Post by klep on Aug 12, 2019 6:52:22 GMT -6
MOVIE OF THE WEEK for 8/12: Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown
SCREWBALL WEEK!
The nervous breakdown mentioned in the title of Pedro Almodóvar's breakthrough film has a name: Iván (Fernando Guillén). Iván is the rarely-seen center of an emotional maelstrom that has swept up his ex-wife, his lover, and his mistress along with a few other pieces of collateral into a dangerously unstable mess. He's a real piece of work, disloyal and too cowardly to face the consequences of his actions.
But the movie isn't really about him. It's about the women around him. As the film starts, Pepa (Carmen Maura) is struggling with the breakup - a relationship she thought would last, but now she can't even get him to face her. She thinks he's cheating on her with his ex Lucía (Julieta Serrano) who in turn thinks Iván is cheating on her with Pepa. But he's actually sleeping with Lucía's lawyer from when she sued Iván, Paulina (Kiti Mánver). Meanwhile Lucía's and Iván's son Carlos (Antonio Banderas) and his fiancée Marisa (Rossy de Palma) are interested in subletting Pepa's apartment, and Pepa's friend Candela (María Barranco) is hiding there from the police because she was tricked/coerced into harboring some terrorists in her home. Candela is notably the only one of the whole crew not connected to Iván, but even she is finding herself beset by the misdeeds of awful men.
Obviously no one knows all of this for much of the film. It's a huge, intricately tangled web, but Almodóvar manages to unweave it for us expertly in just 89 minutes. It's a delightful chaos watching everyone unfurl their relationships to each other and to the man who's never there. The script is as clever as it is tight, in true screwball tradition aiming to keep you at a near-constant chuckle only sporadically breaking out into guffaws (primarily with Guillermo Montesinos's Mambo Taxi driver).
Eventually of course Pepa gets her face-to-face with Iván, but it goes very differently than she might have expected at the beginning of the day. Early on she was unbalanced in her life, flailing for some control in her life. But the events of the day have reminded her of her strength and her agency - her formidable capacity for quick thinking and bold action. And so all she has left for Iván is to tell him that she's done. She doesn't even tell him what she only reveals to Carlos' (presumably ex-fiancée) when she gets back home. She's pregnant, but the kid will probably be better off without its father anyway.
OUR NEXT MOVIE OF THE WEEK for 8/19: Near Dark
SCREWBALL WEEK!
The nervous breakdown mentioned in the title of Pedro Almodóvar's breakthrough film has a name: Iván (Fernando Guillén). Iván is the rarely-seen center of an emotional maelstrom that has swept up his ex-wife, his lover, and his mistress along with a few other pieces of collateral into a dangerously unstable mess. He's a real piece of work, disloyal and too cowardly to face the consequences of his actions.
But the movie isn't really about him. It's about the women around him. As the film starts, Pepa (Carmen Maura) is struggling with the breakup - a relationship she thought would last, but now she can't even get him to face her. She thinks he's cheating on her with his ex Lucía (Julieta Serrano) who in turn thinks Iván is cheating on her with Pepa. But he's actually sleeping with Lucía's lawyer from when she sued Iván, Paulina (Kiti Mánver). Meanwhile Lucía's and Iván's son Carlos (Antonio Banderas) and his fiancée Marisa (Rossy de Palma) are interested in subletting Pepa's apartment, and Pepa's friend Candela (María Barranco) is hiding there from the police because she was tricked/coerced into harboring some terrorists in her home. Candela is notably the only one of the whole crew not connected to Iván, but even she is finding herself beset by the misdeeds of awful men.
Obviously no one knows all of this for much of the film. It's a huge, intricately tangled web, but Almodóvar manages to unweave it for us expertly in just 89 minutes. It's a delightful chaos watching everyone unfurl their relationships to each other and to the man who's never there. The script is as clever as it is tight, in true screwball tradition aiming to keep you at a near-constant chuckle only sporadically breaking out into guffaws (primarily with Guillermo Montesinos's Mambo Taxi driver).
Eventually of course Pepa gets her face-to-face with Iván, but it goes very differently than she might have expected at the beginning of the day. Early on she was unbalanced in her life, flailing for some control in her life. But the events of the day have reminded her of her strength and her agency - her formidable capacity for quick thinking and bold action. And so all she has left for Iván is to tell him that she's done. She doesn't even tell him what she only reveals to Carlos' (presumably ex-fiancée) when she gets back home. She's pregnant, but the kid will probably be better off without its father anyway.
OUR NEXT MOVIE OF THE WEEK for 8/19: Near Dark
GUEST ESSAY WEEK
For Guest Essay Week we'll have a guest essay on Kathryn Bigelow's vampire neo-noir Near Dark. Come join us next week for our discussion of this early film from the first (sadly) and only (also sadly) woman to win Best Director from the Academy. Unfortunately, Near Dark does not appear to be available on any streaming services.
NEXT PICTURE SHOW PODCAST for 8/13: Shampoo
Hal Ashby's satire about a Hollywood hairdresser on the eve of the Nixon administration kicks off the next podcast pairing about the end of the 60s in La La Land. Join us on Wednesday for our discussion! Shampoo is available for rent in the usual places.
NEXT PICTURE SHOW PODCAST for 8/13: Shampoo
Hal Ashby's satire about a Hollywood hairdresser on the eve of the Nixon administration kicks off the next podcast pairing about the end of the 60s in La La Land. Join us on Wednesday for our discussion! Shampoo is available for rent in the usual places.