Flower of my Secret

Spain/France 1995 (subtitles)
110 minutes
Directed by Pedro Almodóvar
Leading players - Marisa Paredes, Rossy de Palma & Chus Lampreave

Synopsis

'Leo Macias (Marisa Paredes) is the best selling writer of romantic fiction under the pseudonym Amanda Gris. However, her personal life is unhappy. She clings desperately to a dissolving marriage, becomes the victim of betrayal by her closest girlfriend, and suffers a bickering mother (Chus Lampreave), and a neurotic sister (Rossy de Palma). Her private life begins to affect her professional one, and she fights to rediscover her true self.

Marisa Paredes is magnificent as Leo. The power of her performance is unlike anything seen before in Almodóvar's work, and it is refreshing to see a heroine in her forties.

* * * * * *

The film itself is a change for Almodóvar, who abandons his usual sex and comedy trademarks plus garish sets and costumes, opting instead for a detailed and dramatic storyline. Dollops of his off-the-wall humour remain, however, in a perfectly realised comic double act from his regulars Rossy De Palma and Chus Lampreave.

Pedro Almodóvar was born in 1949. He began his film career whilst working for the Spanish telephone company, beginning production on his first film 'Pepi, Luci, Bom and the Other Girls' (1980), which was filmed on his Super 8 camera. He made seven films during the 1980s, gradually improving his technique with the medium and revealing his distinctive style. His first international success, both commercially and in terms of critical acclaim, was 'Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown' (1988). Almodóvar doesn't confine himself to the Director's chair. He is frequently the writer and producer of his films, and with 'Labyrinth of Passion' (1982) he also composed the music and appeared in front of the camera; clearly a multi-talented individual.