Femmes au bord de la crise de nerfs

An interesting Spanish comedy, the film's humour is derived mostly from the events being so absurd. Some aspects are overly ridiculous, but it is still very entertaining stuff, executed in a lively manner with an appropriately fast pace and suitable music choices. It is constantly interesting on a visual level, with vibrant colours, creative camera angles, and a lot of framing and close-up shots. The action is a bit frantic and the plot is a little too convoluted, but the film maintains an almost fantasy-like atmosphere, in which it feels like anything is possible, and this quality makes it an enjoyable, unique watch. It is hard to say if Almodóvar is trying to say anything at all here, as there are some ideas raised about consequences that are not explored in much depth. Still, the originality of it all keeps it afloat, and it is certainly quite an unusual (in a positive sense) cinematic experience.

This Spanish comedy follows actress Pepa whose boyfriend, Iván, has just left her. What follows is a comedy of coincidences and mishaps. Pepa accidentally sets fire to her bed shortly before her friend Candela calls, she is worried because she has just learnt that her boyfriend is a terrorist and fears she will be arrested for harbouring him. Then Carlos, Iván's son, and his fiancée turn up to look at the flat, which Pepa is planning to rent out; Carlos had no idea of Pepa's connection to his father till he sees a picture in the flat. Things only escalate as Carlos tries to help Candela with her problem in a way that only serves to get the police to the flat; but not before Carlos's mother, who was recently released from a psychiatric hospital turns up.

If you want a realistic story this won't be for you; just about everything that happens relies on unlikely coincidences. For me this unlikeliness only served to make it funnier. The characters themselves are only slightly exaggerated; one feels that in more normal situations they would be ordinary people. There are plenty of laughs from start to finish; highlights include gazpacho soup that has been laced with sleeping pills, a visit to a lawyer who may be able to help Candela, and a rather different taxi driver. Writer/director Pedro Almodóvar does a fine job successfully takes the comedy to a high level without tipping into silliness. He is aided by a fine cast that includes Carmen Maura, as Pepa; María Barranco as Candela and a young, pre-Hollywood, Antonio Banderas as Carlos. Overall I'd certainly recommend this to fans of farcical comedy; it is very funny.

These comments are based on watching the film in Spanish with English subtitles.

There are some movies that, no matter how good the translation, are just impossible for a particular audience to get. This is why I think most of the American audience wasn't be able to get into WOMEN ON THE VERGE OF A NERVOUS BREAKDOWN. After directing the rather weak and disappointing drama/thriller LAW OF DESIRE, Spanish director Pedro Almodovar returned to screens in his full glory with this wonderful Academy Award-nominated screwball comedy.

Pepa (Almodovar regular Carmen Maura) works as an actress for TV commercials and dubbing of foreign films. Her lover Ivan (Fernando Guillen), who shares the same job, decides to leave her one day for unknown reasons, leading Pepa to assume he left with his wife Lucia (Julieta Serrano), who was recently released from the mental hospital. But after a while, Pepa realizes Lucia thinks the exact opposite, and that Ivan left for an unknown third woman. While on her quest to find this third woman, Pepa has to deal with her nervous friend Candela (Maria Barranco) who recently found out her boyfriend is a wanted terrorist and Carlos, (Antonio Banderas) Ivan's son whose annoying fiancé ends up getting accidentally knocked off by a rather lethal gazpacho.

Going any further with this film's plot would be unfair since most of the humor is delivered from it's many twists and turns. Almodovar was able to write a script so sharp with so many colorful characters and situations that the entire thing goes down with pure laughter. But is everyone laughing?

That brings me to the answer as to why many people didn't find this funny at all. If you don't speak or understand Spanish, (or some other language that comes from Latin) you won't be able to get this film as much as others. There is a reason why so many American comedians are never able to make it overseas: Humor is simply not international. The rumored but thankfully never completed American remake of this would have never worked. The performances for example: To people who understand the language, you can tell when the characters are being ironic, sarcastic, goofy, or serious. I don't think you can do that very well when English is your first language. So the users that have been complaining about "flat" performances might be already explained.

