All About My Mother
Encyclopedia
All About My Mother is a 1999 Spanish
drama film
written and directed by Pedro Almodóvar
. The film deals with complex issues such as AIDS
, transvestitism, faith
, and existentialism
.
The plot originates in Almodóvar's earlier film The Flower of My Secret which shows student doctors being trained in how to persuade grieving relatives to allow organs to be used for transplant, focusing on the mother of a teenager killed in a road accident.
), a nurse who oversees donor organ transplants in Ramón y Cajal Hospital in Madrid
and single mother to Esteban (Eloy Azorin
), a teenager who wants to be a writer
.
On his seventeenth birthday, Esteban is hit by a car and killed while chasing after actress Huma Rojo (Marisa Paredes
) for her autograph following a performance of A Streetcar Named Desire
, in which she portrays Blanche DuBois
. Manuela has to agree with her colleagues at work that her son's heart be transplanted to a man in A Coruña
. After traveling after her son's heart, Manuela quits her job and journeys to Barcelona
, where she hopes to find her son's father, Lola (Toni Cantó), a transvestite
she kept secret from her son, just as she never told Lola they had a son.
In Barcelona, Manuela reunites with her old friend Agrado (Antonia San Juan
), a warm and witty transsexual prostitute
. She also meets and becomes deeply involved with several characters: Rosa (Penélope Cruz
), a young nun who works in a shelter for battered prostitutes and is pregnant by Lola; Rosa's mother (Rosa Maria Sardà
); Huma Rojo, the actress her son had admired; and the drug-addicted Nina Cruz (Candela Peña
), Huma's co-star and lover. Her life becomes entwined with theirs as she cares for Rosa during her pregnancy and works for Huma as her personal assistant and even acts in the play as an understudy
for Nina during one of her drug abuse crises.
On her way to the hospital, Rosa asks the taxi to stop at a park where she spots her father's dog, Sapic, and then her own father (Fernando Fernán Gómez
), who suffers from Alzheimer's; he does not recognize Rosa and asks for her age and height, but Sapic is cleverer and knows Rosa. Rosa dies giving birth to her son, and Lola and Manuela finally reunite at Rosa's funeral. Lola (whose name used to be Esteban), who is dying from AIDS, talks about how she always wanted a son, and Manuela tells her about her own Esteban and how he died in a car accident. Manuela then adopts Esteban, Rosa's child, and stays with him at Rosa's parents' house. The father does not understand who Manuela is, and Rosa's mother says it's the new cook, who is living here with her son. Rosa's father then asks Manuela her age and height.
Manuela introduces Esteban (Rosa's son) to Lola and gives her a picture of their own Esteban. Rosa's mother spots them from the street and then confronts Manuela about letting strangers see the baby. Manuela tells her that Lola is Esteban's father; Rosa's mother is appalled and says: "That is the monster that killed my daughter?!"
Manuela flees back to Madrid with Esteban; she cannot take living at Rosa's house any longer, since the grandmother is afraid that she will contract AIDS from the baby. She writes a letter to Huma and Agrado saying that she is leaving and once again is sorry for not saying goodbye, like she did years before. Two years later, Manuela returns with Esteban to an AIDS convention, telling Huma and Agrado, who now run a stage show together, that Esteban had been a miracle by not inheriting the virus. She then says she is returning to stay with Esteban's grandparents. When asking Huma about Nina, she becomes melancholy and leaves. Agrado tells Manuela that Nina went back to her town, got married, and had a fat, ugly baby boy.
Almodóvar dedicates his film "To all actresses who have played actresses. To all women who act. To men who act and become women. To all the people who want to be mothers. To my mother."
Almodovar recreates the accident scene from John Cassavetes
's Opening Night as the epicenter of the dramatic conflict.
in Galicia.
The soundtrack
includes "Gorrión" and "Coral para mi pequeño y lejano pueblo," written by Dino Saluzzi
and performed by Saluzzi, Marc Johnson, and José Saluzzi, and "Tajabone," written and performed by Ismaël Lô
.
, the Karlovy Vary Film Festival, the Auckland Film Festival, the Austin Film Festival
, the Thessaloniki International Film Festival
, and the New York Film Festival
before going into limited release in the US. It eventually grossed $8,272,296 in the US and $59,600,000 in foreign markets for a worldwide box office total of $67,872,296.
with an empathy to recall George Cukor
's and an eye-dampening intensity to out-Sirk Douglas Sirk
." She added, "It's the crossover moment in the career of a born four-hankie storyteller of ever-increasing stature. Look out, Hollywood, here he comes."
