Femmes au bord de la crise de nerfs

Wickedly funny movie of actress who gets dumped by her lover, and how she responds. Full of zany characters and richly applied satire, and some great plot twists. Very offbeat and comical, your time will be well rewarded. This is an excellent movie for Americans to get acquainted, if you're not familiar already, with foreign films or directors. Directed by Pedro Almodovar. Highly recommended.

The title, 'Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown', tells exactly what this movie is about. A couple of women who are on the verge of a nervous breakdown. The film has the form of a soap opera although it combines many genres; in the end it is just a terrific comedy.

One of the women is Pepa (Carmen Maura), an actress. An actor, Iván (Fernando Guillén), was her lover but now he has left her. Before he leaves town she needs to speak to him and that is one of her goals the entire film. Another woman is Candela (María Barranco). She is almost losing it because her boyfriend is an arrested terrorist. She fears her name will be mentioned and she will be arrested. We also meet Iván's ex-wife Lucía who is a little mad with Pepa since she was her ex-husband's lover. Iván's son Carlos (a young Antonio Banderas) visits Pepa's apartment together with his wife because they are interested in renting it. Other women including a lawyer called Paulina Morales (Kiti Manver), a couple of police officers and a cabdriver are also central characters.

Somehow all these characters with their own story lines come together somewhere in the movie. In the beginning it is a little hard to keep track, although director Pedro Almodóvar keeps things pretty organized with his soap opera approach. The film is comedy all the time but it has dramatic moments, thriller moments, action moments including a chase, crime moments, and even a western moment in a sublime touch when two women are face to face, both with a drink, instead of guns, in their hand.

Director Pedro Almodóvar, who has made the critically acclaimed 'Todo Sobre Mi Madre' ('All About My Mother') and 'Hable con Ella' ('Talk to Her'), here already shows us how gifted he is as a writer and as a director. He knows that comedy can be found in all things, including sad things like lost love and suicide. Instead of trying to create funny moments he just gives us a couple of characters in a room and trusts that their way of living is funny enough for an audience to like it. As with the two movies I mentioned earlier 'Mujeres al Borde de un Ataque de Nervios' is a terrific example.

I have seen several Almodovar films and this is far and away my favorite. The acting is marvelous in the original Spanish, especially Maria Barranco as Candela, and a young Antonio Banderas in his pre-US fame days. However, if you obtain the DVD version of this movie, resist the temptation to use the English-dubbed soundtrack. Sadly, the English version is just not funny. The readings are flat and uninspired, and the translation is not always accurate; too literal in some cases, just missing the point in others. It appears that the English dialog was written more for a close match with the lip movements than for precise translation. Instead, use the Castilian Spanish audio track and savor the beautiful performances. If you don't understand the language, read the English subtitles, which are more appropriately translated, and still enjoy the original.

What I like most about this movie is the economy of it's writing and directing. There really isn't a wasted moment, nothing extraneous and that is what keeps the pace crackling and makes the movie watchable in every moment. It also has one of the GREAT ensembles ever. Carmen Maura as Pepa keeps herself on that verge for an hour and a half without ever really falling off the edge, it is a beautifully modulated performance. Maria Barranco as Candela is another performance that teeters on the edge of falling off into an emotional rubble but somehow manages to keep it together. Those two are delightful in every moment they are on screen. We can't forget Julieta Serrano as Lucia, the one truly crazy, post-breakdown woman in the story who brings a quality of self-awareness to her role that makes it a bit heartbreaking. She knows she is nuts and can't do a damn thing about it. And then there is VERY strangely attractive Rossy de Palma as Marisa, a virgin who needs nothing so much as she just needs to get laid to mellow her out. These women are all superlative, but Guillermo Montesinos as the Taxi Driver nearly steals the movie out from everyone and gives certainly the best male performance in the film. You have to see him to believe him.

This Spanish comedy follows actress Pepa whose boyfriend, Iván, has just left her. What follows is a comedy of coincidences and mishaps. Pepa accidentally sets fire to her bed shortly before her friend Candela calls, she is worried because she has just learnt that her boyfriend is a terrorist and fears she will be arrested for harbouring him. Then Carlos, Iván's son, and his fiancée turn up to look at the flat, which Pepa is planning to rent out; Carlos had no idea of Pepa's connection to his father till he sees a picture in the flat. Things only escalate as Carlos tries to help Candela with her problem in a way that only serves to get the police to the flat; but not before Carlos's mother, who was recently released from a psychiatric hospital turns up.

If you want a realistic story this won't be for you; just about everything that happens relies on unlikely coincidences. For me this unlikeliness only served to make it funnier. The characters themselves are only slightly exaggerated; one feels that in more normal situations they would be ordinary people. There are plenty of laughs from start to finish; highlights include gazpacho soup that has been laced with sleeping pills, a visit to a lawyer who may be able to help Candela, and a rather different taxi driver. Writer/director Pedro Almodóvar does a fine job successfully takes the comedy to a high level without tipping into silliness. He is aided by a fine cast that includes Carmen Maura, as Pepa; María Barranco as Candela and a young, pre-Hollywood, Antonio Banderas as Carlos. Overall I'd certainly recommend this to fans of farcical comedy; it is very funny.

These comments are based on watching the film in Spanish with English subtitles.