All About My Mother

May 4, 20068:30pm

Esteban, an aspiring young writer, runs to get the autograph of an actress, with tragic results. His mother, Manuela, goes to Barcelona to find Esteban’s transvestite father and her dislocated life begins to take a very different shape.

Self -parody is part of Almodovar’s approach and the effectiveness of his story-telling comes partly from the tension between humour and tragedy. With a character list that includes transvestite hookers, a pregnant nun and troubled lesbians that tension is never far away. Yes, this is a melodrama, but its glorious. Common threads in Almodovar’s later films are warmth and sincerity that are hard to match. He offers us a film full of literary and cinematic homage and not least a heartfelt celebration of women, mothers, actresses.

All About My Mother is bold and lively filmmaking which plumbs jewels from cinemas past and builds on them to resonate in new directions. When it ended I wanted more.” Jeff Vordnam – AboutFilm.Com

The difference between sensitive, emotionally true melodramas and manipulative tear-jerkers is not hard to define. It all comes down to two basic characteristics believable characters and an intelligent script.” James Berardinelli – ReelViews


Film Information
Release year: 1999
Running time:   101 mins
Directed by: Pedro Almodovar
Language: Catalan, English, Spanish
Country: France, Spain
Classification:
Genre: Drama
Starring: Cecilia Roth,
Marisa Paredes,
Candela Pena,
Antonia San Juan,
Penelope Cruz
Awards: Oscar Best Foreign Language Film,
BAFTA Best Film not in English Language,
Golden Globe Best Foreign Language Film,
Cannes Best Director
More info:

IMDb
Rotten Tomatoes

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