Roger Ebert
of the Chicago Sun-Times
observed, "You don't know where to position yourself while you're watching a film like All About My Mother, and that's part of the appeal: Do you take it seriously, like the characters do, or do you notice the bright colors and flashy art decoration, the cheerful homages to Tennessee Williams
and All About Eve
, and see it as a parody
? . . . Almodovar's earlier films sometimes seemed to be manipulating the characters as an exercise. Here the plot does handstands in its eagerness to use coincidence, surprise and melodrama. But the characters have a weight and reality, as if Almodovar has finally taken pity on them - has seen that although their plights may seem ludicrous, they are real enough to hurt."
Bob Graham of the San Francisco Chronicle
said, "No one else makes movies like this Spanish director" and added, "In other hands, these characters might be candidates for confessions - and brawls - on The Jerry Springer Show
, but here they are handled with utmost sympathy. None of these goings-on is presented as sordid or seedy. The presentation is as bright, glossy and seductive as a fashion magazine . . . The tone of All About My Mother has the heart-on-the-sleeve emotions of soap opera
, but it is completely sincere and by no means camp
."
Wesley Morris of the San Francisco Examiner called the film "a romantically labyrinthine tribute that piles layers of inter-textual shout-outs to All About Eve, Tennessee Williams, Truman Capote
, Federico García Lorca
and Alfred Hitchcock
, and beautifully assesses the nature of facades . . . Almodovar imbues his Harlequin-novel
-meets-Marvel-comic-book
melodramas with something more than a wink and a smile, and it is beguiling. His expressionism and his screenwriting have always had fun together, but now there is a kind of faith and spirituality that sexcapades like Law of Desire and Kika
only laughed at . . . [I]t contains a host of superlative firsts: a handful of the only truly moving scenes he is filmed, the most gorgeous dialogue he is composed, his most dimensional performances of his most dimensional characters and perhaps his most dynamic photography and elaborate production design."
Jonathan Holland of Variety
called the film "emotionally satisfying and brilliantly played" and commented, "The emotional tone is predominantly dark and confrontational . . . But thanks to a sweetly paced and genuinely witty script, pic doesn't become depressing as it focuses on the characters' stoic resilience and good humor."
BAFTA Awards
Golden Globe Awards
Goya Awards
in London
's West End
on September 4, 2007. This production marked the first English language adaptation of any of Almodóvar's works and had his support and approval. Music by the film's composer, Alberto Iglesias
, was incorporated into the stage production, with additional music by Max and Ben Ringham. It starred Diana Rigg
, Lesley Manville
, Mark Gatiss
, Joanne Froggatt
, Colin Morgan
, and Charlotte Randle. It opened to generally good reviews, with some critics stating it improved upon the film.
Cinema of Spain
The art of motion-picture making within the nation of Spain or by Spanish filmmakers abroad is collectively known as Spanish Cinema.In recent years, Spanish cinema has achieved high marks of recognition as a result of its creative and technical excellence...
drama film
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
written and directed by Pedro Almodóvar
Pedro Almodóvar
Pedro Almodóvar Caballero is a Spanish film director, screenwriter and producer.Almodóvar is arguably the most successful and internationally known Spanish filmmaker of his generation. His films, marked by complex narratives, employ the codes of melodrama and use elements of pop culture, popular...
. The film deals with complex issues such as AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
, transvestitism, faith
Faith
Faith is confidence or trust in a person or thing, or a belief that is not based on proof. In religion, faith is a belief in a transcendent reality, a religious teacher, a set of teachings or a Supreme Being. Generally speaking, it is offered as a means by which the truth of the proposition,...
, and existentialism
Existentialism
Existentialism is a term applied to a school of 19th- and 20th-century philosophers who, despite profound doctrinal differences, shared the belief that philosophical thinking begins with the human subject—not merely the thinking subject, but the acting, feeling, living human individual...
.
The plot originates in Almodóvar's earlier film The Flower of My Secret which shows student doctors being trained in how to persuade grieving relatives to allow organs to be used for transplant, focusing on the mother of a teenager killed in a road accident.
Plot
The film centers on Manuela (Cecilia RothCecilia Roth
Cecilia Roth is an Argentine actress.Her father, Abrasha Rotenberg , a Jewish immigrant from the Soviet Ukraine, is an editor and a journalist. He met Cecilia's mother, an Argentinian singer of Sephardic descent Dina Rot, in Argentina. Cecilia Roth has made appearances in numerous television series...
