All About My Mother (1999)

Very well executed

Must See Movie...

Boring

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

I liked the way director Pedro Almodóvar had some fun with this picture during an opening scene when he had Esteban (Eloy Azorín) rename "All About Eve" into Spanish properly. It had the effect of drawing even more attention to the title of this film, "Todo sobre mi madre". It was also noteworthy that he provided an homage of sorts to two American movie classics, the other being "A Streetcar Named Desire". As for this story, I'm not quite sure what to make of it all. Try as I might, I can't imagine someone of basically a normal disposition like Manuela (Cecilia Roth) to be involved in so many dysfunctional relationships as she encountered in Barcelona. The search for her deceased son's father and her ex-husband was noble, but the journey revealed an entire retinue of people that would make your skin crawl under normal circumstances. The topper was the transsexual Lola (Toni Cantó), who turned out to be the ex-husband, and also the father of a baby by a nun! It would have to be explained how that relationship ever came about, as the circumstance is presented as given which is just too much of a fantastical stretch to warrant consideration.I don't know much about director Almodóvar, other than what I've read on his IMDb bio page, but if this picture is any indication, it appears that he goes for something of shock value to his stories. Which is OK I guess, but it would have the tendency to put off some viewers with his odd characters and even odder situations. It's curious how he attempts to convey the humanity of his characters, but it's also enlightening to know how he actually describes some of them - "If I lived like my characters, I would have been dead before I made sixteen films". Which seems to illustrate my point.

This film won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film in 2000. Its title is a variation on All About Eve, and the film seems to an homage to Bette Davis. It often refers to All About My Mother as well as A Streetcar Named Desire, perhaps an homage to Tennessee Williams, too.The film begins in Madrid where a single mother, nurse, and organ transplant coordinator, Manuela (Cecilia Roth), lives with her sensitive 17-year-old son, Esteban (Eloy Azorín), an aspiring young writer. It is his birthday and the two watch a Spanish-dubbed version of All About My Mother on TV. It is then that Esteban apparently changes the title of his memories (Notes) to All About My Mother. Since Esteban is an aspiring writer, Manuela gives him a copy of Truman Capote's Music of Chameleons as an early birthday present. Later, she takes him to see, A Streetcar Named Desire, which is currently running in Madrid. The play moves Manuela to tears; Esteban asks her why she is crying; she tells him that she and his father once worked in that same play together, with her playing Stella and his father playing Kowalski. Esteban demands to know more about his father; and she promises to tell him later that night, as a favor to him on his birthday. After the play, Estaban is killed in a car accident while trying to get an autograph of the play's leading actress, Huma Rojo (Marisa Paredes). With his death, she is asked to donate HIS heart to an unknown recipient at the same transplant center where she works. Depressed and alone, Manuela decides to return to the Barcelona of her youth. There, she hopes to find Estaban's father and tell him all about his son. Upon arriving in Barcelona, she has a taxi take her to the red light district. There, she runs into Agrado (Antonia San Juan), an old friend of hers who used to live with her husband, Lola, before Lola robbed Agrado of all of her belongings to run off to Argentina. (Agarado and Lola were a transsexual couple; both were men who became women at the same time.) After seeing (and literally being rescued by) Manuela, Agarado decides to stop whoring and get a real job. To find new jobs, the two friends go to a Catholic Mission in the district. There, they meet Sister María Rosa (Penélope Cruz), a young nun who is about to be sent to El Salvador to replace a nun that was killed there by guerrilla fighters. Agrado and Manuela tell Rosa that they are willing take almost any job. But, knowing there are no jobs, Rosa tries to get her mother to hire Manuela as a cook (or perhaps, help care for her father who has Alzheimer's. Thinking Manuela came into the mission as a whore, Rosa's mother (Rosa Maria Sardà) tells them that she doesn't need any help. After the two leave Rosa's parents house, Rosa becomes sick. Manuela finds out that Rosa is about three months pregnant, and Manuela accompanies her to a doctor's office to get her first pregnancy checkup. There, Rosa asks for an AIDS blood test since she works in a high-risk job as a social worker. Two weeks later, she learns that she is HIV positive. When Manuela asks if she knows who the father is, Rosa tells her that it is Lola. Here, Manuela goes into a slight rage asking (telling) her that Lola has been shooting drugs for YEARS and asking her why she didn't know any better. With Rosa starting to 'show,' she has to leave the mission and stay with Manuela. A big part of Manuela's job is to keep as much of Rosa's pregnancy as simple as she can for Rosa's conventional mother. (After all, it is bad enough that her unwed daughter, a nun, became pregnant at all. Why tell her that the father is a HIV-positive transsexual drug addict, too?) One night, Manuela goes to see Streetcar Named Desire again in Barcelona (with the same cast that had played in Madrid the night Esteban was killed). When Manuela goes backstage to see Huma Rojo in person, she passes Huma's personal assistant, Nina (Candela Peña), running out the back door. Nina, who plays Stella in SND is also Huma's lover and personal assistant. But, she is totally unreliable since she is hooked on drugs. Huma needs to find Nina and asks Manuela to help find her. After they find her in the red light district, Nina and Huma drive off leaving Manuela behind. One night when Nina is bombed out of her mind, Manuela tells Huma that SHE can play the part of Stella and IS ABLE to pull it off in one performance, saving Huma's contract. When Nina returns, she accuses Manuela of sabotaging her career, just like Eve Harrington did in AAE. When Huma asks Manuela for an explanation, she breaks down and tells them about her husband, her son and how he died in the car accident while trying to get Huma's autograph in Madrid. When Huma asks Manuela to continue as her assistant, Manuela tells her that she must spend time caring for Rosa and suggests that Agrado take the job, which she does.Since I am getting close to the story's climax, I will stop the plot description here to avoid stepping into any possible SPOILERS. However, I will say that plot continues to play out like an extended soap opera on a vivid pastel stage. All issues are 'resolved' in one way or another. But, to me, the story is still very contrived and way too complex to be effective in delivering any sort of central message or emotion. One could almost read any message into the movie. Maybe that is why the film appeals to so many people: I mean, I'm just saying.....

