All About My Mother

Shown: 30 October 2000

Spain 1999 (subtitles)
101 minutes
Directed by Pedro Almodóvar
Leading players - Cecilia Roth, Marisa Paredes and Antonia San Juan

Synopsis

Manuela's son (Eloy Azorin) is killed when he rushes into the street to get the autograph of his favourite actress. Manuela (Cecilia Roth) leaves Madrid for Barcelona in search of his father, who is now the transvestite prostitute, Lola (Toni Cantú). There Manuela meets an old friend, Agrado (Antonia San Juan), also a transvestite, befriends the very actress her son admired and adopts the young nun Rosa (Penélope Cruz), who is pregnant and dying.

Love, friendship and family are celebrated in places and among people who may at first sight seem the most unlikely. It is grief (played with sincerity) that gives Manuela the courage to discover and enter this celebration, yet the film bubbles with humour. Never has melodrama been so tender, profound and boisterous. Indeed, the film is built up on a celebration of paradox, but always at the service of a deeper understanding. For example Rosa's mother earns a living by faking art, yet is scared to hire home help in case she is robbed; Rosa's father, demented to the point that he cannot recognise his daughter, is eager to point out that he thinks his dog does not recognise Kosa. A hit at Cannes in 1999, this is Almodóvar with grandeur, compassion, vision and fun.