), a nurse who oversees donor organ transplants in Ramón y Cajal Hospital in Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
and single mother to Esteban (Eloy Azorin
Eloy Azorin
Eloy Azorín is a Spanish film, theatre and television actor.- Biography :Born on the 19th of February, 1977 in Madrid, Spain, he is the son of the humourist Eloy Arenas.Eloy's first film role was at the age of 19...
), a teenager who wants to be a writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
.
On his seventeenth birthday, Esteban is hit by a car and killed while chasing after actress Huma Rojo (Marisa Paredes
Marisa Paredes
María Luisa Paredes Bartolomé, , better known in show business as Marisa Paredes, is a Spanish actress.-Biography:...
) for her autograph following a performance of A Streetcar Named Desire
A Streetcar Named Desire (play)
A Streetcar Named Desire is a 1947 play written by American playwright Tennessee Williams for which he received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1948. The play opened on Broadway on December 3, 1947, and closed on December 17, 1949, in the Ethel Barrymore Theatre. The Broadway production was...
, in which she portrays Blanche DuBois
Blanche DuBois
Blanche DuBois is a fictional character in Tennessee Williams' 1947 Pulitzer Prize-winning play A Streetcar Named Desire...
. Manuela has to agree with her colleagues at work that her son's heart be transplanted to a man in A Coruña
A Coruña
A Coruña or La Coruña is a city and municipality of Galicia, Spain. It is the second-largest city in the autonomous community and seventeenth overall in the country...
. After traveling after her son's heart, Manuela quits her job and journeys to Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
, where she hopes to find her son's father, Lola (Toni Cantó), a transvestite
Transvestism
Transvestism is the practice of cross-dressing, which is wearing clothing traditionally associated with the opposite sex. Transvestite refers to a person who cross-dresses; however, the word often has additional connotations. -History:Although the word transvestism was coined as late as the 1910s,...
she kept secret from her son, just as she never told Lola they had a son.
In Barcelona, Manuela reunites with her old friend Agrado (Antonia San Juan
Antonia San Juan
Antonia San Juan is a Spanish actress, director and screenwriter.She was born in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain. At 19 she went to Madrid, where she started working as a professional theatre actress and also as a cabaret act in pubs and bars. She became known thanks to her role as Agrado in...
), a warm and witty transsexual prostitute
Prostitution
Prostitution is the act or practice of providing sexual services to another person in return for payment. The person who receives payment for sexual services is called a prostitute and the person who receives such services is known by a multitude of terms, including a "john". Prostitution is one of...
. She also meets and becomes deeply involved with several characters: Rosa (Penélope Cruz
Penélope Cruz
Penélope Cruz Sánchez is a Spanish actress. Signed by an agent at age 15, she made her acting debut at 16 on television and her feature film debut the following year in Jamón, jamón , to critical acclaim...
), a young nun who works in a shelter for battered prostitutes and is pregnant by Lola; Rosa's mother (Rosa Maria Sardà
Rosa Maria Sardà
Rosa María Sardà is a Spanish actress and comedian.She has played roles in Spanish and Catalan. She was married to the comedian Josep Maria Mainat , and she's Xavier Sardà's elder sister...
); Huma Rojo, the actress her son had admired; and the drug-addicted Nina Cruz (Candela Peña
Candela Peña
María del Pilar Peña Sánchez, is a Spanish actress.She was the only child of a couple who had a bar in Barcelona. When she was four years old she started to learn dance in the city and after finishing high-school she went to Seville to begin theatre classes there and eventually in Madrid...
), Huma's co-star and lover. Her life becomes entwined with theirs as she cares for Rosa during her pregnancy and works for Huma as her personal assistant and even acts in the play as an understudy
Understudy
In theater, an understudy is a performer who learns the lines and blocking/choreography of a regular actor or actress in a play. Should the regular actor or actress be unable to appear on stage because of illness or emergencies, the understudy takes over the part...
for Nina during one of her drug abuse crises.
On her way to the hospital, Rosa asks the taxi to stop at a park where she spots her father's dog, Sapic, and then her own father (Fernando Fernán Gómez
Fernando Fernán Gómez
Fernando Fernán-Gómez was a Spanish actor and director. He was born in Lima, Peru as his mother, Spanish actress Carola Fernán-Gómez, was making a tour of Latin America. Inheriting his surname as a stage name, he moved to Spain in 1924.After the Spanish Civil War he began a study of Law but...
