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The lost movie of the week: Mujeres al borde de un ataque de nervios (1988)

When we speak about Spanish cinema, we have to talk about Pedro Almodóvar. His films have influenced directors around the world and he launched the career of the greatest Spanish actors and actresses.

Pepas’s lover, Iván, leaves her and she tries to contact him to find out why he’s left. In her search for Iván, she confronts his wife and son, who are as clueless as she is. Meanwhile; Candela, her friend, is afraid the police might be looking for her because of her ex-boyfriend, a muslim terrorist, and his criminal activities. As the plot develops, it is revealed that everyone’s lives are more intertwined than they could have ever expected.

Pedro Almodóvar (“Volver”, “Todo sobre mi madre”) was already a famous director when he directed “Mujeres al borde de un ataque de nervios”, but this film established him as a worldwide phenomenon. Almodóvar balances a lot of styles in all his movie. He is able to give a voice to his eccentricity and visual style but balance it so it merges with the plot. Almodóvar is a master in creating a certain mood in that capture the attention of the viewer and never let it go. A master storyteller.

Almodóvar said about this film: “I was trying to talk about abandonment, about misunderstanding between women and men. The idea came from “The Human Voice”, a play by Jean Cocteau from 1930, but in a very free way. It (filming) wasn’t easy: there was a lot of conflict. Carmen Maura, who played Pepa, and I fell out. We stopped talking to each other. I wasn’t sure she would even stay and finish the film.”

The cast is superb with: Carmen Maura, Antonio Banderas, Maria Barranco and Rossy de Palma. Almodóvar likes to work with actors he already worked with.

“Mujeres al borde de un ataque de nervios” was nominated for the 1988 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, the Golden Globes and won five Goya Awards.

Stanley Berenboom

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