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Pedro Almodovar is one of the most popular foreign film directors. His films are recognized by the audience, film critics and the world film press. There are no ideal characters in them, but all the characters are unique and full of emotions. In his films, Almodovar mixes elitism and mass character, he seeks to get rid of the boundaries between the lower and the higher. In many films of this director, the emphasis is on a woman: Almodóvar admires her way of thinking, sympathizes with her grief. Consider the 10 best films of the Spanish film director Pedro Almodovar.
10 All About My Mother (1999)
This film was dedicated to the mother of Pedro Almodovar. It tells about a single mother who has to face a very big grief: her only son dies in a car accident. A suffering woman moves to Barcelona, where she lived when she was still very young. In this city, she meets a man who was the father of her son and did not even know about it. A woman radically reconsiders her life and donates the organs of her deceased son for transplantation.
9. Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (1988)
This film is instructive, light and ironic. He made the director famous all over the world. Each actor is very well suited to his role, all the scenes are thought out with the utmost care. The main character is Pepa: a woman who broke up with her beloved Ivan. In addition, this woman had problems with a lawyer, and her friend managed to contact the terrorists. The main character has to face a lot of trouble – and at the same time try to avoid a nervous breakdown.
8. Flower of My Secret (1995)
The main character of this film is a writer who creates popular books for women. Leo Macias works very successfully, but in her personal life she has continuous problems. The writer’s husband is cheating on her with her close friend, Leo’s relationship with her mother is also very difficult. The depth of pain in this film is depicted very faithfully, and this is its main charm. The characters here are understandable, close and real: they are not much different from the audience themselves. The film is deeply emotional and very soulful.
7. The Skin I Live In (2011)
This movie is science fiction. A talented plastic surgeon’s wife dies in a car accident. After that, he keeps the girl locked up and subjects her to his sinister experiments. He managed to create a new human skin, which is resistant to external influences. Perhaps this film cannot be compared with other creations of Pedro Almodovar: it is more complex and combines terrible secrets, love experiences, time shifts and elements of mysticism.
6. The Return (2006)
This film epitomizes fun and reigning matriarchy. The main ideas are the return of the dead to the living, unresolved problems, as well as a return to the origins, during childhood. In the center of the plot are the sisters Soledad and Raimunda. One works as a hairdresser and interacts with the ghost of her mother, and the other is busy opening a restaurant and thinking about where to hide her dead husband. The women in this film are very strong, they have a difficult fate.
5. Law of Desire (1987)
Screenwriter and director Pablo shares success with his lover and sister. However, it turns out that he falls in love with his admirer, and this leads to the murder of the previous lover. In the center of the plot is the interaction of three men, a love triangle. Pablo’s sister is a transsexual who has certain ideas about what a woman should be. This film is full of fire, warmth and romance. The main idea is this: love remains beyond jurisdiction even in those cases when it pushes to crime and drives you crazy.
4. Talk to her (2002)
Almodovar does not lose a sense of proportion, creating dramatic, touching stories based on the most sensitive topics. This film tells about women who are on the verge between life and death, and about the men who care for them. The cynical journalist Marco does not believe that talking to a person who is in a coma can do anything. The orderly, Benigno, on the contrary, seeks to improve the condition of his ward with the help of conversations. As a result, she comes to life, and the ward of the journalist never comes out of a coma. However, ordinary conversations were still not enough.
3. Passion Labyrinth (1982)
Sexilia is a pop star who loves to take part in orgies: she suffers from such a disease as nymphomania. Risa is a homosexual who conquers all men. He is a special royal blood and is hiding from his pursuers. The paths of these people intersect, and as a result, their fate changes dramatically. Risa no longer wants to be gay, and Sexilia strives to stop being a nymphomaniac. Considered one of the director’s best films, this sex comedy features a weird sensibility and an underground tone.
2. Bad Education (2004)
This film is about venality, vices, betrayal. He is quite heavy. In the center of the story is a successful director Enrique, who meets with Ignacio, a friend from school. A school friend offers the director an interesting plot about sexual violence. A spark of attraction flickers between Ignacio and Enrique, but the latter falls into a stupor when he finds out who his friend really is. This film by Almodovar can be called one of the most personal: it is very clear that Enrique personifies himself.
1. Link me! (1990)
There are no “soapy” scenes and a banal plot in this film. It can be called sparkling, outrageous, exceptional. It demonstrates sincere love, which at the same time is very peculiar. Ricky’s former psychiatric patient kidnaps Marina and wins her love. As a result, his efforts are bearing fruit. He buys all the best for his captive: for the mouth – a very soft plaster, for the hands – the highest quality rope. Marina is very touched by such care, and her heart opens to love.