Greetings from the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown,
Tonight at the Cinema, Passport: Todo Sobre Almodóvar continues with a double feature from the ecstatic Spanish auteur Pedro Almodóvar. Screening on 35mm, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown is an absurd ensemble comedy about the clash of women at various stages of life and social standing. The film was also a breakthrough for our dear Pedro, marking his first international hit, as well as the film that solidified the signature visual style that defines his work to this day. Bold colors adorn the sets, costumes, props, and lighting that culminate in an unmistakable total design.
Afterwards, we screen a restoration of Almodóvar’s first feature—Pepi, Luci, Bom. The film finds Pedro in a gleefully sloppy and anarchic mode before finding his telltale visual tools. Not unlike Women, Pepi, Luci, Bom follows the collision of three very different women, but here, the emphasis is on shock, experimentation, and liberation—a flagpole for the fall of facism in Spain and the countercultural explosion that followed. The series continues through February with Volver and All About my Mother both on 35mm, as well as the opening of Almodóvar’s newest, Parallel Mothers, on Friday, January 28th.
Nos vemos pronto,
Ted
