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Great Directors

Film Studies 120. Great Directors. PEDRO ALMODOVAR. Pedro Almodovar is the cultural symbol of the restoration of democracy in Spain after the right-wing military dictatorship of Francisco Franco (1939-1975).

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Great Directors

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  1. Film Studies 120 Great Directors

  2. PEDRO ALMODOVAR • Pedro Almodovaris the cultural symbol of the restoration of democracy in Spain after the right-wing military dictatorship of Francisco Franco (1939-1975). • He has established himself as Spain’s most important filmmaker and as a major figure on the stage of world cinema. • Almodovarhas made all of his 17 feature films to date in Spain.

  3. PEDRO ALMODOVAR Filmography • Pepi, Luci, Bom y lasotraschicas del montón(1980) • Labyrinth of Passions (1982) • Dark Habits (1983) • What Have I Done to Deserve This? (1984) • Matador (1986) • The Law of Desire (1987) • Women On the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (1988) • Tie Me Up, Tie Me Down (1989) • High Heels (1991) • The Flower of My Secret (1994) • Kika (1996) • Live Flesh (1997) • All About My Mother (1999) • Talk To Her (2002) • Bad Education (2004) • Volver(2006) • Broken Embraces (2009)

  4. PEDRO ALMODOVAR Themes/Subject Matters • The key subject matters of his films are: • Subversion of identity • Sense of “Spanish-ness” • The Catholic Church • Wise female peasants • The rural home town • Passion, jealousy and betrayal • Death • Fateful coincidences • Long-suppressed secrets • Absurdist humor

  5. PEDRO ALMODOVAR Themes/Subject Matters • Almodovar has drawn on his own experiences to develop the sounds and the rhythms of the street: • The taxi-driver inWomenon the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (1988) • As a child he received his education at the hands of the Catholic Church: • His experience with the Catholic Church is reflected in Bad Education (2004), which tells the story of priest and child abuse.

  6. PEDRO ALMODOVAR Themes/Subject Matters • Almodovar’s humble origins have left their mark on his cinematic work: • The director used to cast his own mother (Francisca Caballero) in cameo roles prior to her death in 1999. • Many of his films see their urban-dwelling protagonists return to their family homes in the country either for refuge or redemption. • Volver(2006), for example, is set in the typical Spanish village.

  7. PEDRO ALMODOVAR Themes/Subject Matters • Almodovar has been accused of frivolity: his apparent lack of political commitment contrasted with that of his contemporaries. • The end of Franco dictatorship opened up an array of political, social and cultural opportunities => 1974 revolution. • Almodovar's “lack of political commitment” would initiate a conflict with the Spanish film industry that endures to this day, in spite of his international reputation.

  8. PEDRO ALMODOVAR Themes/Subject Matters • The main accusation against Almodovaris that he has capitulated to cultural imperialism under the influence of Hollywood cinema. • This influence, however, is scarcely that of “dominant” Hollywood films but rather the underground cinema of Andy Warhol and John Waters, as well as the 1940s and 1950s melodramas of Douglas Sirk.

  9. PEDRO ALMODOVAR Themes/Subject Matters • The intense, difficult and complex relationship with the country of his birth is a central issue in Almodovar’s films: • The motif of writing as a means of interrogating subject formation => the abundance of characters who adopt multiple pseudonyms; the repeated images of typewriters; the information transmitted through found notes.

  10. PEDRO ALMODOVAR Themes/Subject Matters • Almodovar’s concern with the fluidity of gendersand sexual identitieshas disappointed militant gay activists who prefer a less ambiguous definition of sexual identity: • Almodovar's characters are never exclusively heterosexual or homosexual. • In The Law of Desire (1987), Carmen Maura plays a transsexual. • Almodovarconverted Antonio Banderas into a gay icon.

  11. PEDRO ALMODOVAR Themes/Subject Matters • In Almodovar's work, identity is mainly subverted through the human body, which becomes the agent of flexibility and change: • Labyrinth of Passions (1982) => cloning • The Law of Desire (1987) => sex changes • In The Flower of My Secret (1994) and All About My Mother (1999) => donation and transplant of organs • Talk to Her (2002) => resuscitation

  12. PEDRO ALMODOVAR Settings • The Settings in Almodovar’s Films are points of transition and locations of transformation: • Airports (especially Madrid's Barajas airport) • The Dressing Rooms of film studios, theatres, nightclubs • Cemeteries

  13. PEDRO ALMODOVAR Film Discussion Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (1988): • Characters’ Costumes: • Pepa: • she changes her clothes consistently => pleasing the “male’s gaze” • At the end of the film, she doesn’t care about her appearance anymore; she is emancipated now. • Candela: • Evolution of the character expressed through her clothes => from a ‘childish’ look to a more mature one.

  14. PEDRO ALMODOVAR Film Discussion Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (1988): • Main Settings penthouse apartment, taxi cab, airport. • Use of the wide angle lens => to shoot household objects in close-ups. • Use of Color=> primary colors, especially red and blue (symbolism).

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