Madres paralelas

Most directors reach a peak somewhere during their career. Their films stop improving from then on. The remarkable thing with Pedro Almodovar is that, at 72, he still doesn't seem to have reached his peak. The older he gets, the more intense and pure his films become.

In 'Madres Paralelas', all the usual Almodovar ingredients are blended together exquisitely. An unorthodox story about women and motherhood, superb acting from Penelope Cruz, tasteful clothing and interiors, beautiful cinematography and intelligent dialogues with surprising twists. But this time, Almodovar adds a little extra: a subtle attack on the right-leaning political parties in Spain. The former prime minister Mariano Rajoy is even mentioned, which seems at odds with the fact that Almodovars cinematographic universe is usually uncoupled from modern day issues.

The point Almodovar wants to make about Spain, is intelligently integrated into the story. It is about death, war and coping with past sins. The contrast with the other themes in the film is striking: we see Cruz, and the other parallel mother Milena Smit, involved in childbirth, friendship and rethinking their future lives.

A nice characteristic of this film is that it's all about women designing their own lives. Which is a nice change: most films are male-centred. The only male character of any importance is subject to the whims of women. In one funny moment, he tells Cruz that he wants to have a child with her, but not yet. To which she replies that it doesn't really matter, because the unborn baby is already there.

'Madres Paralelas' is a relatively unspectacular film, because in consists mostly of people talking, reacting to each other and showing their emotions. But it takes extraordinary directing skills to make such a film, and fascinate audiences by it. This is one of those films that are just very good, because they are made by an experienced craftsman who knows what he's doing.

Almodovar's gift is to take a soap-opera storyline - two mothers and their babies - and give it a glossy sheen that makes it seem almost fresh. All the cast take their roles seriously. Penelope Cruz is the best of them; on screen she has an incandescence that reminds me of Sophia Loren's early films.

There's a background story in which Cruz's lover is trying to get permission to excavate the grave of some villagers savagely killed in the early years of the Civil War. I rather wish that this had been given more screen time. The final scene of this movie is nothing less than magnificent.

Madres Paralelas is a Spanish movie, telling the story of two women that give birth at the same time, and the way that their lives connect after this seemingly innocent event.

The movie clearly approaches a political / historical topic in Spain which I have to be honest I wasn't familiar with, and for that sake alone I am glad I got to see it and be familiar with the topic. I see some of the criticism towards the film stems with the fact that the director could've explore this topic deeper due to its serious nature, however for me personally not knowing the reality I liked the parallelism between the issue and what the main character went through in her personal life.

It seems clear the message of wishing to preserve the truth of her lineage and live by her own values - it's ultimately a story not only about motherhood but also how our deepest values can have great impact in some of our most critical decisions in life.

Penélope Cruz gives a strong performance and the movie while not ground breaking has an interesting story and contrary to what I have heard not at all predictable. You might say it's a very unlikely situation and of course as in all films a dramatized plot, however not impossible to happen and it serves the purpose of the message.

With this being, for me, one of the worst Academy Award season in terms of movie quality I found this one a good watch!

Summary:

In this rather misunderstood film, Almodóvar consummates the audacity of associating the historical memory of the crimes of the Franco regime with a melodrama about intertwined motherhood, as intense as it is disturbingly contingent, tracing a perfect circle with identity at the center of the scene. The provocativeness of the film is made flesh in its protagonist Janis (a magnificent Penelope Cruz), a character subjected to tremendous dilemmas that express the dialectic, the contradictions and finally the synthesis between the private, the militant and the historical. And that Almodóvar does it, in a Spain that is witnessing the resurgence of the extreme right, is a declaration of principles.

Review:

Janis (Penelope Cruz) is a professional photographer. After a photo session for Arturo, a renowned forensic archaeologist (Israel Elejalde), she tries to interest him in the exhumation of Franco's victims buried in a mass grave in her hometown. Later, Janis, about to give birth, meets Ana, also in labor (Milena Smit), without suspecting that their destinies will be closely linked.

Undoubtedly, we are facing a film that is being quite misunderstood. Through an extremely intelligent and skillful script, Almodóvar has the audacity to intertwine the melodrama with the historical memory of the Franco regime. And he does it with a story about several intertwined motherhoods that are as contingent as they are assumed or abandoned, with identity at the center of the scene. The association that appears in the story between the intensity of maternal feeling, biology and chance is very disturbing.

The provocation of the film becomes flesh in Janis, a character subjected to tremendous dilemmas that express the dialectic, the contradictions and finally the synthesis between the private, the militant and the historical (dilemmas that Cruz expresses admirably through his gestures and his language bodily). Through her and the generational clash with Ana regarding historical memory, the director somehow updates and "everyday" a taboo and difficult topic for Spaniards even today, such as the Franco dictatorship and the impunity of its crimes.

Almodóvar has arrived as a filmmaker at an undeniable maturity, no longer interested in continuing to be an enfant terrible. Of course, this is not a comedy nor is it a choral story; the director cultivates a more relaxed style: he does not renounce melodrama (essential in his filmography) but he does renounce the tension and hubbub of his other films. He continues with his well-established handling of time lines, sometimes playing with the viewer by making him believe that some flashbacks are ellipses, for example. The fluidity of the narration is exemplary and avoids certain formalistic excesses and the somewhat pretentious structural sleights of several films from his last stage (a good example of this would be Bad Education), which created an emotional distance with the viewer. He always knows how to set up the camera and how and where to position his characters; he achieves beautiful effects with his fades that plunge the troubled Janis into the shadows at the end of some scenes.

In short, through the character of Janis, a new and great Almodovarian heroine, magnificently played by Penélope Cruz, and as noted above, Almodóvar carries out the operation of conflicting in a vibrant and moving way (at times close to a thriller) what private with the militant about a past that Spain has not finished processing and that it prefers to bury in oblivion. And that Almodóvar does it, with the forcefulness of the shovels and the bones, in a Spain that is witnessing the resurgence of the extreme right, is a declaration of principles.

There's a lot to enjoy about Parallel Mothers.

It has terrific performances, with Penelope Cruz stealing the show. The direction is so clean, crisp and stylish. It has a brilliant score.

The story is maybe the only area where I felt it was lacking. At times for me it was a little messy and had a few too many directions and prongs. There was a nice contrast in themes with the focus on the past set against new motherhood, but it was a little too disparate for me.

Despite this I did enjoy the story and film a lot. At its peak there were some gut wrenching emotional moments with razor sharp dialogue throughout.