Following the passing away of their mother in a fire, Raimunda (Penelope Cruz, VANILLA SKY) and Sole (Lola Duenas, TALK TO HER), leave their home town of La Mancha to live in Madrid. Raimunda lives with her daughter and unsupportive husband, taking on menial jobs, while Sole works in secret as a hairdresser. The only member of .. Read more
| Starring | Penelope Cruz, Penelope Cruz, Carmen Maura, Lola Duenas |
|---|---|
| Director | Pedro Almodovar |
| Genres | Audio Descriptive, Comedy, Drama, World Cinema |
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Following the passing away of their mother in a fire, Raimunda (Penelope Cruz, VANILLA SKY) and Sole (Lola Duenas, TALK TO HER), leave their home town of La Mancha to live in Madrid. Raimunda lives with her daughter and unsupportive husband, taking on menial jobs, while Sole works in secret as a hairdresser. The only member of their family to remain in La Mancha is their Aunt Paula, who speaks of their deceased mum as if she were alive. The sisters also visit their friend Augustina, who remains devastated by the death of the mother. When Paula dies, the situation changes and the sisters find themselves communicating with their apparently deceased mother. Pedro Almodovar directs this mysterious and suspenseful film with panache and Penelope Cruz--with the enhancement of a prosthetic backside--shines in a sparkling performance.
| Starring | Penelope Cruz, Penelope Cruz, Carmen Maura, Lola Duenas, Blanca Portilla |
|---|---|
| Director | Pedro Almodovar |
| Studio | PATHE DISTRIBUTION |
| Run time | DVD: 1 hr 55 mins |
| Certificate | |
| Genres | Audio Descriptive, Comedy, Drama, World Cinema |
| Language | Spanish, English Audio Description |
| Subtitles | English |
| Released | DVD: 12 Feb 2007 Production year: 2006 |
| Format | DVD |
After two rather serious, male-orientated films (Talk To Her and Bad Education), its great to see Pedro Almodóvar back on familiar ground with this female ensemble piece. Its a film with quite a few twists, so it would be unfair to give away the plot suffice it to say that it revolves around Penélope Cruzs relationship with her sister, difficult daughter, recently-deceased mother, and terminally-ill neighbour. Cruz, returning to her native language after some dire Hollywood movies, gives a superb performance. She manages to make a difficult, often unsympathetic character likeable. Almodóvar is also reunited with Carmen Maura, his muse from the 1980s, after a very public falling out following trouble on the set of Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown. She isnt in that many scenes, but her presence really grounds the whole film. In fact, the entire cast is great there are five great parts for actresses, more than in a years worth of Hollywood films. Overall then, this is funny, colourful and entertaining.
Secrets abound everywhere in this dark, comic thriller from Almodovar. It is a great female ensemble piece about relationships and solidarity among women and is very well acted - Cruz in particular.
However, as other reviewers have noted, it can get a little muddled and some of the most complex characters aren't always given enough time to develop. This leads to unresolved subplots and a sudden ending.
It is darkly humorous and there is amazingly strong attention to colour and detail. While in the end, I was left a little cold despite the warmth of the performances, all in all, this is a very enjoyable and well crafted film and Cruz is superb in the lead role. Rent it!
The name of Pedro Almodóvar’s production company is El Deseo: Desire films. It’s a quality much in evidence in the vividly carnal, erotic, outrageous and anguished melodramas in which he specializes. Desire – a word that contains lust, love, venality, revenge and ambition – propels his characters as they careen from crisis to crisis, which must be why Almodovar’s heroes and (more often) heroines are almost always in a state of heightened agitation. If we had an... Read more