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Great Directors

Film Studies 120. Great Directors. PEDRO ALMODOVAR. All About My Mother (1999).

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Great Directors

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  1. Film Studies 120 Great Directors

  2. PEDRO ALMODOVAR All About My Mother (1999) • Almodovar: “Forty years ago, when I was living there, La Mancha was a machistaregion, in whose families reigned the Man from his armchair, upholstered in shiny sky. Meanwhile, the women really resolved the problems, in silence, having sometimes to lie in order to do so. Against this Manchegan machismo which I remember from my childhood, the women faked, lied, hid, and that way allowed life to flow and develop, without men finding out or obstructing it.”

  3. PEDRO ALMODOVAR All About My Mother (1999) • Almodovar: “The first spectacle that I remember seeing was a group of women talking on the patio. I didn´t know it then but this was going to be one of the subjects of my thirteenth film.” • “Three or four women talking represent for me the origin of life, but also the origin of fiction, and of narration.”

  4. PEDRO ALMODOVAR All About Eve (1950) • The title All About My Mother comes from J. Mankiewicz’sAll About Eve (1950), a film that deals with women (actresses) who confess and lie to each other in theatre dressing rooms => an equivalent to the patio of Almodovar’schildhood. • All About Eve is a story of ambition and betrayal, in which men do not matter much.

  5. PEDRO ALMODOVAR Actresses All About My Mother (1999) • Almodovar: “I have always been attracted to films about actresses, to films that portray the world of cinema. I do not mean those that deal with cinematic language, but those about actors, directors, writers, producers, stylists, make-up artists, extras, star imitators, etc.”

  6. PEDRO ALMODOVAR Actresses All About My Mother (1999) • In the closing credits, Almodovar dedicates the film to three actresses that have moved him the most: GenaRowlands in Opening Night, Bette Davis in All About Eve, and Romy Schneider in L’importantc’Estd’Aimer . • Almodovar: “the spirit of these three films impregnates with smoke, alcohol, desperation, madness, desire, helplessness, frustration, solitude, vitality and comprehension” => characters in All About My Mother.

  7. PEDRO ALMODOVAR Themes/Subject Matters All About My Mother (1999) • Key subject matters: • The capacity of women to playact • Solidarity between women • Subversion of identity • Passion, jealousy and betrayal • Death • Fateful coincidences • Long-suppressed secrets • The Catholic Church

  8. PEDRO ALMODOVAR Mise-en-Scene Film Discussion All About My Mother (1999) • Main Settings: • Theater (stage, audience) • Huma’sDressing Room • Manuela’s Apartment • Train: Madrid<=>Barcelona • The Road: (son’s death; prostitutes) • The Hospital • Cemetery

  9. PEDRO ALMODOVAR Characters Film Discussion All About My Mother (1999) Characters: • Agrado: “It cost me a lot to be authentic. But we must not be cheap in regards to the way we look. Because a woman is more authentic the more she looks like what she has dreamed for herself.“.

  10. PEDRO ALMODOVAR Characters Film Discussion All About My Mother (1999) Characters: • Manuela: Manuela always runs away on a train: Barcelona  Madrid. All of her escapes are marked by some kind of Esteban: • 1st time: she was carrying Esteban-son inside of her, in her entrails. Manuela was running from his father, who is also called Esteban, (Esteban-father) although nobody had called him that in a long time.

  11. PEDRO ALMODOVAR Characters Film Discussion All About My Mother (1999) • Manuela (cont.) • 2nd time: the second time, Esteban-son accompanies her as a photograph, and a notebook. He died in an accident. This time, Manuela is vaguely going in search of Esteban-father, to communicate to him the death of their son. Esteban-father did not know of the existence of this son, because Manuela never told him.

  12. PEDRO ALMODOVAR Mise-en-Scene Film Discussion All About My Mother (1999): • Costume • Hair Style • Make Up • Décor • Props • Use of Color • Cinematography • Music

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