AFI Diary #3: "Parallel Mothers" and "Petite Maman"

Christopher is covering the 2021 AFI Fest Film Festival. Follow along for his reviews.

The hits just keep coming during AFI Fest. Two renowned international filmmakers screened their new films this weekend - Pedro Almodóvar and Celina Sciamma. Check out the latest reviews below:

Parallel Mothers (Pedro Almodóvar)

Pedro Almodóvar is a genre unto his own. The legendary Spanish director has made dramas, comedies, thrillers and everything in between over his forty-plus year career. No matter the tone of the movie, there are certain colors, beats and stylistic choices that are undeniably Pedro. We don’t look at a bright, dark red color the same thanks to his work in cinema. One of the great joys in watching a Pedro Almodóvar film is watching the plot change from what you expected it to be and what it actually is. Parallel Mothers is top-tier Almodóvar, particularly because it subverts one’s own expectations and becomes a much more emotional, haunting and political picture...

To get the best experience, one should go in as cold as possible, so we’ll keep this as spoiler free as we can. The titular mothers are Janis (Penélope Cruz), a glamorous Madrid-based photographer, and Ana (Milena Smit), a teenager. In the hospital, the two are roommates and end up giving birth on the same day. Since both of them are single mothers, they exchange numbers and vow to keep in touch. Almodóvar has explored the concept of motherhood for so much of his career, one wonders how many more ways he can explore the same topic. It’s refreshing how distinct Parallel Mothers is, while still feeling very much a part of the Almodóvar canon. To say the film is about motherhood is limiting. It’s actually about lineage, and the traumas that families share and pass down to their children.

The relationship between an artist and muse can either be nurturing or stifling. Some people find their frequent collaborators and get stuck in an echo chamber, essentially asking each other to play their “greatest hits.” What makes Pedro Almodóvar and Penélope Cruz such incredible collaborators is how they make each other better over time. Janis represents a new high watermark for Penélope Cruz. It’s fascinating to watch Cruz work through all of her characters contradictions and square them off against her moral compass. It’s a performance that deserves to be rewatched, as her eyes suggest a woman constantly thinking and second guessing each of her decisions. It’s so interesting to compare this to one of her earliest roles in an Almodóvar film, All About My Mother. In that film, she was the young mother, not sure of what the future would hold for her. Now, twenty years later in Parallel Mothers, Cruz’s Janis is fiercely excited to be a single mother. Wearing a shirt that says “We Should All Be Feminists,” she’s an outspoken and headstrong woman, who leads with her heart, leaving her head to catch up.

Just as Cruz was a young upstart in the 90s, Pedro has found a bright new talent in Milena Smit. Her youthfulness provides a brilliant counterpoint to Cruz’s worldliness. The two women’s relationship goes beyond talking about being mothers of young kids. They start to mirror a current political divide in Spain. It’s as grand of a movie as anything Pedro has made thus far in his career.

So many of Pedro Almodóvar’s frequent collaborators return for Parallel Mothers and help make it feel so cohesive with his canon. No one can shoot Penélope Cruz quite like cinematographer José Luis Alcaine. Production designer Antxón Gómez delivers yet another delicious apartment. It’s never just real estate porn, Janis’ home is a reflection of her life and career. So much of the melodrama is defined by Alberto Iglesias’ score. Every time Rossy de Palma appears on screen as Elena, Janis’ friend, one’s heart skips a beat. Almodóvar has cultivated an incredible cast of creators that continue to make beautiful, distinct art. Let’s hope for more masterpieces from them all, as Pedro continues to be on a roll. A

Parallel Mothers will be released in theaters on December 24th, 2021 by Sony Pictures Classics.

Petite Maman (Céline Sciamma)

Setting films from a child’s perspective can be a daunting challenge. Behn Zeitlin’s Beasts of the Southern Wild managed to get Quvenzhané Wallis a Best Actress nomination at the age of nine. Sean Baker similarly structured The Florida Project through the eyes of Brooklyn Prince. While these films were about children existing in an adult situation, Petite Maman has a simpler goal. What if we just watched kids be kids? What follows is a sweet story of family and friendship, anchored by a beautiful connection between two eight-year-old girls. 

Revealing too much of the plot will give away too much of the magic of the film. Nelly (Joséphine Sanz) travels with her parents to pack up the house of her recently deceased grandmother. One day, her Mom (Nina Meurisse) leaves the house and Nelly is left alone with her sweet, if inattentive Father (Stéphane Varupenne). Nelly takes to the woods and finds a beautiful stick hut in the middle. All of the sudden, a similar looking young girl, Marion (Gabrielle Sanz) appears. The two girls feel an instant kinship and keep each other company.

Sciamma builds an entrancing film around the childhood art of make believe. A magical sequence involves Nelly and Marion taking a raft to a pyramid looking structure in the middle of the lake. There’s a level of self-sufficiency that both of the girls display that is admirable, as if they are both looking after each other and taking care of each other. It helps that twin sisters Joséphine and Gabrielle Sanz were cast in the roles, bringing an unreplicable connection that Sciamma is able to capture on film.

At just 72 minutes, the film zips by, almost like a sweet little dream. For those looking for a grand follow up to Sciamma’s masterpiece Portrait of a Lady on Fire, Petite Maman may seem like a letdown. Its simplicity is its magic. While it takes a minute and some concentration to fall under its spell, there is a sweet story of childhood friendship and intergenerational connection within Petite Maman. B

Which of these films are you most excited about? Let us know in the comments below.

Comments

[Gallavich]

In Parallel Mothers there's also a dialogue between the storyline of Janis and Ana and the storyline about History and its search for truth. That's the most beautiful thing of the movie

[thevoid99]

2 films that I really want to see as I'm in awe of Celine Sciamma based on the 2 films and 2 shorts that I've seen from her so far with Portrait of a Lady on Fire being a complete work of art at its highest form.