La fleur de mon secret

The title of Almodovar's later film, All About My Mother, was a nod of respect in the direction of the 1950 Hollywood film, All About Eve, which contains Bette Davis's famous line - "Fasten your seat belts, it's going to be a bumpy night". This quote could well appear at the start of most of the Spanish director's films, certainly Flower. Here, the rider on his emotional rollercoaster is Leocadia (Leo) Macias (Marisa Paredes), whose marriage and life are in crisis. She is not as young as she was, and her handsome husband Paco (Imanol Arias) has lost interest and is about to leave her. The "secret" of the title is that Leo writes romantic novels under an assumed name, but hers is not the only secret revealed in the movie.

Spoiled and self-centred Leo is not the most likeable of women; her sister Rosa (the wonderful Rossy de Palma) who looks after their aged mother probably deserves more of our sympathy. But the nicest people don't necessarily provide the most interesting stories; and Almodovar isn't trying to enlist our pity, but our understanding. If, according to the oft-quoted screenplay dictum, character is defined by action, then what he shows us is a courageous character who overcomes her self-pity, and takes up life and love again. Leo comes to terms with her loss, in much the same way as the mother in film's opening scene finally accepts that her son is dead. But that episode turns out to be a repeatable training session for doctors, so perhaps Almodovar is warning Leo that loss of love can take place more than once, or possibly he is suggesting to the audience that they regard Leo's story as a training session for life.

This unashamed melodrama is conveyed via magical acting, great camerawork, and above all intense colours. There are a few specifically Spanish touches, including a sequence where Leo and her mother return to their idyllic, picturesque family village, and a flamenco dance (to Miles Davis music). As usual, there are also reminders of the downsides of modern urban life, though some of the references to drugs and unemployment are a little forced and superfluous. All in all, this is a great pictorial story teller telling perhaps not his greatest tale, but certainly one worth listening to and seeing.

An intense drama about love , jealous and betrayal. It deals with Leocadia, Marisa Paredes , a mature writer of romantic fiction who hits crisis point when she is rejected by her husband , Imanol Arias , and is then trapped by her reputation when she attempts to expand her literary horizons. Along the way she is supported by Angel : Juan Echanove , editor of the Newspaper El País. Later on, Leo returns to her native village, a source of solace.

This is an intimate portrait of pain and regeneration that strikes the heart without tricks. Here Pedro Almodovar focuses on a single character , the challenge of dealing closely an individual role has reconnected him with the emocional realities of an everyday damaged life. Although there are various secondaries incidents as the constant bickering between the mother : Chus Lampreave and Leo's sister Rossy De Palma, both of whom Almodovar's regulars, as well as a trip home to her native La Mancha, birth's location Almodovar himself. Here Pedro observes the commitment that permeates family relationships detailed with great honesty , perceptiveness and the habitual incisive humor, being freely based on a short novel written by Dorothy Parker. Main star Marisa Paredes gives a nice acting as the upsettling writer suffering loneliness , irritation , professional frustation and deceiving. Being well accompanied by ordinary actors of the Almodovar Factory displaying top-notch interpretations, such as Rossy De Palma , Chus Lampreave, Kiti Manver along with others as Juan Echanove , Imanol Arias , Jordi Molla, Nancho Novo, Carmen Elías, Gloria Muñoz, Juan Jose Otegui .Adding spectacular Flamenco dances by Joaquín Cortes and , of course , wonderful songs by Chavela Vargas .

Furthermore, colorful and glamorous cinematography by Alfonso Beato and Alfredo Mayo. Along with adequate and sensitive musical score by Alberto Iglesias. The picture was well made by Pedro Almodovar in his peculiar style, directing a especial melodrama, including his personal touches. Almodovar directs throughout with splendid zip and he often portrays strong female characters and getting a long career achieving some international awards. His first film Pepi, Luci, Boom 1980 was made in 16mm and had certain success. In 1987 Pedro and his brother Agustin established his own production company El Deseo S. A., making various and very popular fims all around the world. Oscar-winning Almodovar made a lot of successes such as Labyrinth of Passions, Law of Desire, Matador, Women on the verge of a nervous breakdown, Bad Education, All about my Mother, Talk to her, Broken embraces, The Skin I live, I'm so excited and nowadays he goes on giving big hits on the internatinal screens. The Flower of my Secret rating 6.5/10. Decent melodrama, essential and fundamental seeing for Pedro Almodovar aficionados. Worthwhile watching.

"The Flower of My Secret" is an unusual film by the controversial Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar. So often, the man seems to go out of his way to shock and offend the viewer. Yet, oddly, this is an amazingly 'normal' film and it lacks the shock value of films such as "Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown", "The Skin I live In" or "All About My Father". This is NOT a complaint--and it does make the film more palatable for the average viewer. However, it's also a film that only mildly piqued my interest and might disappoint his die- hard fans.

Leo (Marisa Paredes) is a middle-aged woman with a secret--what exactly that is you'll need to find out for yourself. She also has a marriage that is on the rocks. Her husband is a UN peace-keeper and seems to use this as an excuse not to return home. They are very distant--and some of this might be due to Leo's very volatile personality and drinking. Where exactly all this goes, I'd rather you just watch the film as I don't want to divulge exactly what happens.

While the film is well-crafted and acted, it's also woefully incomplete. The ending, I can almost guarantee, will leave you a bit unsatisfied as it seems a bit vague. But the film is an interesting character study and it's worth seeing just for that. Plus, I could see a group of friends or a couple watching this one and then talking about the many issues it raises.

In a very short period of time I've seen several of Pedro Almodóvar's movies and I've become a fan of his work. I love his style of mixing drama with (sometimes absurd) humor and music. I like the fact that he always knows to make you feel as if you know the characters personally after seeing the movie... Having said this, I have to admit that I was a bit disappointed by "La flor de mi secreto".

The characters aren't as well developed as I'm used to see in his movies and it's sometimes very hard to care for his main character: Leo Macías (Marisa Paredes). As Amanda Gris (her pseudonym), she is a writer of very successful sentimental novels who deal about love, sex and happy endings. But her personal life is a complete mess. She doesn't want to write this kind of novels anymore and she gets an assignment from a magazine to write a review on the work of... Amanda Gris. Her relationship with her man isn't any good. He works for the Nato, is more abroad than at home and when he's at home he wants to leave as soon as possible. She drinks too much, her mother is a cause of many concerns... She wants to change her whole life, but it isn't as easy as she hoped it would be.

Even though the story isn't bad or boring, it doesn't really succeed to be as captivating as I would like it to be. The positive thing about this movie is that you already can see Almodovár's talent for the use of humor and music, great camera work, interesting story telling... sipping through. Things that became more obvious in his later work. This movie may not be the best example of his work, but it is worth a watch. I give it a 6/10.

Sweet, and very well acted. This is much less wild and outrageous than earlier Almodovar, but compensates by having more real emotion. Still, this has two of his usual key elements -- dramatic use of intense color, and a melodramatic, almost soapy, story. It's clear he loves melodrama at the same time he gently pokes fun at it.

But in 'Flower of My Secret' the soap has more underpinnings in humanity, with subtler behavior and humor. Technically he gets even better with this film. It's beautiful, shot in a more subdued style than his earlier work. Not a great movie, but a good, entertaining, human one that paves the way to his later fully 'real' and moving masterpieces like 'Talk to Her'. Lovely performances.

There seem to be two distinct groups among Almodovar fans. Those who prefer his earlier, wilder, more genre busting work, and those who prefer his more recent, subtler films. I'm in the second group, but can completely understand those who feel differently. And where you fall on that scale is likely to have a big impact on your reaction to this film.