Madres paralelas

Parallel Mothers

This was not one of Almodovar's finest movies, the characters were superficial and lacked any sort of emotional intelligence, in fact they were verging on caricatures of human beings.

The plot was quite bizarre lacking any heft, something about a genetic legacy and not being able to deny history. The plot took a wrong turn when it fixated about the paternity for one baby but the other baby "oh it looks like my grandmother", was sufficient.

The dialogue skated on the surface and we had some strange scenes to titillate the viewer, I wasn't convinced. Had it not been for the fabulous Penelope Cruz who threw her all into the project this would've been a Spanish turkey.

I'm giving this a weak 6 outta 10, meaning if you are an Almodovar fan you have to see it.

Two women put in the same room in a hospital during labour form a friendship. One is a successful photographer the other is a lonely ignored single child of a famous actress.

Janice is also trying to get the mass grave of her great grandfather exhumed but the Spanish civil war historical memory law is making that difficult.

This is a great movie of complex situations and how two women have to deal with the realities of the cards life has dealt them.

Penelope Cruz is up for an Oscar for this role, in my mind well deserved.

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.

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!

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.