Pedro Almodovar Overview

Sex, melodrama, and a raunchy, dark comedy -- audiences can expect to find excesses of all these types in the works of Pedro Almodovar, a Spanish filmmaker whose homegrown popularity rivals that of Luis Bunuel. Born poor and unable to afford... [more]

Sex, melodrama, and a raunchy, dark comedy -- audiences can expect to find excesses of all these types in the works of Pedro Almodovar, a Spanish filmmaker whose homegrown popularity rivals that of Luis Bunuel. Born poor and unable to afford tuition to film school (all of which were, at any rate, closed in the early '70s by Franco), Almodavar enriched himself by becoming a glutton of life. Such gluttonous leanings are clearly evident in his films' kitschy overtones, colorful sets, and devil-may-care attitude towards issues of sex, morality, and political correctness. Living in Madrid, he began shooting short films on a Super 8 camera bought with money he earned as an administrative assistant for the telephone company. As a youth revelling in rebellion against the prevailing culture, he made movies that epitomized "La movida Madrilena," a popular movement in Madrid during the late '70s and early '80s (he even went so far as to form the music duo Almodovar & McNamara, a role he himself mimicked when he appeared - complete with women's clothes and gaudy make-up - in his film "Labyrinth of Passion"). He and his brother Agustin formed a production company in 1987 - since then, he has steadily risen to international cult status. "Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown" won the best foreign language film Oscar in 1989, and is the most successful Spanish film ever; it stars the ever-present Almodovar performer, Carmen Maura, whose flexible comedic skills lend themselves to the filmmaker's themes of tragi-comic love, desire, and anarchy. Films such as "Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!" and "High Heels" illustrate Almodovar's sexual and dramatic excesses in fantastic cavalcades of the filmmaker's fancies. [show less]