Pepi, Luci, Bom et les autres filles du quartier

The first feature film from Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar is controversial and shocking, especially the time it was made (although not that shocking in Spain), but also very funny. Basically it is a movie about nothing, although it shows a pop-culture that Almodóvar inhabited.

We see how Pepi (Carmen Maura) is raped by a policeman (Félix Rotaeta) after she offers sex, although tries to back out, so he would not report her illegal cannabis plants. Pepi seeks revenge and she lets her friends beat the guy up. It seems they have beaten his twin brother so Pepi must come up with another plan. She tries this through the policeman's wife named Luci (Eva Siva) who turns out to be a masochist, perfect for Pepi's friend Bom (Olvido Gara) who likes to disparage her.

A film about nothing really, like I said. There are some nice little jokes here, sometimes because they are quite unexpected and therefore shocking. When Luci turns out to be what she is it is Bom who pees all over her; Luci likes it a lot. May be it is shocking, it is pretty funny too. There are more gags like this. One of the best moments is when Pepi has to make her own money, her father has cut her off, and she has an idea of producing menstruating dolls.

Filled with things like this, a sloppy editing and a cinematography that is as good as any amateur would do it can not prevent that this film is simply entertaining. It is not too long and therefore we can finish it. Still, I would start with another Almodóvar film, then see this only as an interesting debut.

All the energy put in Pepi... is enough to go and see it. That a young director show so much enthusiasm is a litmus test to see if he really loves his story, his actors... and the medium, cinema at large. Far from all those neurotic self-centered so-called authors who will only deal with their obsessions through intimate and intricate tales.

Sure, Almodovar gives so much in the first half (i.e. till Luci leaves her home) that the following is not so surprising and exciting. But he learnt later to build up his stories mastering pace all along. As for then he steps out from underground flicks yet displaying great skills.

He will be back.

'Pepi, Luci, Bom (1980)' is Pedro Almodóvar's first commercially released film. Shot on a shoestring budget equivalent to about only 3000 euros, this transgressive affair took around a year-and-a-half of weekend work from a volunteer crew to come to life. Concerned principally with being as taboo as possible, the piece is still boundary pushing even when viewed through a modern lens; just imagine how shocking it would have been when it first released a mere handful of years after Spain's infamous dictator Francisco Franco finally kicked the bucket and the country could (at least attempt to) progress past his fascist rule. It serves as a reminder that the people it depicts, with all their socially unacceptable appearances, desires and otherwise unexpected kinks, have always existed even when those that despise them seek to stamp them out. The plot-light picture may have its flaws, but at its best it's a celebration of sex and freedom and a disregard for restrictive tradition that sizzles with a punky energy and is already a strong indicator for what sort of stories interest its director the most. Indeed, it's pretty fully formed in terms of being unmistakably Almodóvar, even if it is rough around the edges and doesn't even come close to the heights of later entries in his repertoire. It's a shocking, trashy feature by design, but its need to be shocking and trashy often outweighs its aspirations of being cohesive and compelling. Some of it is rather off-putting in its flippancy, with sexual assault and domestic violence being portrayed in a way that just feels a bit poorly handled. That the characters don't react to these things the way we expect them to doesn't mean the movie is condoning them, but it doesn't do enough to condemn them either. Ultimately, though, this is the sort of transgressive experience that appeals to a specific sensibility and primarily serves as an act of rebellion. It's dodgy at times and it isn't massively compelling overall, but it's also relatively entertaining and admirably disinterested in so-called good taste. If you know what you're getting into, you might just have a good time.

If you're an Almodovar fan, this film is definitely worth seeing; others may find it a bit obscure. Almodovar's unique personality is already in full evidence in this first film of his to be widely distributed. Yes, most of its low-budget seams are in full evidence, but compensates with moments of outrageous hilarity that no one else would even attempt. It's worth seeing for the lesbian rock star's punk love song to her lover alone.

Felix Rotaeta rapes Carmen Maura. She decides to get even by getting his wife to leave him.

Pedro Almodóvar's second feature is full of kinks and weirdos in a Spain where Francisco Franco is dead. Yet I find a naivete to this one that I didn't in his next movie -- his first feature is not readily available. There's plenty of drugs and non-normative sex, with sado-masochism and lesbianism and people rutting in punk rock clubs. Yet there's a tentative attitude to the way the director handles it, as if he's an anthropologist observing the natives, not yet ready to draw any conclusion. There's plenty to shock a conservative audience, but it lacks the deliberate, in-your-face offensiveness that he would later assume. The characters are wearily ironic about the situations they find themselves in.