), who suffers from Alzheimer's; he does not recognize Rosa and asks for her age and height, but Sapic is cleverer and knows Rosa. Rosa dies giving birth to her son, and Lola and Manuela finally reunite at Rosa's funeral. Lola (whose name used to be Esteban), who is dying from AIDS, talks about how she always wanted a son, and Manuela tells her about her own Esteban and how he died in a car accident. Manuela then adopts Esteban, Rosa's child, and stays with him at Rosa's parents' house. The father does not understand who Manuela is, and Rosa's mother says it's the new cook, who is living here with her son. Rosa's father then asks Manuela her age and height.
Manuela introduces Esteban (Rosa's son) to Lola and gives her a picture of their own Esteban. Rosa's mother spots them from the street and then confronts Manuela about letting strangers see the baby. Manuela tells her that Lola is Esteban's father; Rosa's mother is appalled and says: "That is the monster that killed my daughter?!"
Manuela flees back to Madrid with Esteban; she cannot take living at Rosa's house any longer, since the grandmother is afraid that she will contract AIDS from the baby. She writes a letter to Huma and Agrado saying that she is leaving and once again is sorry for not saying goodbye, like she did years before. Two years later, Manuela returns with Esteban to an AIDS convention, telling Huma and Agrado, who now run a stage show together, that Esteban had been a miracle by not inheriting the virus. She then says she is returning to stay with Esteban's grandparents. When asking Huma about Nina, she becomes melancholy and leaves. Agrado tells Manuela that Nina went back to her town, got married, and had a fat, ugly baby boy.
Almodóvar dedicates his film "To all actresses who have played actresses. To all women who act. To men who act and become women. To all the people who want to be mothers. To my mother."
Almodovar recreates the accident scene from John Cassavetes
John Cassavetes
John Nicholas Cassavetes was an American actor, screenwriter and filmmaker. He acted in many Hollywood films, notably Rosemary's Baby and The Dirty Dozen...
's Opening Night as the epicenter of the dramatic conflict.
Cast
- Cecilia RothCecilia RothCecilia Roth is an Argentine actress.Her father, Abrasha Rotenberg , a Jewish immigrant from the Soviet Ukraine, is an editor and a journalist. He met Cecilia's mother, an Argentinian singer of Sephardic descent Dina Rot, in Argentina. Cecilia Roth has made appearances in numerous television series...
as Manuela - Marisa ParedesMarisa ParedesMaría Luisa Paredes Bartolomé, , better known in show business as Marisa Paredes, is a Spanish actress.-Biography:...
as Huma Rojo - Antonia San JuanAntonia San JuanAntonia San Juan is a Spanish actress, director and screenwriter.She was born in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain. At 19 she went to Madrid, where she started working as a professional theatre actress and also as a cabaret act in pubs and bars. She became known thanks to her role as Agrado in...
as Agrado - Penélope CruzPenélope CruzPenélope Cruz Sánchez is a Spanish actress. Signed by an agent at age 15, she made her acting debut at 16 on television and her feature film debut the following year in Jamón, jamón , to critical acclaim...
as Rosa - Candela PeñaCandela PeñaMaría del Pilar Peña Sánchez, is a Spanish actress.She was the only child of a couple who had a bar in Barcelona. When she was four years old she started to learn dance in the city and after finishing high-school she went to Seville to begin theatre classes there and eventually in Madrid...
as Nina Cruz - Rosa Maria SardàRosa Maria SardàRosa María Sardà is a Spanish actress and comedian.She has played roles in Spanish and Catalan. She was married to the comedian Josep Maria Mainat , and she's Xavier Sardà's elder sister...
as Rosa's Mother - Fernando Fernán GómezFernando Fernán GómezFernando Fernán-Gómez was a Spanish actor and director. He was born in Lima, Peru as his mother, Spanish actress Carola Fernán-Gómez, was making a tour of Latin America. Inheriting his surname as a stage name, he moved to Spain in 1924.After the Spanish Civil War he began a study of Law but...
as Rosa's father - Eloy AzorinEloy AzorinEloy Azorín is a Spanish film, theatre and television actor.- Biography :Born on the 19th of February, 1977 in Madrid, Spain, he is the son of the humourist Eloy Arenas.Eloy's first film role was at the age of 19...
as Esteban - Toni Cantó as Lola
- Sapic as Sapic
Production
The film was shot on location in Madrid, Barcelona, and A CoruñaA Coruña
A Coruña or La Coruña is a city and municipality of Galicia, Spain. It is the second-largest city in the autonomous community and seventeenth overall in the country...
in Galicia.
