Pedro Almodóvar is arguably the best and certainly the most renowned (in contemporary times) filmmaker from Spain. Almodóvar emerged in the midst of “La Movida Madrileña” (The Madrid Scene), a time of counterculture movements following the death of fascist dictator Francisco Franco in 1975, who had ruled Spain since the Spanish Civil War in 1939.
Almodóvar and his generation of artists decided to stretch their arms and express their thoughts more freely after having been subjugated to Franco’s rule. Without censorship, Almodóvar could make his films as political, twisted, and sexy as he wanted. His auteur style is responsible for having inspired many filmmakers, Wes Anderson among them. With a filmography of somewhere around 30+ films and counting, here are 10 of his best films, in no particular strict order, and with their English titles…except Volver.
Volver
Describing the plot to Volver is ridiculously challenging. Two sisters with a penchant for nasty relationships mourn their mother together, who died in a questionable house fire a few years prior. There are ghosts, and there is murder. That should be sufficient to get the point across.
Volver gets weird. It’s a tale dealing with death, abuse, isolation, and other heavy-hitting topics, but it’s darkly funny. And with the splashes of magic surrealism thrown in and its popping colors, it comes across as a very startling dream. Think Gerald’s Game with a splash of Heathers. Oh, and Penélope Cruz gives a crazy good performance.
Live Flesh
Live Flesh is (loosely) based on a book by British author Ruth Rendell. It’s pretty heavy. Javier Bardem plays a paraplegic ex-cop who stalks down the man he believes shot him and caused him to be in a wheelchair. The movie works out like a very intense noir detective story.
Live Flesh hits some very raw nerves with Bardem’s character, and it’s also a very post-Franco Spanish movie that explores the time change before and after the reign. All symbolism and thematic nature aside, the story is thrilling and engaging nonetheless. It’s a win-win for casual and hardcore film lovers.
Dark Habits
Dark Habits is a really scandalous, bizarre, and hilarious movie. Any movie with a pun for a title instantly has a huge advantage. The film is about a cabaret singer who flees from the cops after accidentally killing her lover with heroin.
She finds sanctuary in a convent with a group of nuns known as the “Humiliated Redeemers.” This movie has it all: Nuns on drugs, sassy gossip, forbidden love, and a pet tiger. It is great.
Women On The Verge Of A Nervous Breakdown
The movie’s title is pretty astute to one of the most common recurring themes in Almodóvar’s movies. Women just freaking out. For good reason, usually. Long story short, everyone has a turbulent relationship in this movie and gets driven nuts.
Then, all of those people gather in the same place. The film escalates rather quickly, and it only takes place over a few days. Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown would serve as Almodóvar’s first Oscar-nominated movie, nominated for “Best Foreign Language Film.” Well-deserved.
Bad Education
Describing the plots of Almodóvar’s cinema only gets harder. Bad Education is a story about two old friends who went to the same Catholic boarding school and run into each other again later in life. One is a film director, the other is an actor. The actor pitches a story to the director about a transgender person who was sexually abused by a priest at the school, and their first love as well…named after the director.
The parallels and the separation from the actual story get blurred and figuring out what really happened to the actor and the director gets messy. It’s a strong, heavy drama.
Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!
Familiar with the “NC-17” rating? This movie was a massive contributing factor as to why the United States had to create it. Not quite “R” but not quite “X,” so “NC-17” serves as the middle ground.
Antonio Banderas plays a psych ward patient who decides his next step in life should be to marry the girl he slept with once, who went on to be a porn star. Combine 50 Shades of Grey and Misery, and you’re still not at the level of Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! This movie is incredibly unhinged but also incredibly good.
Broken Embraces
Mateo Blanco is a blind writer who decides (like almost every Almodóvar movie) to reminisce about his past. He recounts his love affair with Magdalena (Penélope Cruz), a secretary turned actress he worked on his movies with while dealing with a jealous rival.
Once again, if a comparison had to be made, Moulin Rouge! would be an apt example. Minus the music. But considering that Moulin Rouge! came out in 2001, is it possible that Baz Luhrmann inspired Almodóvar? They both love bright colors, so it’s not surprising they might host a few other things in common.
The Skin I Live In
Many of Almodóvar’s films revolve heavily around perversions. In The Skin I Live In, Antonio Banderas plays a plastic surgeon who, over years of effort, creates a special skin called “GAL” that protects one’s skin from damage, but does not eradicate the nerves.
The reveal of the reasoning for his obsession is one of the finest and most disturbing Almodóvar moments, and that’s saying something. Elena Anaya also gives a fantastic performance as the surgeon’s test subject, with her eyes expressing every emotion perfectly, like Daniel Kaluuya in Get Out. The Skin I Live In is a must-see for horror/thriller fans.
All About My Mother
This film won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film, and it was well-earned. The movie is one of the most important films ever shot that deals with LGBTQ representation and issues surrounding the community. And like all Almodóvar films, the portrayal of women is top-notch.
Besides serving as a great flag-bearer for an underrepresented group, the movie is brilliantly engaging, sharply-written, darkly funny, and also simply dark. The film deals with Manuela, an organ doner overseer reeling from a recent tragedy: Her son was killed in an accident right in front of her.
Manuela decides to tell her son’s father, a transgender woman, about the situation. Along the journey, she comes across other transgender individuals, sex workers, old friends, and her father suffering from Alzheimer’s. The film deals with the AIDS pandemic, grief, gender identity, and dishes out very intense melodrama.
Pain And Glory
Sometimes directors like to pour their own life stories into their movies. Almodóvar does that for virtually every movie, but usually not quite as personally as in Pain and Glory. Antonio Banderas plays Salvador Mallo, a renowned filmmaker suffering from physical, emotional, and mental pain.
Salvador (all of this must be familiar by now) reminisces on his life, including his relationship with his mother, his sexual orientation and awakening, his passion for cinema, his years of drug addiction, and much more.
The film serves as a sort of semi-autobiography for Almodóvar and has some of the best scenes in Almodóvar’s years of filmmaking. One standout is when Salvador reconnects with his soul mate and though they have gone very separate ways in life and moved on, the spark is still there. Every moment of the film feels genuine and vulnerable. Coming from a director who lived this lifestyle and works as a representative for both Spain and the LGBTQ community, Pain and Glory is an upper-tier Almodóvar film. Too bad it came out the same year as Parasite, or it might have gotten more attention.
