#855: ALMODÓVAR, Pedro: Women On The Verge Of A Nervous Breakdown (1988)
ALMODÓVAR, Pedro (Spain)
Women On The Verge Of A Nervous Breakdown [1988]
Spine #855
Blu-ray
89 minutes
The Booklet
Twelve-page wraparound with an essay by novelist and critic Elvira Lindo.
Commentary
Women On The Verge Of A Nervous Breakdown [1988]
Spine #855
Blu-ray
Melding melodrama with screwball farce, this Academy Award-nominated black comedy was Pedro Almodóvar's international breakthrough and secured his place at the vanguard of modern Spanish cinema. Continuing the auteur's exploration of the female psyche, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown tells the story of Pepa — played by the director's frequent collaborator Carmen Maura — who resolves to kill herself with a batch of sleeping-pill-laced gazpacho after her lover leaves her. Fortunately, she is interrupted by a deliciously chaotic series of events. The filmmaker channeled Hollywood inspiration into his own unique vision, arriving at the irreverent humor and vibrant visual sense that define his work today. With an exceptional ensemble cast that also includes Antonio Banderas and Rossy de Palam, this film shows an artist in total control of his craft.
89 minutes
Color
2.0 Surround
in Spanish
1:85:1 aspect ratio
Criterion Release 2017
2.0 Surround
in Spanish
1:85:1 aspect ratio
Criterion Release 2017
Director/Writer
Pedro Almodóvar was 39 when he wrote and directed Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown.
Other Almodóvar films in the Collection:
#722: Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! (1990)
#1012: All About My Mother (1999)
The Film
Other Almodóvar films in the Collection:
#722: Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! (1990)
#1012: All About My Mother (1999)
The Film
Women was not Almodóvar’s first film, but it was his most successful at that time — it caught the attention of the American art film audience (nominated for Best Foreign Film, losing out to the Danish/Swedish production Pelle the Conqueror).
That his films flourished in the immediate post-Franco era is not a coincidence. This new-found freedom to express oneself fully without fear of censorship must have been quite liberating for a young filmmaker like Almodóvar …
This is early Almodóvar and is not as good as his later films (including the other two in this Collection), but it is highly colorful and entertaining.
**
Poor Pepa (Carmen Maura) … her lover, Iván (Fernando Guillén) — an older man with distinguished gray hair — is not returning her calls, and she is getting more and more frantic.
Poor Lucía (Julieta Serrano) … her ex-husband Iván has driven her mad and she’s been in a mental institution for 20 years. She’s not just “on the verge.”
Poor Candela (María Barranco) … she’s desperate to speak with Pepa about something and it keeps getting put off.
Poor Marisal (Rossy de Palma) … she just wants to sublet Pepa’s apartment and finally lose her virginity to Carlos (Iván‘s son) — a young Antonio Banderas …
Even poor Chus (Chus Lampreave), the concierge. Pepa wants her to cover for her:
“Ya me gustaria a mí mentir, pero eso el lo malo de las Testigas, que no podemos”
(“I’d like to lie, but that’s the bad thing about Testigas [Jehovah’s Witnesses]: we can’t!”)
All these women on the verge … and all because men are such cheats and liars.
**
Almodóvar already had a rich cinematic vocabulary — the vibrant, Technicolor-like palette, the wonderfully rich and flowing script, packed with minor wonders:
Spiked gazpacho, film dubbing (Johnny Guitar [1954]), a flamboyant taxi driver who keeps showing up at just the right moment, Shiite terrorists, a bedroom mattress aflame, telephones and answering machines flying out of windows, and even the director’s elderly mother calmly reading the news. (His brother, the producer [see below] also shows up as an architect.)
The film’s a lot of fun and is very well made.
Candela wears earrings like this:
Film Rating (0-60):
55
The ExtrasThe Booklet
Twelve-page wraparound with an essay by novelist and critic Elvira Lindo.
“Looking back on it now, we can see how lucky we were to be part of that unique moment: there was no such thing as political correctness or self-censorship — in those days, boldness and recklessness reigned.”
Commentary
None
Interviews
Interviews
With Almodóvar, Agustin Almodóvar and Maura.
Most appealing is the interview with an older Maura, who talks about becoming an actress and bathes in her own self-confidence.
Discussion
Discussion
With film scholar Richard Peña of the film’s impact in Spain and abroad.
How his first season as director of the New York Film Festival was blessed by his discovery of this film!
Trailer
Extras Rating (0-40):
Trailer
Extras Rating (0-40):
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