The soundtrack
Soundtrack
A soundtrack can be recorded music accompanying and synchronized to the images of a motion picture, book, television program or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of a film or TV show; or the physical area of a film that contains the...
includes "Gorrión" and "Coral para mi pequeño y lejano pueblo," written by Dino Saluzzi
Dino Saluzzi
Timoteo "Dino" Saluzzi is an Argentine musician.The son of popular carpero composer and instrumentalist Cayetano Saluzzi, Dino played the bandoneón since his childhood...
and performed by Saluzzi, Marc Johnson, and José Saluzzi, and "Tajabone," written and performed by Ismaël Lô
Ismaël Lô
Ismaël Lô is a Senegalese musician. He was born in Dogondoutchi, Niger on 30 August 1956, to a Senegalese father and a Nigerien mother. Shortly after Lo's birth the family returned to Senegal where they settled in the town of Rufisque, near the capital Dakar. He also plays the guitar and the...
.
Release
The film premiered in Spain on April 8, 1999 and went into general theatrical release in that country on April 16. It was shown at the Cannes Film Festival1999 Cannes Film Festival
The 52nd Cannes Film Festival was held on May 12-23, 1999. The Palme d'Or went to the French-Belgian film Rosetta by Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne.-Jury:* David Cronenberg * André Téchiné * Barbara Hendricks...
, the Karlovy Vary Film Festival, the Auckland Film Festival, the Austin Film Festival
Austin Film Festival
The Austin Film Festival was started in 1994 in Austin, Texas and is claimed to be "the first organization of its kind to focus on the writer’s unique creative contribution to the film and television industries"...
, the Thessaloniki International Film Festival
Thessaloniki International Film Festival
The Thessaloniki International Film Festival has become one of the Balkans' primary showcases for the work of new and emerging filmmakers...
, and the New York Film Festival
New York Film Festival
The New York Film Festival has been a major film festival since it began in 1963 in New York. The films are selected by the Film Society of Lincoln Center...
before going into limited release in the US. It eventually grossed $8,272,296 in the US and $59,600,000 in foreign markets for a worldwide box office total of $67,872,296.
Critical reception in the United States
Janet Maslin of the New York Times called it Almodóvar's "best film by far," noting he "presents this womanly melodramaMelodrama
The term melodrama refers to a dramatic work that exaggerates plot and characters in order to appeal to the emotions. It may also refer to the genre which includes such works, or to language, behavior, or events which resemble them...
with an empathy to recall George Cukor
George Cukor
George Dewey Cukor was an American film director. He mainly concentrated on comedies and literary adaptations. His career flourished at RKO and later MGM, where he directed What Price Hollywood? , A Bill of Divorcement , Dinner at Eight , Little Women , David Copperfield , Romeo and Juliet and...
's and an eye-dampening intensity to out-Sirk Douglas Sirk
Douglas Sirk
Douglas Sirk was a Danish-German film director best known for his work in Hollywood melodramas in the 1950s.-Life and work:...
." She added, "It's the crossover moment in the career of a born four-hankie storyteller of ever-increasing stature. Look out, Hollywood, here he comes."
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
of the Chicago Sun-Times
Chicago Sun-Times
The Chicago Sun-Times is an American daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois. It is the flagship paper of the Sun-Times Media Group.-History:The Chicago Sun-Times is the oldest continuously published daily newspaper in the city...
observed, "You don't know where to position yourself while you're watching a film like All About My Mother, and that's part of the appeal: Do you take it seriously, like the characters do, or do you notice the bright colors and flashy art decoration, the cheerful homages to Tennessee Williams
Tennessee Williams
Thomas Lanier "Tennessee" Williams III was an American writer who worked principally as a playwright in the American theater. He also wrote short stories, novels, poetry, essays, screenplays and a volume of memoirs...
and All About Eve
All About Eve
All About Eve is a 1950 American drama film written and directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, based on the 1946 short story "The Wisdom of Eve", by Mary Orr.The film stars Bette Davis as Margo Channing, a highly regarded but aging Broadway star...
, and see it as a parody
Parody
A parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
? . . . Almodovar's earlier films sometimes seemed to be manipulating the characters as an exercise. Here the plot does handstands in its eagerness to use coincidence, surprise and melodrama. But the characters have a weight and reality, as if Almodovar has finally taken pity on them - has seen that although their plights may seem ludicrous, they are real enough to hurt."
Bob Graham of the San Francisco Chronicle
San Francisco Chronicle
thumb|right|upright|The Chronicle Building following the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|1906 earthquake]] and fireThe San Francisco Chronicle is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, but distributed throughout Northern and Central California,...
said, "No one else makes movies like this Spanish director" and added, "In other hands, these characters might be candidates for confessions - and brawls - on The Jerry Springer Show
The Jerry Springer Show
The Jerry Springer Show is a syndicated television tabloid talk show hosted by Jerry Springer, a former politician, broadcast in the United States and other countries...
