by Nathaniel R
Antonio, Penelope, and Pedro together once again.
Hang this photo in the Louvre, s'il vous plaît. Loyal readers know that Pedro Almodóvar is my favourite living director so I bring you glorious news from Cannes -- Pedro's latest, Pain and Glory, starring his only real male muse Antonio Banderas and featuring his current female muse Penélope Cruz, is winning reviews that are much closer to glorious than painful. It could well be in contention for prizes with the jury...
The film is a self-reflective drama about a filmmaker named Salvador Mallo (basically a version of Pedro himself) reflecting on the choice's he's made in life. Naturally it's being compared to Fellini's 8 1/2. Spain has always had a tense relationship with their most famous auteur so we can't count on the country submitting Pain & Glory for Best International Feature but regardless of whether or not they do, Sony Pictures Classics is reportedly planning a big push in the fall (It opens in the US on October 4th) having had Oscar and box office success with Pedro before.
As for the stars, Banderas is winning uniformly excellent reviews. He's now made 8 pictures with Pedro and Penelope has made 6 but the only time they've actually worked together within Pedro's movies was their joint cameo in I'm So Excited (2013). Cruz plays Banderas's mother in flashbacks to his childhood here.
Despite the overall kind reviews the BBC doesn't like it much calling it self-indulgent and "not painful, but not glorious, either." The Guardian fell hard saying "this movie was running so smoothly and so seductively that it could have gone on for another five hours". IndieWire calls it Pedro's best in years and adds "in the pantheon of the films-about-filmmaking genre, it’s a paragon of the form". Variety loves it too calling it "a mature work of meticulously tuned metafiction" and describing it as subtle and authentic even while "erupting with so many of the director’s signature touches — bold colors, passionate embraces, and copious references to his cinematic inspirations..."
The Stars
Supporting Roles in Pain & Glory: Asler Etxeandla, Nora Navas, and Leonardo Sbaraglia are all newbies to the Pedro filmography
Almodóvar doesn't always compete at Cannes but when he does prizes have followed half the time. Pain & Glory is his sixth film in the main competition but the Palme d'Or has always eluded him. Here are the times he competed or won prizes at the A list festivals (or was submitted at the Oscars).
CANNES
- All About My Mother (1999) - Best Director, The Prize of the Ecumenical Jury
- Volver (2006) - Best Screenplay, Best Actress
- Broken Embraces (2009) - no prizes
- The Skin I Live In (2011) - Youth Award
- Julieta (2016) - no prizes
BERLINALE
- Law of Desire (1987) - Teddy Award
- Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down (1990) - no prizes
VENICE
- Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (1988) - Best Actress (something called the "Golden Ciak" not the usual "Volpi Cup"), Best Screenplay
TORONTO
- Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (1988) - People's Choice Award
OSCARS
- Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (1988) - Best Foreign Film Nominee
- High Heels (1991) - submitted for Best Foreign Film. Wasn't nominated
- Flower of My Secret (1995) - submitted for Best Foreign Film. Wasn't nominated
- All About My Mother (1999) - Best Foreign Film Winner
- Talk to Her (2002) - Best Director Nominee, Best Screenplay Win. (Was not submitted by Spain for Foreign Film though it surely would have won had it been since it took both the Globe and the BAFTA and was also a huge arthouse hit)
- Volver (2006) - Best Actress Nominee (Submitted for Best Foreign Film. Wasn't nominated)
- Julieta (2016) - Submitted for Best Foreign Film. Wasn't nominated
HOW DO YOU SUSPECT PAIN & GLORY WILL FARE AT CANNES AND WITH THE OSCARS?