“When I make a film, I never stop uncovering mysteries.”
Those were the words uttered by Pedro Almodóvar on the promotional trail for his 20th feature film Julieta in 2016, one of many richly uncompromising character studies that the Spanish filmmaker has graced audiences with over his illustrious 40-year career.
Reflected in his always joyous presence in prestigious film festivals around the globe, and perhaps even more so on his mantlepiece that includes two Academy Awards, lies the work of a revered director whose tales excite, delight and intrigue.
However, a glance under the luscious color palette of 21 feature films reveals more than just reverence or respect.
In a sense, Almodóvar is a tightrope walker, balancing deliciously scintillating stories and characters with every turn at the helm of the camera. As he walks the tightrope, he manages to carry the weight of melodrama and subtle artistry in one hand. In the other, startling audacity and boldness.
Never has this impressive balancing act been more on display than in two of his best-known features: The Skin I Live In (2011) and Pain and Glory (2019). The former is an unconventional tale of morality following a plastic surgeon on a quest to revolutionize the treatment of burn victims. In the process, he tramples ethics and creates a monster out of himself.
The Skin I Live In gave Almodóvar the freedom to twist and strain classic horror tropes by playing with the themes of revenge and sex. In this extremely disturbing yet equally intriguing watch, he appeared set to topple as he leaned a little too far in the direction of boldness. But after nearly two hours of nauseating horror, its ending of quietly powerful magnitude may be the biggest testament to the artistry of a director who knows the limits of his audience all too well.
After all, 40 years at the helm has perfected the skill of reining in the melodrama for a gut punch finale. In fact, some of the greatest moments in his canon of work are minimalist, back-to-basics cinema making — an aesthetic as inextricably bound to Almodóvar as the use of fantastical colors and his larger than life characters.
If Almodóvar’s filmography was a spectrum, on the opposite end lies Pain and Glory, his latest feature film to garner international acclaim. He teamed up with muses Penelope Cruz and Antonio Banderas once again for a tender tribute to the art of filmmaking.
Undoubtedly for many fans, the biggest constant in any Almodóvar feature is the guaranteed representation of LGBTQ+ stories. In Pain and Glory this comes as a ghost of a tragic yet loving past relationship brimming with regret.
Handling queer stories with intricate attention and loving patience has never been safer in the hands of any other director. Almodóvar waters the seeds of these transforming tales until the roots of these eccentric, beautifully flawed characters dig deep into our memories.
Pain and Glory is, like the rawest of human emotions, free and liberated. At times it feels as though this semi-autobiographical drama is the climax to Almodóvar’s body of work, not so much daring as it is tender.
A victory lap of sorts.
But make no mistake, at the age of 70, Almodóvar is anything but done with cinema. Two more feature films are in the pipeline with one poised to become his first English language feature. And when he once again steps off that tightrope, he will have done so with unnerving grace balancing the melodramatic and the daring. Being on the receiving end of that high wire act may indeed be one of the greatest joys to watch in cinema.
