Women On The Verge Of A Nervous Breakdown
— A smash-and-grab of awards for a film that feels rather rushed.”
- Director: Pedro Almodóvar
- Spain, 1988
This is a decorated film – five Goyas and an Oscar nomination – and an international breakthrough for the director, but it didn’t sit too well with me.
Almodóvar’s screwball comedy cocktail has all of the lurid colour but lacks the bitter edge that adds bite to his more emotive works. After a promising start, the pace suddenly feels rather rushed, with too much plot crammed into 90 minutes.
Nevertheless, there are some outstanding features. When protagonist Pepa, a dubbing actor, shows up at work she must dub Joan Crawford in the key scene in Johnny Guitar, her deserting lover (and colleague) having already done the Sterling Hayden part. It’s a rare soulful moment, masterfully delivered by Carmen Maura leading another solid cast: Banderas would make a great post-pubescent, oversexed Adrian Mole and Julieta Serrano is delightfully insane as Lucía.
See also:
Law of Desire (La Ley del Deseo)
Another likeable tale of exemplary nutters.
- Originally published: 27 Sep 2007 in Film
Malèna
Tornatore’s poetic, hormonal paean to the youthful worship of a fallen goddess.
- Originally published: 29 May 2007 in Film
Dark Habits
A breezy, inconsequential tale of nuns with nowhere to run.
- Originally published: 12 Sep 2006 in Film
Syriana
A movie for our times: a challenging look at the many side-effects of crude foreign policy.
- Originally published: 5 Dec 2006 in Film
The Last King of Scotland
A masterclass in biopic acting from Forest Whitaker.
- Originally published: 30 Sep 2007 in Film
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Hello you, I'm Mike Padgett. I'm not a Princeton curator, Knoxville mayoral candidate, Kentuckian pastor or Arizona journalist, I just share the same name. In fact, I am a consultant working in user experience and information design.
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