Many themes are mixed in 'All About My mother' and the best part is that it does not care about them at all. Movie has it's own pace, the goal set in start is lost somewhere to pursue important ones. It also clarifies how does a loss changes the point of view and feelings for someone. Reshaping one's own life over one's sorrow. Although set in Spain, it have major south American influence on characters and their lifestyle as well as technical departments. Like most of Pedro Almodovar, woman oriented turns into genderless story of people who are dealing with grief, regret while struggling with life to go on. 'Innocence does know itself' would perfectly describe the movie.

Offbeat drama about an occupied single mother called Manuela (Cecilia Roth) becomes involved with family problems . Young Esteban (Eloy Azorin) want to become a writer and also to discover the identity of his father, carefully concealed by his beloved mother . Later on , there occurs a tragedy , then Manuela leaves Madrid for Barcelona , there hooks up old and new friends and ,just may be , contacts the long estranged father (Tony Canto) the boy never knew and her son's favourite stage diva (Marisa Paredes) . As Manuela gradually regains the will to live through her involvements with the lives with others such as a transvestite (Antonia San Juan) and a pregnant nun (Penelope Cruz) . Part of every woman is a mother/actress/saint/sinner and part of every man is a woman.Agreeable film full of feeling , outlandish characters , haunting mood-pieces , Spanish Neo-realism , and sense of style but not totally satisfactory , including conventional pitfalls , profanities and a lot of sexual references . The picture deals with off-the-wall as well as semi-ironic melodrama , familiar absurdities, dysfunctional roles and many other things ; featuring a feminist heroine of classical proportions . The picture is pretty well but turns out to be inferior to Almodovar's subsequent entries such as ¨The skin I live in¨, ¨Volver¨ , ¨The bad education¨ or ¨Talk to her¨. The result is undiluted scabrous drama , crazy strings of plots , sharp images , plenty of sexual dialogs in constant references to blow-jobs and perverted sex . Filmmaker piles up on the contrivances , turns and twisted events so that the picture to have success . It's a piquant look at lower-middle classes involving strange and complicated situations during its half an hour runtime . Pedro Almodóvar dedicated his movie to Bette Davis, Gena Rowlands and Romy Schneider . And being influenced by American films such as ¨All about Eva¨, ¨A streetcar named desire¨ and by director Douglas Sirk . Nice interpretations by all cast , as Cecilia Roth as a hard-working single mummy , Penelope Cruz as a young nun bound for El Salvador, but instead finds out she is pregnant and Antonia San Juan as likable transvestite , she splendidly plays a monologue based on a real life event as when the electronic system of an theater failed, the director suspended the show , then an actress decided to give the news to the audience and make them an offer: if they'd stay, they could listen to the narration of her life . Furthermore , a notorious support cast such as Marisa Paredes , Rosa Maria Sarda , Fernando Fernan Gomez , Candela Peña ,Manuel Lozano , Juan Jose Otegui and other delightfully played roles . As usual in most of Pedro Almodóvar's movies, there is a small role for Agustín Almodóvar, his brother and producer of the film, who plays a cab man . Sensitive musical score by Alberto Iglesias , Almodovar's ordinary ; including some marvelous songs . Colorful and luxurious cinematography by Alfonso Beato . The motion picture was realized in his peculiar style by Pedro Almodovar ; he often uses symbolism and metaphorical techniques to portray circular story lines though here he directs a special melodrama , including his ordinary touches . Almodovar directs throughout with splendid zip and he usually portrays strong female characters and transsexuals and along his career getting some important international prizes . His first feature film, Pepi, Luci, Bom (1980), was made in 16 mm and blown-up to 35 mm for public release . In 1987, he and his brother Agustín Almodóvar established their own production company : El Deseo, S. A. The "Almodóvar phenomenon" has reached all over the world , making his films very popular in many countries . Oscar-winning Spanish director Pedro Almodovar who made successes such as Labyrinth of passions , Law of desire , Women on the verge of a nervous breakdown , Bad education , All about my mother , Talk to her , Broken embraces , The Skin I Live In and many others . The latest from acclaimed Spanish director , Pedro Almodovar's I'm So Excited (Los Amantes Pasajeros) competing for the inaugural best European comedy honor during the upcoming 26th edition of the European Film Awards .