Todo sobre mi madre – All About My Mother (1999)

Directed by: Pedro Almodovar | 97 minutes | drama | Actors: Cecilia Roth, Marisa Paredes, Penélope Cruz, Candela Peña, Antonia San Juan, Rosa María Sardà, Fernando Fernán Gómez, Fernando Guillén, Toni Cantó, Eloy Azorín, Carlos Lozano, Manuel Morón, José Luis Torrijo, Juan José Otegui, Carmen Balague

Rightly the winner of the Golden Globe Award for the best foreign language film of 1999 and winner at Cannes in the category best director of 1999. In this film Almodóvar portrays a beautiful and strong portrait of the lives of six ‘women’ from completely different angles. of society who share their comfort, joy and sorrow together.

‘Todo sobre mi madre’ is therefore an ode to women and to Almodóvar’s own mother in particular. She must be a strong woman who has been through a lot. Because what drama comes over you in this movie is almost too much to bear as one person. That applies to every character for himself, but most of all to Manuela who has a lot to stomach, but knows how to bite through everything heroically. This role is played very well by Cecila Roth, who can also be seen briefly in the background in Almodóvar’s subsequent film ‘Hable con ella’ (2002). Phenomenal is the role of Agrado, played by Antonia San Juan. Rarely do you encounter a player who is really so funny in her total person. She makes sure that the film does not stick to your leg like a rock, even if Agrado does not escape her portion of misery. It is carried by her lightly and with a lot of humor.

You will never catch Almodóvar on one thing and that is using standard types and patterns. Almodóvar is known for his penchant for extreme characters and situations and the characters in his films often perform the strangest professions, but in such a way that this comes across as very human and normal. He is no stranger to subtle symbolism. The foreword in Esteban’s book is actually the theme of the film, but it is also the beginning of his story about his mother. (“Todo sobre mi madre” means “all about my mother”). The attentive viewer is always rewarded with playful grains of bread that Almodóvar scatters in his films. He leaves many matters to the viewer for his own interpretation, such as the reason for the difficult relationship between Rosa and her mother. It gives his films great added value, because they are not ready-made meals. There is also no judgment about the people in the film. And the characters, no matter how extreme they may be, are never so exaggerated that they are no longer believable. The balance is so well-balanced that this film can rightly be called a masterpiece.