Word: almodvar
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...About My Mother departs from Almodvar's usual campy and satirical style illustrating the sordid exploits of the sexually confused, the porn star, and the addict present in films such as "Fuck, Fuck, Fuck Me, Tim!" and "Sex Comes, Sex Goes." Rather, All About My Mother is Almodvar's exploration of the way "women faked, lied, hid and that way allowed life to flow and develop." This attempt to tackle the manipulation of reality won Almodvar the Best Director prize at Cannes...
...over in an attempt to secure an autograph from Human Rojo (Marisa Paredes), who plays Blanche DuBois. While true to her reputation, Manuela's agony appears the genuine product of intense emotional trauma; unfortunately, the overdone orchestration of camera technique ruins the power of Esteban's death. Almodvar shows Esteban's limp body through various mirrors and glass, and fades into true dimensions through moving the camera first back and then rapidly forward. The scene becomes reminiscent of a trip to the Hall of Mirrors and dilutes the power of the event that acts as a watershed for the rest...
...However, after Esteban's death, Almodvar supplies the pretentious and melodramatic art film twist, losing the faith of anyone aside from the loyal film aficionado. Manuel donates Esteban's heart and goes to Barcelona in search of Esteban's father, a transvestite originally an Esteban himself but now Lola the Pioneer. The depiction of one train moving forward and another train moving backward, when coupled with Manuela's voice-over of the history and purpose for her journey detract from Almodvar's intention that the scene serve as a point of transition and departure. In an almost music-video-like...
...emotion in a drama, the women in All About My Mother are continuously cloaked in red. Thus, dress provides no clues as to where scenes of tension replace scenes of relaxation. Visually, each scene has an obnoxious similarity to the one before. Despite the melodrama and technique slip-ups, Almodvar allows the women to learn about themselves even though each woman creates a new reality within her existence. Manuela pretends to be a poor theater aficionado, Agrado pretends to be a real woman, Huma wishes to run from a heart broken by her cocaine-snorting junkie girlfriend, and Sister Rosa...
...About My Mother is dedicated to "all actresses who have played actresses, to all women who act, to men who act and become women, to all the people who want to be mothers." Almodvar's intention is successful, for while the melodrama and subject context is difficult for anyone other than a film buff to appreciate, he does capture a heart-warming study of women who move from self-delusion to reconciliation...