Spanning eleven years of his\u00a0career, these six films provide a rich snapshot of the Spanish filmmaker’s\u00a0work throughout the 1980s and 90s.<\/p>\n
Dark Habits<\/strong> (1983): When a nightclub singer (Cristina S\u00e1nchez Pascual<\/a>) gets on the wrong side of a criminal gang, she flees to a convent where the nuns have secrets too. The title has a double meaning for what the holy women wear and what some do in their rooms. Treading a fine line between satire and serious critique of the Catholic church<\/a>, it manages to keep both irons in the fire.\u00a0Pascual is excellent in the lead role and there are some fine supporting performances from future Almodovar regulars, such as Marisa Paredes<\/a> and Carmen Maura<\/a>. After debuting at the Venice film festival<\/a> it caused considerable controversy, put its director on the European festival map.<\/p>\n Extras<\/span>:<\/p>\n What Have I Done to Deserve This?<\/strong> (1984): The setting is an overcrowded Madrid apartment, with all manner of characters orbiting around a stressed-out housewife, Gloria (Carmen Maura<\/a>). There is her vile husband (\u00c1ngel de Andr\u00e9s L\u00f3pez); her mother-in-law (Chus Lampreave<\/a>), curious children and a prostitute next door. The plot involves murder, intrigue and even a pet lizard, as part of an\u00a0outrageous patchwork weaved by the director.\u00a0Amongst an already impressive cast, Maura is the standout performer here, and it is fairly obvious why she became a regular part of Almodovar’s creative ensemble. More was to come, but this was a marker for his later works.<\/p>\n Extras<\/span>:<\/p>\n Law of Desire<\/strong> (1987): Containing his trademark blend of profane tragic-comic thrills, this was perhaps his boldest film yet when Almodovar was cementing his position as\u00a0a flamboyant soothsayer for post-Franco Spain. Stylishly flaunting social and sexual mores, it explores a love triangle between a famous director Pablo (Eusebio Poncela), his long-term lover (Miguel Molina) and a young actor, Antonio (Antonio Banderas). Parallel to this, is a sub-plot involving Pablo’s sister Tina (Carmen Maura) which interlocks with the main narrative. Although the plot may resemble something Fellini may have done, it still packs a considerable thematic and stylistic punch.<\/p>\n Extras<\/span>:<\/p>\n Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown<\/strong> (1988): Another international breakthrough was this brilliantly realised surreal farce. A heady brew of infidelity and insecurity involving a voiceover artist (Carmen Maura<\/a>), her extramarital lover (Fernando Guillen<\/a>), his wife (Julieta Serrano) and an anxious friend (Maria Barranco) who has fallen for a terrorist, a synopsis for this film is difficult. But as usual with Almodovar he pulls all these strings together, with the help of what by now had become almost a stock company of actors.<\/p>\n Extras<\/span>:<\/p>\n Kika<\/strong> (1993): Regarded by some observers at the time as something of a creative and commercial disappointment, in retrospect this holds up very well. Another riotous and colourful affair, it sees the aforementioned Kika (Veronica Forqu\u00e9<\/a>), a make-up artist living in Madrid with a philandering American writer (Peter Coyote<\/a>). Circling them are a manic kaleidoscope of characters including: drug addicts, serial killers, porn stars and transexuals. Perhaps at times it does spin out of control, but that is part of Almodovar’s skill. One of his hallmarks is an ability to juggle outrageous comedy with darker themes – a controversial rape scene being\u00a0a case in point – makes him a rare talent in world cinema.<\/p>\n Extras<\/span>:<\/p>\n The Flower of My Secret<\/strong> (1995): The last film in this box set marks a transition for the Spanish filmmaker, with a more toned down approach. A superbly layered portrait of a writer (an excellent Marisa Paredes<\/a>), who wants to focus on the melancholic realities of pain and loss, rather than cliched happier endings. Though it retains the energy of his previous work, it is channelled in different ways. Fine supporting performances from Juan Echanove<\/a>, Carmen Elias<\/a>, Rossy De Palma<\/a> and Chus Lampreave<\/a> are a treat (with the latter two a fine double-act) and the end result points towards the masterworks to come in the late 90s and new millennium, such as All About My Mother<\/em> (1999) and Talk to Her<\/em> (2002).<\/p>\n The Almodovar Collection<\/strong> is out now on DVD and Blu-ray from Studiocanal UK<\/em><\/p>\n > Buy The Almodovar Collection on DVD<\/a> or Blu-ray<\/a> from Amazon UK Some wonderful early highlights from the career of the Spanish auteur are out now on DVD and Blu-ray from Studiocanal UK<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16448,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,5],"tags":[2890,2891,2895,2893,2892,2894],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.filmdetail.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16447"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.filmdetail.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.filmdetail.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.filmdetail.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.filmdetail.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16447"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.filmdetail.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16447\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16455,"href":"https:\/\/www.filmdetail.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16447\/revisions\/16455"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.filmdetail.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16448"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.filmdetail.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16447"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.filmdetail.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16447"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.filmdetail.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16447"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
\n\n
\n\n
\nAlberto Iglesias, Elena Anaya, Javier Camara, Rossy di Palma and Victoria Abril<\/li>\n
\n\n
\n\n
\n\n
\n
\n> Pedro Almod\u00f3var: 13 great Spanish films that inspire me<\/a> at BFI
\n> Find out more about Pedro Almodovar<\/a> at Wikipedia<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"