, but here they are handled with utmost sympathy. None of these goings-on is presented as sordid or seedy. The presentation is as bright, glossy and seductive as a fashion magazine . . . The tone of All About My Mother has the heart-on-the-sleeve emotions of soap opera
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
, but it is completely sincere and by no means camp
Camp (style)
Camp is an aesthetic sensibility that regards something as appealing because of its taste and ironic value. The concept is closely related to kitsch, and things with camp appeal may also be described as being "cheesy"...
."
Wesley Morris of the San Francisco Examiner called the film "a romantically labyrinthine tribute that piles layers of inter-textual shout-outs to All About Eve, Tennessee Williams, Truman Capote
Truman Capote
Truman Streckfus Persons , known as Truman Capote , was an American author, many of whose short stories, novels, plays, and nonfiction are recognized literary classics, including the novella Breakfast at Tiffany's and the true crime novel In Cold Blood , which he labeled a "nonfiction novel." At...
, Federico García Lorca
Federico García Lorca
Federico del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús García Lorca was a Spanish poet, dramatist and theatre director. García Lorca achieved international recognition as an emblematic member of the Generation of '27. He is believed to be one of thousands who were summarily shot by anti-communist death squads...
and Alfred Hitchcock
Alfred Hitchcock
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE was a British film director and producer. He pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres. After a successful career in British cinema in both silent films and early talkies, Hitchcock moved to Hollywood...
, and beautifully assesses the nature of facades . . . Almodovar imbues his Harlequin-novel
Romance novel
The romance novel is a literary genre developed in Western culture, mainly in English-speaking countries. Novels in this genre place their primary focus on the relationship and romantic love between two people, and must have an "emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending." Through the late...
-meets-Marvel-comic-book
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
melodramas with something more than a wink and a smile, and it is beguiling. His expressionism and his screenwriting have always had fun together, but now there is a kind of faith and spirituality that sexcapades like Law of Desire and Kika
Kika
Kika is a 1993 Spanish language Pedro Almodóvar film starring Verónica Forqué as the title character.-Plot:Kika , a young, bubbly aspiring actress turned cosmetologist, is called to the cottage of Nicholas Pierce , an American freelance writer who has moved to Spain to write about game hunting, to...
only laughed at . . . [I]t contains a host of superlative firsts: a handful of the only truly moving scenes he is filmed, the most gorgeous dialogue he is composed, his most dimensional performances of his most dimensional characters and perhaps his most dynamic photography and elaborate production design."
Jonathan Holland of Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
called the film "emotionally satisfying and brilliantly played" and commented, "The emotional tone is predominantly dark and confrontational . . . But thanks to a sweetly paced and genuinely witty script, pic doesn't become depressing as it focuses on the characters' stoic resilience and good humor."
Selected awards and nominations
Academy AwardsAcademy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
- Best Foreign Language FilmAcademy Award for Best Foreign Language FilmThe Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film is one of the Academy Awards of Merit, popularly known as the Oscars, handed out annually by the U.S.-based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences...
(
BAFTA Awards
- Best Film Not in the English LanguageBAFTA Award for Best FilmThis page lists the winners and nominees for the BAFTA Award for Best Film, BAFTA Award for Best Film not in the English Language and Alexander Korda Award for Best British Film for each year, in addition to the retired earlier versions of those awards...
(won) - Best DirectionBAFTA Award for Best DirectionWinners of the BAFTA Award for Best Direction presented by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.-2010s:* 2010 - David Fincher – The Social Network** Tom Hooper – The King's Speech** Danny Boyle – 127 Hours...
(Almodóvar, won) - Best Screenplay - OriginalBAFTA Award for Best Original ScreenplayThe BAFTA Award for Best Original Screenplay is the British Academy Film Award for the best script not based upon previously published material. It has been awarded since 1984, when the original category was split into two awards, the other being the BAFTA Award for Best Adapted...
(Almodóvar, nominated – lost to Being John Malkovich, Charlie Kaufman)
Golden Globe Awards
- Best Foreign Language FilmGolden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language FilmThe Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film is one of the awards presented at the Golden Globes, an American film awards ceremony.Until 1986, it was known as the Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Film, meaning that any non-American film could be honoured...
(
Goya Awards
Goya Awards
The Goya Awards, known in Spanish as los Premios Goya, are Spain's main national film awards, considered by many in Spain, and internationally, to be the Spanish equivalent of the American Academy Awards....
