This is the only Mother’s Day movie that really matters.

Manuela is the central figure of the mother around whom the title revolves lovingly, and although she loses her son, she becomes another mother to a group of women in need. There is a great loneliness in the film actress Huma Rojo (Marisa Paredes), which gradually weakens the method of play that she demonstrates backstage. There is an external dissimilarity to the trans-prostitute Agrado (Antonia San Juan), who prides herself on living authentically, rejecting those who try to fetishize her. Then there’s sister RosePenelope Cruz), alone and a stranger, like a pregnant HIV-positive nun. Cecilia Roth’s performance as Manuela holds everything together, as an unapologetic liar and, above all, staunchly loyal to her loved ones. There is a single tattoo on the back of her neck, it seems to be from a past that she wanted to forget. As with the tattoo, she needs to look back if she wants to move forward.

All About My Mother by Pedro Almodovar is a visual feast

For those who haven’t seen Almodóvar’s films, his trademark turns the mise-en-scene into a visual feast. The decoration design is richly decorated, almost all the space on the wall or table is filled. Red, blue, yellow, and green are bold colors in a character’s wardrobe for the places they occupy. In one of the many grandiose images, a gorgeous poster of Huma’s face is taped to the theater’s outer entrance, under which Manuela stands, looking small against the giant face. Role playing in All about my mother blurs the line between life and art. Huma Rojo stars in the film adaptation of the novel Tram “Desire” To Tennessee Williams, an adaptation with which Manuela is destined to always be in touch. This film is not a case of “style over substance”. The sudden moments when Manuela thinks of her son, she barely holds back a deep sob, throwing her hands up to cover her face. That she carries this loss throughout the film is part of how she settles when things get too theatrical. The soundtrack also plays a role.

“Tahabone” by authorship Ismael Lo finds melancholy in nostalgia as Manuela begins her journey. In this scene, Cecilia Roth’s haggard face says enough about the sadness inside her, sitting on a train that’s going faster than Manuela could wish it to go. Tajabone plays before reaching the “light at the end of the tunnel” as the scene cuts to a sharp shot of Barcelona at night. Score by Alberto Iglesias And Dino Saluzzi brings a Latin flair, ensuring that no matter what influence the director has from Hollywood, the film belongs to Spanish cinema. “Gorrión” and “Dedicatoria” are two soundtracks that energize the scenes, creating a soundscape to describe the feelings of an uncertain but necessary journey. On this new path, Manuela does not get lost for too long.

Because of the fantastic women she surrounds herself with, the film implicitly wonders how Esteban could fit into this group of eccentrics. His absence drags on, as it should, otherwise it loses its emotional core. It is mentioned how much Esteban loves to write, that he wants to write something for his mother. Through his sudden demise, he does just that, creating a role that only Manuela can play in finding a solution to her son’s last wish. Manuela’s grief never goes away, the movie knows it’s impossible, but over time it heals with how she cares for others and how she is cared for. All about my motherbasically challenges the other two contenders for what should be played on Mother’s Day.

“All About My Mother” is frankly weird

IN terms of endearmentAurora (Shirley MacLaine) and Emma (Debra Winger) are a mother-daughter duo who spend more screen time with their male counterparts, even if their relationship is the most memorable. After Emma’s death, Aurora becomes a mother again, this time for Emma’s children, but this is not a family to be found as they are all related. Lovers on your mind All about my mother, but the connection between the central women is what interests the film. By placing Esteban’s death in the first act, Manuela creates a family of women of different backgrounds, ages, and needs. IN Mamma Mia!Sophie (Amanda Seyfried) finds her mother’s secret diary, using it as a map to find out who her father is. By the end, Sophie is left with three, one of which decides to finally go out. All about my mother creates an elusive father figure - an old photograph of Manuela showing Esteban herself as a young woman has torn edges, obscuring who else might be depicted - although the titular mother never loses focus.

Unlike a small moment in Mamma Mia!, All about my mother shamelessly weirdo. Trans women proudly have sex in a secluded part of town, there’s Huma Rojo, an elderly stage diva who battles her younger friend’s drug addiction, and there’s Rosa’s HIV-related storyline. The film’s melodramatic aesthetic, along with classic Hollywood references, brings a lighthearted twist to the plot points that can make things very dark. Manuela at first hesitantly accepts sister Rosa as a surrogate daughter, whose own mother is conservative with all the judgment her daughter lacks. Rosa’s HIV storyline isn’t as sensational as it could be for a ’90s movie, ending with a sign of hope, but it’s all usual for Pedro Almodóvar, an openly gay man whose films often incorporate LGBTQ characters and themes.

Agrado, although a trans woman played by a cisgender actress, is still a unique character in the way the film treats her. At one point, she draws an entire audience to herself by describing the parts of her body that she has added, corrected or changed, because “being authentic comes at a cost. And you can’t be stingy in these things, because the more you look like what you dreamed of being, the more authentic you are. The women are really at the forefront, leaving the men almost non-existent. Esteban’s reckless actions lead to his demise, and Rosa’s ailing father only speaks, asking about the stranger’s age and height. As for the absent father of Esteban, she turned into Lola (Tony Canto), living a carefree life, who, when she appears, admits to Manuela: “I have always been excessive, and now I am very tired.” Lola may have hurt Manuela and others, but she was not designed to be a villain.

bottom layer for All about my mother and how much he celebrates dates back to the death of dictator Francisco Franco in 1975. It ended four decades of Spanish rule, opening doors to freedoms that the youth did not know. Almodóvar was part of a countercultural movement known as La Movida Madrileña that emerged in the 1980s, releasing excess energy in the arts, from music to film. He made his films to fight back against the repression of the dictatorship, and when he wrote his ode to motherhood and women in 1999, he did a great job with his greatest skills as a director. Beyond the social context, the personal context literally brings everything home.

Pedro Almodóvar’s childhood made him the director he is

In a short film Behind the Story - Cult Film History: All About My Mother, the director adored his mother, Francisco Caballero. She was one of those people who read letters to illiterate neighbors, adding what she thought should be written for a warmer response from the listener. Along with her were the women he grew up around, these early memories turned into cinematic concepts, or as the documentary puts it, “The peasant women who inhabited and nourished his childhood became urban women emancipated in a new democratic Spain. ” There is an intimate look at the footage of the arrival between mother and son, where Almodovar reads an excerpt from Truman CapoteX Music for chameleons“When God gives us a gift, he accompanies it with a whip meant only for self-flagellation.” The mother listens carefully. For another reaction, an early scene in All about my mother reads Manuela from the same book. Hearing these words, she shudders, and her son cherishes it. Manuela is inspired by the director’s mother, but there can only be one Francisca Caballero.

Before All about my mother was released, Almodóvar’s mother passed away, cementing this 1999 film as a special in his unrecognized career, from Best Director at the Cannes Film Festival to Best Foreign Language at the Oscars. He does not ignore the darkness of history, and what helps him not to be too raw is a leading performance and high style that finds truth in Shakespeare’s famous phrase: “The whole world is a stage.” Everything is bright and beautiful, despite the various poignant storylines. The film is dedicated to “all the actresses who have played actresses, all the women who act, all the men who play and become women, all the people who want to be mothers. To my mother.” This last dedication is a beating heart All about my motherunconventional, heartfelt presentation for Mother’s Day.