#62 - Todo sobre mi madre

Directed by Pedro Almodovar
1999 Drama
Rated R

**** 1/2

Pedro Almodovar's 1999 drama All About My Mother won the best Foreign Language film Oscar that year, and it's not hard to understand why; from the brilliant performances to the well-rounded script to the incredible soundtrack, this is the best Almodovar film i've seen by a longshot (then again, the only other ones i've seen are Live Flesh and Volver...). Cecilia Roth stars as Manuela, who goes on a search for the father of her son after he is killed in a car accident. Along the way, she has experiences with her old friend, a transvestite named Agrado (Antonia San Juan), a pregnant nun, Rosa (Penelope Cruz), and the actress her son admired, Huma (Marisa Peredes). Roth absolutely carries this film, from her facial expressions, to the way she tries everything possible to keep herself from breaking down at the thought of her son. The supporting cast is nearly as good, with one misstep in Toni Canto, who plays Lola, Manuela's former husband (also a transvestite). This would appear to be the first film in which Almodovar really began to explore the relationships between women (natural-born or not). The music is by Alberto Iglesias (The Constant Gardener, The Kite Runner), and I feel the film would not have worked nearly as well without it. As for the cinematography, it is expectedly good, with Almodovar again incorporating deep colors into his scenes, mainly dark reds. The one gripe I had with the film, as I mentioned earlier, was the character Lola, who really didn't seem to even need to come into the story; by the time she appears, most things have been wrapped up, and it seemed a bit unnecessary. Other than that, however, this is an absolutely brilliant film about the relationships between women and how parents deal with loss.