The most internationally acclaimed Spanish filmmaker since Luis Bunuel was born in a small town in the impoverished Spanish region of La Mancha. He arrived in Madrid in 1968, and survived by selling used items in the flea-market called El Rastro. Almodóvar couldn't study filmmaking because he didn't have the money to afford it. Besides, the filmmaking schools were closed in early 70s by Franco's government. Instead, he found a job in the Spanish phone company and saved his salary to buy a Super 8 camera. From 1972 to 1978, he devoted himself to make short films with the help of of his friends. The "premieres" of those early films were famous in the rapidly growing world of the Spanish counter-culture. In few years, Almodóvar became a star of "La Movida", the pop cultural movement of late 70s Madrid. His first feature film, Pepi, Luci, Bom Y Otras Chicas Del Monton, was made in 16 mm and blown-up to 35 mm for public release. In 1987, he and his brother Agustin Almodovar 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. I just want to stress that every single Almodovar film that I have seen has been incredible, so I can only imagine the ones that I haven't seen are just as good!
Volver - 2006Raimunda lives in Madrid with her daughter Paula and her husband Paco, who is always drunk. Her sister, Sole, is separated and works clandestinely as a hairstylist for women. The two sisters lost their parents in a fire in La Mancha, their birth village, years ago. Their aunt, Paula, still lives in the village and continues to speak about her sister Irene, mother of the two sisters, as if she were still alive. When the old aunt dies the situation changes and the past returns in a twist of mystery and suspense.
Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABSvppyQGdE
La Mala Educacion/Bad Education - 2004In the early 60s, two boys - Ignacio and Enrique - discover love, movies and fear in a Christian school. Father Manolo, the school principal and Literature teacher, both witnesses and takes part in these discoveries. The three characters come against one another twice again, in the late 70s and in 1980.
Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVg59F1tdgo
Hable Con Ella/Talk To Her - 2002After a chance encounter at a theater, two men, Benigno and Marco, meet at a private clinic where Benigno works. Lydia, Marco's girlfriend and a bullfighter by profession, has been gored and is in a coma. It so happens that Benigno is looking after another woman in a coma, Alicia, a young ballet student. The lives of the four characters will flow in all directions, past, present and future, dragging all of them towards an unsuspected destiny.
Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXvW6aLoyh8
Todo Sobre Mi Madre/All About My Mother - 1999My personal favorite of all the Almodovar films I have seen. A single mother in Madrid sees her only son die on his 17th birthday as he runs to seek an actress's autograph. She goes to Barcelona to find the lad's father, a transvestite named Lola who does not know he has a child. First she finds her friend, Agrado, also a transvestite; through him she meets Rosa, a young nun bound for El Salvador, and by happenstance, becomes the personal assistant of Huma Rojo, the actress her son admired. She helps Huma manage Nina, the co-star and Huma's lover, and she becomes Rosa's caretaker during a dicey pregnancy.
Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ZODR8fBqD4
Carne Tremula/Live Flesh - 1997Pizza delivery man Victor is having an argument with Elena, whom he met a few days ago, but she was high then and doesn't want to hear about him. Reacting to the noise, two cops, young David and older Sancho, arrive at the scene, the gun accidentally goes off.. Four years later David is a wheelchair basketball star, he's married to Elena, Victor is released out of prison and their destinies begin to cross again.
Trailer: http://youtube.com/watch?v=NwjsaVD8RPM&feature=related
La Flor De Mi Secreto/ The Flower Of My Secret - 1995Leo Macias writes sentimental novels with great success but hidden under a pseudonym, Amanda Gris. She is unhappy with her professional life and with her husband, a soldier working in Brussels and Bosnia that is never at home. She will try anything to change her life.
Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JoH7MNctj_4
Atame/Tie Me Up, Tie Me Down - 1990Ricky is released from a mental hospital, and knows exactly what he wants to do. He hunts down Marina, a porn film star he once had sex with, and tries to convince here to be his wife. She is a bit reluctant, so he ties her up... Will this approach endear him to her ?
Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZjHh_MQkX0
Mujeres Al Borde De Un Ataque De Nervios/Women On The Verge Of A Nervous Breakdown - 1988A woman's lover leaves her, and she tries to contact him to find out why he's left. She confronts his wife and son, who are as clueless as she. Meanwhile her girlfriend is afraid the police are looking for her because of her boyfriend's criminal activities. They talk to a female lawyer, who turns out to be the lover's new lover, and everyone's path keeps crossing each other's in a very complicated and confusing manner.
Trailer: http://imdb.com/title/tt0095675/trailers-screenplay-E17536-310
Matador - 1986Ex-bullfighter who is getting turned on by killing, lady lawyer with same problem and young man driven insane by over-religious upbringing
Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U85duNGl7Xk
Que He Hecho Yo Para Mercer Esto/What Have I Done To Deserve This - 1984A dysfunctional family in Madrid: Gloria is a cleaning lady, hooked on No-Doze, living in a crowded flat with Antonio, her surly husband, a cabby who adores an aging German singer he used to chauffeur; he's also a forger. One teen son sells heroin, the other sleeps with men. Her mother-in-law keeps bottled water and cupcakes under lock and key, selling them to the family. Two alcoholic writers cook up a plot to sell a manuscript as Hitler's memoirs, if Antonio will transcribe it in Hitler's hand. He agrees, so they ask the German singer to play the role of the original owner since her past affinity for Nazi memorabilia makes her a likely candidate. Meanwhile, Gloria has given away one son to a sex-crazed dentist, and grandma picks up a pet lizard. Can this chaos be tamed?
Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yzDfSuJB9Jo
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