- Best ActressGoya Award for Best ActressThe Goya Award for Best Actress is one of the Goya Awards, Spain's principal national film awards....
(Roth, won) - Best Cinematography (nominated – lost to Goya in Bordeaux)
- Best Costume Design (nominated – lost to Goya in Bordeaux)
- Best DirectorGoya Award for Best DirectorThe Goya Award for Best Director is one of the Goya Awards, Spain's principal national film awards.In the list below the winner of the award for each year is shown first, followed by the other nominees.-1980s:...
(Almodóvar, won) - Best Editing (won)
- Best FilmGoya Award for Best PictureThe Goya Award for Best Picture is one of the Goya Awards, Spain's principal national film awards.In the list below the winner of the award for each year is shown first, followed by the other nominees.-1980s:...
(won) - Best Makeup and Hairstyles (nominated – lost to Goya in Bordeaux)
- Best Original Score (Iglesias, won)
- Best Production Design (nominated – lost to Goya in Bordeaux)
- Best Sound (won)
- Best Supporting ActressGoya Award for Best Supporting ActressThe Goya Award for Best Supporting Actress is one of the Goya Awards, Spain's principal national film awards....
(Peña, nominee – María Galiana, Alone) - Best Screenplay - OriginalGoya Award for Best Original ScreenplayThe Goya Award for Best Original Screenplay is one of the Goya Awards, Spain's principal national film awards-References:**...
(Almodóvar, nominee – lost to Alone, Benito Zambrano)
- Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Foreign Language FilmBoston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Foreign Language Film-1990s:-2000s:-2010s:...
(winner) - British Independent Film AwardBritish Independent Film AwardsThe Moët British Independent Film Awards is an annual award ceremony celebrating achievement in independently funded British film and cinema. Nominations and jury are announced at the beginning of November with the award ceremony taking place in late November or early December.-History:The British...
for Best Foreign Language Film (winner) - Butaca AwardButaca AwardsThe Butaca Awards are a miscellaneous annual theater and film award ceremony held since 1995 in Barcelona, Catalonia to award those who have made valuable contributions to Catalan theater and cinema....
for Best Catalan Film Actress (Candela Peña, winner) - Cannes Film Festival Best Director AwardBest Director Award (Cannes Film Festival)The Best Director Award is an award presented at the Cannes Film Festival. It is chosen by the jury from the 'official section' of movies at the festival. It was first awarded in 1946....
(winner) - Cannes Film Festival Prize of the Ecumenical JuryPrize of the Ecumenical JuryThe Prize of the Ecumenical Jury is an independent film award for feature films at the Cannes Film Festival since 1974. The Ecumenical Jury is one of three juries at the Cannes Film Festival, along with the official jury and the FIPRESCI jury. The award was created by Christian film makers, film...
(Pedro Almodóvar, winner) - Chicago Film Critics Association AwardChicago Film Critics Association Awards 1999The 12th Chicago Film Critics Association Awards, given on 13 March 2000, honored the finest achievements in 1999 filmmaking.-Winners:*Best Actor:**Kevin Spacey - American Beauty*Best Actress:**Hilary Swank - Boys Don't Cry*Best Cinematography:...
for Best Foreign Language Film (winner) - César Award for Best Foreign FilmCésar Award for Best Foreign FilmThis is the list of winners and nominees of the César Award for Best Foreign Film .-1970s:-1980s:-1990s:-2000s:-2010s:...
(winner) - David di Donatello for Best Foreign FilmDavid di Donatello for Best Foreign Film-1950s-1960s:**Hotel Rwanda, directed by Terry George**Ray, directed by Taylor Hackford*2006 Crash, directed by Paul Haggis**A History of Violence, directed by David Cronenberg**Good Night, and Good Luck., directed by George Clooney...
(winner) - Jameson People's Choice Award for Best European Director (winner)
- European Film Award for Best European Film (winner)
- European Film Award for Best European Actress (Cecilia Roth, winner)
- GLAAD Media AwardGLAAD Media AwardsThe GLAAD Media Award is an accolade bestowed by the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation to recognize and honor various branches of the media for their outstanding representations of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community and the issues that affect their lives...
for Outstanding Film in Limited Release (nominee) - Independent Spirit Award for Best Foreign Language Film (nominee)
- London Film Critics CircleLondon Film Critics CircleThe London Film Critics' Circle is the name by which the Film Section of The Critics' Circle is known internationally.The word London was added because it was thought the term Critics' Circle Film Awards lacked meaning — for people in LA for example — and the Film Section wished its annual Awards...
