All About My Mother Reviews

Mature and moving aren't words usually associated with “King of Kitsch” Pedro Almodóvar, but they certainly apply to this inspired reworking of the Bette Davis classic All about Eve. Devastated by the death of her son in a road accident, hospital worker Cecilia Roth donates his organs before leaving Madrid for Barcelona to carry out the boy's wish and tell his absent father of his existence. It is here that she finds a whole new purpose in tending to a pregnant HIV-positive nun (Penélope Cruz) and a grande dame of the stage nearing the end of her career (Marisa Paredes). With sassy humour coming from Antonia San Juan as a transvestite prostitute awaiting a sex change, this fond, deliciously flamboyant study of womanhood and friendship is intense without ever being overbearing, and touching but never sentimental. It's by far the Spanish director's finest achievement and earned him a best foreign language film Oscar plus two gongs at the Baftas.

"...Emotionally satisfying and brilliantly played....[The film's] witty script focuses on the characters' stoic resilience and good humor..."

After the death of her beloved teenage son in an accident, Roth leaves Madrid for Barcelona to cope with her grief,... read more on Time Out

Mature and moving aren't words usually associated with “King of Kitsch” Pedro Almodóvar, but they certainly apply to this inspired reworking of the Bette Davis classic All about Eve. Devastated by the death of her son in a road accident, hospital worker Cecilia Roth donates his organs before leaving Madrid for Barcelona to carry out the boy's wish and tell his absent father of his existence. It is here that she finds a whole new purpose in tending to a pregnant HIV-positive nun (Penélope Cruz) and a grande dame of the stage nearing the end of her career (Marisa Paredes). With sassy humour coming from Antonia San Juan as a transvestite prostitute awaiting a sex change, this fond, deliciously flamboyant study of womanhood and friendship is intense without ever being overbearing, and touching but never sentimental. It's by far the Spanish director's finest achievement and earned him a best foreign language film Oscar plus two gongs at the Baftas.

"...Emotionally satisfying and brilliantly played....[The film's] witty script focuses on the characters' stoic resilience and good humor..."

After the death of her beloved teenage son in an accident, Roth leaves Madrid for Barcelona to cope with her grief,... read more on Time Out

"...[The film] dramatises a general condition with formal elegance, nuanced observations and emotional resonance..."

"...The best foreign movie of the year....A unique and unforgettable tribute to female solidarity..."

"...Almodovar's masterwork, a synthesis of the director's fabulous fetishes..." -- Rating: A