This is only the fourth Almodovar film I've watched, even though the local DVD rental store has practically all his work readily available! Since Luis Bunuel is my all-time favorite director, it might seem strange that I have stayed away from the most celebrated film-maker to emerge from this country in recent years but who has gradually turned himself into the Spanish Fellini (incidentally, I find the Italian maestro overrated).
Anyway, Almodovar's latest despite having been nominated for a great number of international awards, winning several of them is essentially a charmingly humanistic film but, perhaps, too slight to be a masterpiece. Curiously, even if his work often involves crime and assorted transgressions (mercifully toned down here), to my eyes it remains obstinately mundane. The film starts out a ghostly black comedy and, even if eventually abandoning this supernatural territory half-way through, it still satisfies overall. Penelope Cruz is certainly at the top of her game here, and she even gets to sing in one scene; Almodovar regular Carmen Maura is also quite amusing as her troubled mother.
Anyway, Almodovar's latest despite having been nominated for a great number of international awards, winning several of them is essentially a charmingly humanistic film but, perhaps, too slight to be a masterpiece. Curiously, even if his work often involves crime and assorted transgressions (mercifully toned down here), to my eyes it remains obstinately mundane. The film starts out a ghostly black comedy and, even if eventually abandoning this supernatural territory half-way through, it still satisfies overall. Penelope Cruz is certainly at the top of her game here, and she even gets to sing in one scene; Almodovar regular Carmen Maura is also quite amusing as her troubled mother.