Word: almod
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...About My Mother, Pedro Almodóvar's Oscar-winning film of 1999, identity is not a stable character trait. A nurse becomes a prostitute, a nun becomes pregnant, a prostitute becomes a saint and several men become women. The much-anticipated stage adaptation of the film, now playing at the Old Vic Theatre in London until Nov. 24, doesn't settle on a single form either. Containing a film sequence and several plays-within-the-play, it is, like its transgender characters, a type of crossover - a trans-genre. What it wants to say through its densely layered metadrama...
...theatrical adaptation, the first Almodóvar has approved in 20 years, introduces a narrative voice absent from the film - Manuela's dead son Esteban, whose periodic, ghostly appearances both nag and reassure the characters, in much the same contradictory way that Manuela's grief haunts and comforts her. When Agrado delivers the great Almodóvarian declaration that "a woman is more authentic the more she looks like what she has dreamed for herself," the cruel subtext is that Manuela's vision of herself as a mother - like her son's ghost - remains forever out of reach...
...adaptation of a masterpiece will draw criticism from those who believe great art should never be tampered with, such as one character in the play who scolds a painter for copying Picassos. But some elements of the Almodóvar original have been enhanced by the adaptation. The theme of fertility - of pregnancies and menopausal women - resonates in the dramatic space of the theater, which as the curtain rises is pregnant with possibility, but by the end is filled with emptiness, as the seats are vacated and the actors slip off-stage. It is also a joy to watch...
...traffic congestion and other problems caused by the film's production, "Allen's film is no different than any big budget project," notes Steven Guest, also with the mayor's office. "Pedro Almodóvar's All About My Mother shut down Ferran Street a couple of years ago, and television shoots close streets every day. The only complaints I've seen have been in the media." For now, Barcelona's relationship with Allen can cool off a bit. On Monday, cast and crew began shooting in Oviedo, the less cosmopolitan capital of the region of Asturias, eight hours...
...media exploded in India, before the government even recognized filmmaking as a legitimate industry. Armed with just good wishes and some telegrams from family and friends, we spent a riotous few days in the luxury of the Beverly Wilshire, being taken to lunch by Billy Wilder, joking with Pedro Almodóvar and his transgendered entourage, gate-crashing Spanish and Danish parties, not really minding that we were neglected by our own country. When it came time for our award, Jacqueline Bisset and Candice Bergen tripped and stuttered through the foreign names. As Jackie and Candy announced the winner...