Award for Foreign Language Film of the Year (winner) - Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Foreign Language FilmLos Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Foreign Language FilmThe Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Foreign Language Film is a film award given by the Los Angeles Film Critics Association.-1970s:- 1980s :- 1990s :- 2000s :- 2010s :...
(winner) - National Board of Review Award for Best Foreign Language FilmNational Board of Review Award for Best Foreign Language FilmThe National Board of Review Award for Best Foreign Language Film is one of the annual awards given by the National Board of Review.Note: This list is incomplete.-1930s:-1940s:-1950s:-1960s:-1970s:-1980s:-1990s:-2000s:-2010s:...
(winner) - New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Foreign Language FilmNew York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Foreign Language FilmThe New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Foreign Language Film is one of the annual film critics awards given by the New York Film Critics Circle.- 1960s :- 1970s :- 1980s :- 1990s :- 2000s :- 2010s :...
(winner) - Premios ACE AwardAssociation of Latin Entertainment CriticsThe Association of Latin Entertainment Critics is a nonprofit cultural organization founded on December 12, 1967. The organization has bestowed the LatinACE awards annually since May 25, 1969...
for Best Film (winner) - Premios ACE Award for Best Actress - Cinema (Cecilia Roth, winner)
- Premios ACE Award for Best Supporting Actor - Cinema (Fernando Fernán Gómez, winner)
- Premios ACE Award for Best Supporting Actress - Cinema (Marisa Paredes, winner)
- Satellite Award for Best Foreign Language FilmSatellite Award for Best Foreign Language FilmThe Satellite Award for Best Foreign Film is one of the annual Satellite Awards given by the International Press Academy.- 1990s :- 2000s :- 2010s :...
(winner; tied with Three SeasonsThree SeasonsThree Seasons is an American Vietnamese language movie filmed in Vietnam about the past, present, and future of Ho Chi Minh City in the early days of New Vietnam. It is a poetic film that tries to paint a picture of the urban culture undergoing westernization. The movie takes place in Ho Chi...
)
Stage adaptation
A stage adaptation of the film by playwright Samuel Adamson received its world première at the Old VicOld Vic
The Old Vic is a theatre located just south-east of Waterloo Station in London on the corner of The Cut and Waterloo Road. Established in 1818 as the Royal Coburg Theatre, it was taken over by Emma Cons in 1880 when it was known formally as the Royal Victoria Hall. In 1898, a niece of Cons, Lilian...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
's West End
West End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...
on September 4, 2007. This production marked the first English language adaptation of any of Almodóvar's works and had his support and approval. Music by the film's composer, Alberto Iglesias
Alberto Iglesias
Alberto Iglesias Fernández-Berridi is a Spanish composer. He wrote the music for several Spanish films, mostly from Pedro Almodóvar...
, was incorporated into the stage production, with additional music by Max and Ben Ringham. It starred Diana Rigg
Diana Rigg
Dame Enid Diana Elizabeth Rigg, DBE is an English actress. She is probably best known for her portrayals of Emma Peel in The Avengers and Countess Teresa di Vicenzo in the 1969 James Bond film On Her Majesty's Secret Service....
, Lesley Manville
Lesley Manville
Lesley Manville is an award-winning English actress.-Early life:Born in Brighton, Manville was raised in Hove, East Sussex, one of three daughters of a taxicab driver. Training as a soprano singer from age 8, she twice became under-18 champion of Sussex...
, Mark Gatiss
Mark Gatiss
Mark Gatiss is an English actor, screenwriter and novelist. He is best known as a member of the comedy team The League of Gentlemen, and has both written for and acted in the TV series Doctor Who and Sherlock....
, Joanne Froggatt
Joanne Froggatt
- Early life, education and early career :Born and raised in the village of Littlebeck, Froggatt left her family home at the age of 13 to attend the Redroofs Theatre School in Maidenhead, Berkshire. In 1996, she made her TV début in the long-running ITV drama, The Bill, and shortly afterwards...
, Colin Morgan
Colin Morgan
Colin Morgan is an actor from Armagh, Northern Ireland, best known for playing the title character in the BBC TV series Merlin. Morgan went to Integrated College Dungannon and, during his third year, won the 'Denis Rooney Associates' Cup awarded to the best overall student of that academic year...
, and Charlotte Randle. It opened to generally good reviews, with some critics stating it improved upon the film.
External links
- Film locations on Google EarthGoogle EarthGoogle Earth is a virtual globe, map and geographical information program that was originally called EarthViewer 3D, and was created by Keyhole, Inc, a Central Intelligence Agency funded company acquired by Google in 2004 . It maps the Earth by the superimposition of images obtained from satellite...