Alles über meine Mutter

What I like most about Almodovar's films, this one in particular, is the way he will grab you and pull you into a world you would not normally know and then, confront you with people's lives, emotions, relationships. Manuela, the mother who at the beginning seems so in control and clinical, earnest in her love and with the best intentions for her son, is shown to be much like you and me... full of doubts, questions, a need for answers and trying to understand how her life course has brought her to the present day and made her who she is. Barcelona in winter is richly filmed and serves as a backdrop for the renewing of old satisfying friendships and the budding of new ones, happening simultaneously and somewhat unexpectedly. It rings so true. The slow realisation that we are never really complete, that it's the people we love and live with, or avoid and later regret having done so, that makes us who we are. Almodovar sees the human condition and paints it carefully in this film.

Almodovar is masterful: he has created a film that seeps into you and rips apart your insides. Each moment is flawlessly crafted- the cinematography and light are lush, the writing is heart-wrenching. Loaded with irony and paradox, the story deals sensitively with a plotline that could have been sensationalistic. The strongest feature is perhaps the acting here, which is consistently superb, particularly in the case of Cecilia Roth, the lead actress. This may be the best film I have ever seen.

Very few directors, since Bunuel, Fassbinder, Lindsay Anderson and Roman Polanski, have been able to translate their own, very private universes, to the screen. That is why, it divides audiences in such a radical way.

You love it or you hate it. I think, that is the final objective of an artist, to express their view, to give us their own version of the world we live in. It enriches us, it makes us more aware of the million faces of human nature. Thanks to Almodovar we're allowed to feel identified with, what we may consider, marginal characters. What a different experience is to sit through an Almodovar film and a Ron Howard film for instance. Almodovar remains, becomes part of us, Ron Howard's vanishes as we're leaving the movie theater.

After a tragic family crisis Manuela (Roth) escapes her current life by fleeing to Barcelona where she hopes to find her former lover and her son's father.

Having been a big fan of Volver I decided to check out another Pedro Almodovar classic and was not to be disappointed as I was brought into another strong family drama that adds the deftest of comedy touches that never overshadow the dark and dramatic lives of the characters.

Cecilia Roth stars as central protagonist Manuela who looks for some escapism after seeing one too many troubles at home and when disaster strikes she flees to Barcelona where she hopes to discover where her son's father and her former lover is. Lola, a transvestite is not aware of Esteban which as the film progresses delivers numerous dramatic consequences and tear threatening montages.

As writer and director Almodovar seems to be able to cement the right dramatic input at the right time, delivering a supposed expectancy only to strive to shock the audience with a powerful emotional twist or an unthinkable idea. To say what the unthinkable idea is in this 1999 release would be to spoil a well worked powerfully controlled heartbreaker, which would cost the true value of a picture purposefully identified with its drama.

We have underage pregnancies, traumatic and unexpected death, family rivalry, former lovers, drug abuse and fiery working relationships that juxtaposed, all cement this in the drama genre and given the context they are used in add to a great sense of realism. The way everything threads together is nicely worked with only a few hitches.

Roth's character a former actress is conveniently placed in a theatre to see what will follow to recapture the past, the absence of the father for such a long time distances some emotional connection for the audience and no matter how hard the plot works to convey its powerful message it never feels as compassionate and as emotionally connected as Volver.

This film does boast some tremendous performances. A young Penelope Cruz would go on and generate her international stardom with this performance as the young worker who is pregnant. Cecilia Roth carries the picture with her constant driven attitude to not look back and thrives on living in the moment. The supporting cast all lend a strong array of drama and some good comedy from Antonio San Juan as Agrado, especially her scene on stage.

The cinematography and usage of various places keeps the feisty drama alive. The dreadful scene with the prostitutes, the stage for the replica of A Streetcar named desire and the terrible incident in Madrid all combine to make this a wonderful drama.

Strong well performed and written drama 8.5/10

What a genius Almodovar is! Who else could take such esoteric material and make it not only enjoyable, but relatable. It takes a lot of chutzpah for a male director to swan dive into the gulf of womanhood (I can't believe I just wrote that) and emerge with such truth, HUMAN truth. While the characters of this film seem to represent certain female archetypes, they still flow organically through the ingenious plot. Almodovar shows us that any taboo subject can be tackled without it being exploited when it is done with a compassionate heart. The sheer WARMTH of this movie is what makes it a stunning success. The performances in this film are unforgettable. Cecilia Roth is so dazzling and real, and heartbreaking. But only a genius like Almodovar can break our hearts but still give us hope.