film‘s lush and colorful cinematography with the look of the gorgeous locations in Madrid in day and night to the look of Pepa‘s apartment that is filled with lots of color. Editor Jose Salcedo does brilliant work with the editing from the way he plays with the rhythms of the humor and drama to the effective use of cutting in some of the film‘s suspenseful moments including the climatic chase scene. Set decorators Emilio Canuelo and Felix Murcia do amazing work with the look of Pepa’s apartment that is filled with all sorts of colors including an inspired use of the backdrop outside of her apartment.
Costume designer Jose Maria De Cossio does wonderful work with the costumes from the stylish clothes of Pepa to the more youthful clothing of Candela. The sound work of Gilles Ortion is terrific for the intimacy that is created in the scenes at the apartment along with the scenes in Madrid. The film’s music by Bernardo Bonezzi is excellent for its mixture of suspenseful-driven music as well as more low-key dramatic pieces and other themes to play up the humor while the soundtrack features mambo music from the cab driver and songs by Lola Beltran that serves as an important piece to play up Pepa’s emotions.
The film’s incredible ensemble cast features some noteworthy performances from Almodovar regular Chus Lampreave as an apartment porter who is a Jehovah’s witness, Ana Leza as Pepa’s young neighbor Ana, Loles Leon as a secretary where Pepa works at, Angel de Andres Lopez and Jose Antonio Navarro as the policemen who arrive with Lucia late in the film, and Guillermo Montesinos as the Mambo taxi driver who is a fan of Pepa’s TV work. Kiti Manver is good as the bitchy lawyer Paulina Morales who is rude to Pepa while Rossy de Palma is very funny as Carlos’ snobby fiancée Marisa. Fernando Guillen is wonderful as Ivan who is always sly and trying to win over whoever with his voice and charm.
Julieta Serrano is amazing as the very troubled Lucia who is angry over her husband’s infidelity as she is eager to confront Pepa. Maria Barranco is great as the naïve Candela who finds herself in trouble with Shiite terrorists whom she had been wooed by as she seeks help from Pepa and later Carlos. Antonio Banderas is superb as the sensitive Carlos as a man who exudes all of the good qualities of a man as he becomes the one person that Pepa and Candela can count on. Finally, there’s Carmen Maura in a marvelous performance as Pepa as she displays an energy to her role as a woman upset over her heartbreak as well as someone who realizes how far she’s gone because of a man where she later finds out what she really needs.
Mujeres al borde de un ataque de nervios is an incredible film from Pedro Almodovar. Featuring an exhilarating performance from Carmen Maura along with wonderful supporting work from Antonio Banderas, Julieta Serrano, and Maria Barranco. The film is definitely one of Almodovar’s finest films as well as a great starting to point to those new to the filmmaker. In the end, Mujeres al borde de un ataque de nervios is a phenomenal film from Pedro Almodovar.
Pedro Almodovar Films: Pepi, Luci, Bom - Labyrinth of Passion - Dark Habits - What Have I Done to Deserve This? - Matador - Law of Desire - Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! - High Heels - Kika - The Flower of My Secret - Live Flesh - All About My Mother - Talk to Her - Bad Education - Volver - Broken Embraces - The Skin I Live In - I’m So Excited! - Julieta - Pain & Glory - (The Human Voice (2020 short film)) - (Parallel Mothers)
The Auteurs #37: Pedro Almodovar Pt. 1 - Pt. 2
© thevoid99 2013
