Post by klep on Mar 23, 2020 7:18:08 GMT -6
MOVIE OF THE WEEK for 3/23: Pain and Glory
2019 CATCH-UP WEEK!
It's easy to fall into habits. We bite our nails, we rub our eyebrows, and sometimes we even have good habits like waking up right before our alarm. But our habits can go beyond specific physical actions and into the way we live our lives as well. We go out every weekend. We eat out on Tuesdays. Or we don't go out because we don't know anyone in our new town and we've convinced ourselves it's easier to do than meeting new people. Whatever our habits, our ruts, we fall into them because they "work" for us in some way or for whatever reason it's easier to keep doing them than to do anything else.
Pedro Almdóvar's Pain and Glory introduces us to someone stuck in such a rut. Salvador Mallo (Antonio Banderas) is an aging film director who no longer works on new projects. He's wracked by pain of various sorts - arthritis, migraines, a choking problem, and numerous other ailments he lists at the film's opening. He spends his days isolated in his apartment in Madrid, not quite hiding from the world but not engaging with it either. He's decided that his various problems make it too hard for him to work, so he won't even try. He'll just fade into memory because it's easier than making an effort to change.
The trick to getting rid of bad habits, you see, is that you truly have to believe you can, and that it will make things better.
Charge enters Salvador's life when he is encouraged to host a screening of his first hit. He'd be happy to, but the catch is that they also want his star from that film Alberto Crespo (Asier Etxeandia), with whom he has not spoken since the premiere decades prior. They became estranged because Alberto would not stop using heroin on set, and when Salvador deigns to swallow his pride and visit Alberto, he still is using. But Salvador is in a different place now, and desperate for something to dull his pain he takes on a new bad habit.
Throughout the film we see Salvador's present interspersed with his past as a small child (played by Asier Flores). We see his love for his mother (played at different ages by Penélope Cruz and Julieta Serrano), and we see the events that defined his love for creative arts and, ultimately, what awakened his sexuality.
But most importantly we learn what drove him to estrangement with Alberto. Salvador once had a lover addicted to heroin. Salvador saw how that destructive habit was ruining the man he loved, and no matter what he did he couldn't keep him clean for longer than a trip or a shoot. His failure in this regard weighs upon his soul.
A chance encounter though leads said lover Federico (Leonardo Sbaraglia) to Salvador's door to catch up. Nervous like a schoolboy with a crush Salvador lets him in and they have a tender conversation in which Federico reveals that not only has he kicked heroin, but he has a lovely family and a great life. And that he has never forgotten Salvador. It's the push Salvador needs - knowing a better future is possible he resolves to get back to living himself. As he goes under for a procedure to fix his choking problem, he tells his doctor he's writing again.
In the final moments we're given a grace note that doubles as - for my money - the best scene of the year. We see a scene we'd seen earlier - young Salvador and his mother passing a night on a bench while fireworks go on outside. The camera pulls back, and a boom mic enters the frame. It's Salvador's own story, and he's directing it.
OUR NEXT MOVIE OF THE WEEK for 3/30: Sense and Sensibility (1995)
IT'S LADIES' WEEK!
Next week we'll be looking at the adaptation of Jane Austen's novel written by flawless human being Emma Thompson. Be sure to join us next week for our discussion of Sense and Sensibility, available for rent in the usual places.
NEXT PICTURE SHOW PODCAST for 3/24: Panic in the Streets
With the COVID-19 pandemic shutting down movies and movie theaters, the podcast is shifting gears. While they sort it out, the next pairing is a topical one starting with Elia Kazan's film about a murder that reveals a potential plague in New Orleans. Come join our discussion of this film on Wednesday, available in the usual places except not on Amazon.
2019 CATCH-UP WEEK!
It's easy to fall into habits. We bite our nails, we rub our eyebrows, and sometimes we even have good habits like waking up right before our alarm. But our habits can go beyond specific physical actions and into the way we live our lives as well. We go out every weekend. We eat out on Tuesdays. Or we don't go out because we don't know anyone in our new town and we've convinced ourselves it's easier to do than meeting new people. Whatever our habits, our ruts, we fall into them because they "work" for us in some way or for whatever reason it's easier to keep doing them than to do anything else.
Pedro Almdóvar's Pain and Glory introduces us to someone stuck in such a rut. Salvador Mallo (Antonio Banderas) is an aging film director who no longer works on new projects. He's wracked by pain of various sorts - arthritis, migraines, a choking problem, and numerous other ailments he lists at the film's opening. He spends his days isolated in his apartment in Madrid, not quite hiding from the world but not engaging with it either. He's decided that his various problems make it too hard for him to work, so he won't even try. He'll just fade into memory because it's easier than making an effort to change.
The trick to getting rid of bad habits, you see, is that you truly have to believe you can, and that it will make things better.
Charge enters Salvador's life when he is encouraged to host a screening of his first hit. He'd be happy to, but the catch is that they also want his star from that film Alberto Crespo (Asier Etxeandia), with whom he has not spoken since the premiere decades prior. They became estranged because Alberto would not stop using heroin on set, and when Salvador deigns to swallow his pride and visit Alberto, he still is using. But Salvador is in a different place now, and desperate for something to dull his pain he takes on a new bad habit.
Throughout the film we see Salvador's present interspersed with his past as a small child (played by Asier Flores). We see his love for his mother (played at different ages by Penélope Cruz and Julieta Serrano), and we see the events that defined his love for creative arts and, ultimately, what awakened his sexuality.
But most importantly we learn what drove him to estrangement with Alberto. Salvador once had a lover addicted to heroin. Salvador saw how that destructive habit was ruining the man he loved, and no matter what he did he couldn't keep him clean for longer than a trip or a shoot. His failure in this regard weighs upon his soul.
A chance encounter though leads said lover Federico (Leonardo Sbaraglia) to Salvador's door to catch up. Nervous like a schoolboy with a crush Salvador lets him in and they have a tender conversation in which Federico reveals that not only has he kicked heroin, but he has a lovely family and a great life. And that he has never forgotten Salvador. It's the push Salvador needs - knowing a better future is possible he resolves to get back to living himself. As he goes under for a procedure to fix his choking problem, he tells his doctor he's writing again.
In the final moments we're given a grace note that doubles as - for my money - the best scene of the year. We see a scene we'd seen earlier - young Salvador and his mother passing a night on a bench while fireworks go on outside. The camera pulls back, and a boom mic enters the frame. It's Salvador's own story, and he's directing it.
OUR NEXT MOVIE OF THE WEEK for 3/30: Sense and Sensibility (1995)
IT'S LADIES' WEEK!
Next week we'll be looking at the adaptation of Jane Austen's novel written by flawless human being Emma Thompson. Be sure to join us next week for our discussion of Sense and Sensibility, available for rent in the usual places.
NEXT PICTURE SHOW PODCAST for 3/24: Panic in the Streets
With the COVID-19 pandemic shutting down movies and movie theaters, the podcast is shifting gears. While they sort it out, the next pairing is a topical one starting with Elia Kazan's film about a murder that reveals a potential plague in New Orleans. Come join our discussion of this film on Wednesday, available in the usual places except not on Amazon.