Pedro Almodovar Paper
Christiaan Respeto Pedro Almodovar Analysis Paper Pedro Almodovar is a Spanish director that is arguably the most influential Spanish filmmaker of his generation. He is known for his bold and risky story plots and characters as well as his openness to sexuality. He is very influenced by the underground lifestyles of individuals and peoples sexuality. Almodovar’s influences and history undoubtedly show through his career. Pedro was born on September 25, 1949 in Calzada de Calatrava, Spain. He lived in poverty as a child with his mother, father, brother, and two sisters.
Pedro spent a lot of his time going to a local theater watching movies from all over the world dubbed in Spanish, which was the mark of passion for film. When Pedro was eight he was put into a Catholic boarding school in Caceres, Extremadura, where there was hope that Pedro would become a priest. After his education Pedro decided to move to Madrid against his family’s wishes to pursue his dream of being a film director. Pedro Supported himself working at a Spain national phone company while making short films on the side.
Pedro finally gained recognition with his films “Pepi, Luci, Bom” and “Other Girls Like Mom” for their humor and expressive sexuality. Pedro gained international recognition with his film “Woman on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown” a movie that was widely accepted for its female centered style. Almodovar had many influences in his life especially by other film directors such as Luis Bunuel, Rainer Fassbinder, Alfred Hitchcock, John Waters, Ingmar Bergman, Edgar Neville, Federico Fellini, George Cukor, Luis Garcia Berlanga, and Marco Ferreri. He is very influenced of family and deep close relationships between individuals.
Pedro is also influenced by sexuality since many of his stories contained characters that are gay, lesbian, trans-gender, and have strong sexual desire. Women also seem to be a big influence in Almodovar’s films since there are strong female leads and characters in many of his films. The style Almodovar uses in his films is experimenting with elements that are not mainstream in the modern film world. Almodovar is known for films that are bold and risky for they’re expressive sexuality, complex mature narrative, and presenting the underground lifestyle of junkies and crime stricken areas.
The narratives in his films are very complex and mature with dark story plots that push the edge of what is accepted in modern cinema. His use of editing in his films however are very mainstream and take the classical Hollywood approach with continuity editing but, at times uses fades and text. Almodovar uses strong female characters as well as characters that are homosexual and bi-sexual. Part 2 All About my Mother Critique ‘All about my Mother ‘ is a film that expresses the power of family and sisterhood. The film tells a very deep and dramatic story with complex characters that really enhance the experience of the film.
Through the films editing, cinematography, and character development the film is surely one of Almodovar’s best films. The editing in the film is very classical Hollywood style with the use of continuity editing although when a large amount of time passes large text is displayed on screen to tell the audience exactly how long time has passed. The film also plays around with fades in cool ways such as when Manuela goes to watch the performance of “A Streetcar Named Desire”, Esteban’s notebook is still on screen from the last scene faded in the background as the camera pans to Manuela.
The cinematography in the film is very much like a soap opera with a lot of still shots and characters really being the main focus of every shot. The film does like to pan and track characters very often. The cinematography also reminds me of classic Hollywood style which helps push the story in a continuous and satisfying way. Character development is a huge and well executed in this film. Manuela was a character that really developed through the movie. When Esteban dies Manuela is a wreck that couldn’t even speak about her son with others.
Over time she starts to heal little by little and tell more about her sons death. For example a great scene where it shows that Manuela developed, as a character was when she meet up with Lola to show him his son from Rosa and talks about their son who passed away. She even goes as far as to show Lola Esteban’s notebook, which she was so protective of. She also parts ways with Esteban’s picture so that Lola may have it. Overall I think this is a great film by Almodovar that kept me compelled to the very end.
The film had great use of editing, cinematography, and character development that really pushed the story and experience of the film. Through it’s deep storyline and complex characters this film is definitely something I will not forget. Citation http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Pedro_Almod%C3%B3var http://www. helium. com/items/310894-pedro-almodovars-influence-on-filmmaking-today http://www. rottentomatoes. com/celebrity/pedro_almodovar/biography. php http://movies. yahoo. com/person/pedro-almodovar/biography. html