Almodovar has been accused of being a feminist, and this movie might be the main reason. I don't quite agree with that because WOMEN doesn't really leave strong message. If it does, I know few people who would actually care for it because this movie is hilarious. Every single character in these 90 minutes of absurdity gets well-balanced and get enough amount of time to shine: The MAMBO TAXI driver for example, turns out to be one of the funniest elements. The scenes all by themselves are already OK, but the frequency that they happen make them somehow even funnier. And the first-rate acting gets a big plus in my book. Everyone here is perfect (including a very scary way Almodovar coaches a good performance out of Antonio Banderas) with the true stand-out being Carmen Maura as over-the-top neurotic Pepa. It is a shame this was Maura's last collaboration with Almodovar.

But WOMAN's style is also not to be ignored: Most of the movie is set inside Pepa's apartment, which is put to good use. It is an amazing then-futuristic-looking retro set that with it's sitcom-like camp and artificial looking painted backgrounds becomes almost a character itself. Cinematographer Jose Luis Alcaine's camera is always up to interesting moves: There is the tracking shot of Pepa's feet as she walks in circles waiting for her call, or the reflection take from the answering machine. The work with colors is equally stunning, with the main colors being yellow and blue, and Pepa's red dress "over coloring" the environments around her for most of the time. You could freeze frame almost every interior shot of WOMEN... and stare at it for a while.

I can't really recommend this movie enough, as much as hard it is to review comedies. Reviewing a comedy is a tough call since it depends on weather you found the material funny or not. I have seen this over ten times and I always laugh at certain moments which I don't want to spoil. Let's just say the Jehovah's testimony and the TV commercial are the parts that always get me. I certainly did enjoy WOMEN... more than any other comedy I have ever seen.

(5/5)

"Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown" is the first in hopefully what will be a long line of Almodovar films, I just watched it today at a free film screening when I was supposed to be seeing Fellini's 8 1/2 until the tape messed up. This was a very fine substitute.

The film contains all the elements of an absurdist play by the likes of Beckett, Stoppard or Ionesco. From its bizarre and essentially alienating dialogue, to its disjointed plot brought somewhat together by the end, it is an absolute delight to see such films around today.

All the characters are wonderfully developed and, like in a play, the narrative is light in plot but heavy in characters. It makes you think, not about the story it is telling since the story itself is ludicrous, and not about what is said for the same reason, but just about the way the characters interact with each other and how this can be applied to everyday life.

There are also some wonderful performances contained within. Each of the actors and actresses are so gutsy and alive inside this strange para-universe that Almodovar has created. It really is a treat to watch, with the persistently wry and often wildly ironic humour extracted to its full potential by the deadpan mock seriousness plastered across each character's face. It gives us a good laugh, not just at the film itself but at ourselves and the elements of us we can see in it. Plus the mambo cab is a dead-set winner.

After seeing this film, I am currently desperate to see another Almodovar. From this one piece I can see he is definitely a director worth celebrating and admiring and I will try to encourage many others to discover him for themselves. ****1/2 / *****

I have seen several Almodovar films and this is far and away my favorite. The acting is marvelous in the original Spanish, especially Maria Barranco as Candela, and a young Antonio Banderas in his pre-US fame days. However, if you obtain the DVD version of this movie, resist the temptation to use the English-dubbed soundtrack. Sadly, the English version is just not funny. The readings are flat and uninspired, and the translation is not always accurate; too literal in some cases, just missing the point in others. It appears that the English dialog was written more for a close match with the lip movements than for precise translation. Instead, use the Castilian Spanish audio track and savor the beautiful performances. If you don't understand the language, read the English subtitles, which are more appropriately translated, and still enjoy the original.