La Flor de mi Secreto (the Flower of my Secret)
- Director: Pedro Almodóvar
- Spain, 1995
You get the very distinct sense when watching La Flor that Almodóvar is onto something. And so the maturity and virtuosity of his output has increased with each film ever since.
As a writer of great female parts, he’s blessed here with a strong performance from Marisa Paredes who as the protagonista Leo (and her nom de plume Amanda Gris) carries the story almost single-handedly.
Leo’s neurotic approach to love is a little hard to empathise with for this stoical anglosajón, but the film’s luminosity hints overtly at the great things to come. Indeed literally, for the plot of one of Gris’ trash novels would later become Volver.
See also:
Y Tu Mamá También
Director: Alfonso Cuarón Mexico, 2001 What’s odd about Y Tu Mamá También is how it can be so many things all at once: a road movie, a coming of age comedy, a ...
- Originally published: 4 Feb 2008 in Film
A Bittersweet Life
Director: Kim Ji Woon Korea, 2005 When A Bittersweet Life was screened at Cannes, one journalist compared the film’s inscrutable lead Byung Hun Lee to the 70s Alain Delon. As you watch the ...
- Originally published: 16 Nov 2006 in Film
Malèna
Director: Giuseppe Tornatore Italy, 2000 It’s tempting to think of Malèna as a shrink-wrapped, ultra-compact, bitesize companion piece to Tornatore’s meandering, elegiac ode to movies Cinema Paradiso. But while both pictures feature ...
- Originally published: 29 May 2007 in Film
Law of Desire (La Ley del Deseo)
Director: Pedro Almodóvar Spain, 1987 There’s much to like about the performances in Law of Desire. Eusebio Poncela plays a marvellously ambivalent, sexually ambiguous film director as his insouciance gives way to ...
- Originally published: 27 Sep 2007 in Film
The End of the Affair
Graham Greene Vintage (first published 1951) Greene was in his writing prime when The End of the Affair was published. The book can nonetheless be considered a transitional piece: it’s an early ...
- Originally published: 17 Jan 2010 in Books
Who is that guy?
Hello you. I'm Mike Padgett and I work in the technology sector as an Information Designer.
I also enjoy travel, concerts, films and walking.
I'm based in Brussels, Belgium. My current favourite Belgian beer is St Feuillien Brune.
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