"How could anyone act so macho with a pair of tits like that?" - Manuela

When I got home today I was delighted to see that Pedro Almodóvar's All About My Mother (Todo Sobre Mi Madre) came in the mail from netflix. I had seen it once before but I was young and did not fully appreciate it. As always with Almodóvar's films I was blown away by the beauty of his colors and the drama of his characters. In Madrid Young Esteban (Eloy Azorin) is a young writer who urges his mother to reveal the truth to him about his father whom he had never met. After a dramatic turn of events Manuela (Celia Roth) ventures to Barcelona to find Esteban's father. Once there she reconnects with old friends and deals with recent tragedy in her life.

Almodóvar uses his usual tricks in this film. Something I enjoy so much of his work is that he strives to expose the filmmaking process. This completely contradicts Hollywood cinema which aims to suck the audience into a world of make-believe but by exposing this the audience is forced to appreciate the work that goes into creating a film. Esteban is a writer and talks of writing parts for his mother. Along the way Manuela rekindles her lost acting career and befriends a successful stage actress Huma Rojo (Marisa Paredes). Almodóvar plays around with having his characters act like actors acting. The result is a strong sense of artistry and it causes the viewer to appreciate not only the character's efforts but the actresses themselves playing those characters. Huma Rojo plays the lead in a Spanish version of A Streetcar Named Desire and Almodóvar gives plenty of screentime to the play during performances. By exposing the characters acting in the play Almodóvar exposes the acting that women do in his films and his appreciation for them. In the end Almodóvar dedicates the film to actresses everywhere among others.

At the heart of the film the relationships and bonds that are formed between a group of women. Agrado (Antonia San Juan), Manuela, and Lola (Toni Canto) are ex-whores who share a long history together. Agrado and Lola are both transvestites. Almodóvar tends to feature transvestites and their stories in his films (As you may know, I'm a sucker for transvestites in movies). Manuela meets Rosa (Penelope Cruz) a nun who often gives help to the tranvestite whores. Almodóvar develops these characters as strong women who support eachother and deal with the bullsh*t of life while having fun doing it.

Almodóvar is one of my three favorite filmmakers (Wong Kar Wai and Aontonioni are the other two) and I strongly recommend this film. I honeslty love all the films I've seen of his but definitely check out Bad Education, Broken Embraces, and Volver. Watch the trailers at imdb.com

Up next on my queue - Law of Desire and Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown