All About My Mother (1999)

I liked the way director Pedro Almodóvar had some fun with this picture during an opening scene when he had Esteban (Eloy Azorín) rename "All About Eve" into Spanish properly. It had the effect of drawing even more attention to the title of this film, "Todo sobre mi madre". It was also noteworthy that he provided an homage of sorts to two American movie classics, the other being "A Streetcar Named Desire". As for this story, I'm not quite sure what to make of it all. Try as I might, I can't imagine someone of basically a normal disposition like Manuela (Cecilia Roth) to be involved in so many dysfunctional relationships as she encountered in Barcelona. The search for her deceased son's father and her ex-husband was noble, but the journey revealed an entire retinue of people that would make your skin crawl under normal circumstances. The topper was the transsexual Lola (Toni Cantó), who turned out to be the ex-husband, and also the father of a baby by a nun! It would have to be explained how that relationship ever came about, as the circumstance is presented as given which is just too much of a fantastical stretch to warrant consideration.I don't know much about director Almodóvar, other than what I've read on his IMDb bio page, but if this picture is any indication, it appears that he goes for something of shock value to his stories. Which is OK I guess, but it would have the tendency to put off some viewers with his odd characters and even odder situations. It's curious how he attempts to convey the humanity of his characters, but it's also enlightening to know how he actually describes some of them - "If I lived like my characters, I would have been dead before I made sixteen films". Which seems to illustrate my point.

Manuela is a single mom who loses her beloved son Esteban when he gets hit by a car while chasing after actress Huma Rojo. Manuela is a nurse in charge of donor coordination. To avoid the temptation to look for Esteban's organs, she quits her job. She decides to return to Barcelona to tell transgender Lola about his son that he never knew he had. She finds her old transgender prostitute friend Agrado. She befriends pregnant nun Rosa along with Huma Rojo and her lover Nina Cruz.I love the first half of the movie. I love Pedro Almodóvar's bright colors and exuberant style. The dirt road where the prostitutes congregate is an amazing scene. I just felt the movie loses focus later on as it deals with the various characters. It's still an amazing movie.

I probably got used to several plot twists in Almodovar movies, but this one do not have that much. If there were, my vote would be a little bit higher. I mean, in many aspects the movie is pretty brilliant. The acting is the highlight. Cecilia Roth, Antonia San Juan and Penelope Cruz shine bright through the story. Specially Cecilia, I'm really impressed.However, at the some point the story becomes evident. You see what is going to happen at each character. When I watched, I hoped for some twist, or something that would make my jaw drop. But eventually, that didn't happen. I don't know if I put lots of high expectation about this (maybe so), but the end could be better in my opinion. Still, it is a movie worth watching.

All About My Mother is a Spanish film that was written and directed by Pedro Almodóvar.It stars Cecilia Roth,Marisa Paredes,Antonia San Juan, Penélope Cruz and Candela Peña.The movie deals primarily with femininity together with complex issues like complex issues such as AIDS, transvestitism, faith, and existentialism.All About My Mother is story of a woman and her circle of friends who find themselves suffering a variety of emotional crises. Manuela is a single mother who has raised her son, Esteban, to adulthood on her own and has come to emotionally depend on him. One night, Manuela and Esteban take in a production of A Streetcar Named Desire; after the show, Esteban is struck and killed by a passing motorist as he dashes into the street to get an autograph from Huma Rojo, who played Blanche. Emotionally devastated, Manuela relocates to Barcelona in hopes of finding her ex-husband, who is now working as a female impersonator. Manuela becomes reacquainted with old friend La Agrado, a transsexual, and is introduced to Sister Rosa, a good-hearted nun who has to contend with her considerably more cynical mother. While looking for work, Manuela becomes acquainted with Huma Rojo. Huma, on the other hand, has troubles of her own, most involving her drug-addicted significant other, Nina. All About My Mother displays Almodóvar's trademark visual style and a unusually strong sense of character-driven drama that mixes with themes and characters from Streetcar Named Desire And All About Eve.It was a wonderful and poignant story of love, loss and compassion centered on women.Also,it was also a intelligent sensibility with wicked sense of humor.The acting was also brilliant of all the cast involved.And most of all,the direction of Almodóvar makes this film a masterpiece Spanish cinema classic.