Pedro Almodóvar is a legendary filmmaker. At 74 years old, the director has spent nearly 50 years creating his cinematic legacy. From his use of colour to his landmark queer sensibilities, he’s put Spanish filmmaking on the map. Not to mention the fact he’s also launched the careers of actors like Antonio Banderas and Penélope Cruz.
With over 42 screen credits under his belt, Pedro has explored family, identity, desire, and LGBTQ issues in his work. It’s the latter that’s at the forefront of his latest, Strange Way of Life. An English language short, it almost functions as Pedro’s answer to Brokeback Mountain, a film he was courted to direct two decades ago, but ultimately declined. His inspiration for his latest came from a line from the Ang Lee directed film, as he told the New York Times. “In Brokeback Mountain, Jake Gyllenhaal’s character says to Heath Ledger’s character that they should go away and work on a ranch. Heath says, ‘What would two men do in the West, working on a ranch?’ In many ways, I feel my film gives answer to that.”
Strange Way of Life stars Ethan Hawke and Pedro Pascal as two middle aged men – a lawman and cowboy respectively – reuniting after years spent apart, having been lovers in their youth. What entails is a sumptuous affair, filmed in Pedro’s classic technicolor hues with costumes from Saint Laurent’s creative director Anthony Vaccarello. Now is the perfect time to become acquainted with Pedro Almodóvar’s impeccable film canon.
The entry point is… Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (1988)
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown isn’t Pedro’s first film (that honour goes to 1978’s Folle… folle… fólleme Tim!), but it’s the one that launched him into international and critical stardom. Starring Pedro’s longtime muse Carmen Maura, Women on the Verge… follows Pepa, an actress whose long time lover Ivan has left her. She’s determined to find out why.
Riotous and hilarious, Women on the Verge… harbours so many of Pedro’s hallmarks: lavish colours, exquisite set design (his aesthetic attention to detail feeds into the creation of his characters) and his cast of strong, complex women. Carmen is pitch perfect as a woman desperate to find out where she went wrong (relatable); even the side characters are fully realised and equally hilarious. Ever wonder what would happen if you drank sleeping pill-spiked gazpacho? This is the film for you.
The one everyone’s seen is… All About My Mother (1999)
A film about chosen family, All About My Mother played at the Cannes Film Festival in 1999, winning Pedro the Best Director prize. The film, its title a play on the classic All About Eve, revolves around Manuela (Cecilia Roth), a woman mourning the tragic loss of her teenage son and in the process of repairing it. Reading her son’s journals, she realises he yearned to meet his father. And so, she sets out to find Lola, her son’s father who is now living as a transgender woman, to tell her about the death of her son. On this journey, Manuela reconnects with old friends and meets new ones – including Penélope Cruz in one of her earliest roles. The film is bitingly funny and a gorgeous look at the interior lives of women, while also being a heartbreaking treatise on the power of grief. It also won Pedro his first Oscar.
The deep cut is… Talk to Her (2002)
After taking a short break following All About My Mother’s success, Pedro returned to the big screen with Talk To Her, which won the director his second Oscar – this time for Original Screenplay. It follows two men who bond over the shared tragedy of their wives’ fates: both of them are stuck in comas. As always with Pedro though, there’s a twist. This time around, Pedro took cues from black and white film and silent filmmaking to tell the tale.
The Penélope showcase is… Volver (2006)
A bonus category for our favourite Spanish star! This film, partially inspired by Pedro’s childhood, became an incredible showcase for his longtime muse Penélope Cruz, who was the first Spanish woman ever nominated for the Best Actress Oscar. Volver also reunited Pedro with Carmen Maura. The two are part of three generations of women in the film, which sees Penélope’s Raimunda, after protecting her daughter Paula from an assault by her father, communicating with her dead mother Irene in the afterlife. The ensemble of Volver is so good that they — collectively! — won the Best Actress award at Cannes.
Necessary viewing… Pain and Glory (2019)
Sex, desire and passion are always main themes running throughout Pedro’s work, and they collectively reached their apex in 2019’s Pain and Glory, a semi-autobiographical film about an ageing film director Salvador (Antonio Banderas) suffering from chronic illness and writer’s block. He looks back on his childhood with his mother (played in flashback by Penélope Cruz) and the first encounter that led to him understanding his sexuality. Reconnection is a theme running throughout the course of the film, leading to one of the sexiest gay scenes in Pedro Almodóvar film history – when Salvador reunites with a former lover.
The underappreciated gem is… The Human Voice (2020)
If you are preparing to watch Strange Way of Life, then Pedro’s debut English language short The Human Voice is required viewing. The director has always paid homage to the surrealist style of filmmaking popularised by Spanish-Mexican filmmaker Luis Buñuel; that reference has become even more pronounced in his later films. The Human Voice, based on a play from Jean Cocteau, stars Tilda Swinton as a woman watching time pass, waiting for her former lover to come pick up his suitcase. Watching Tilda be swathed in Pedro’s signature bright colour palette, while ruminating on a devastating love, is a delicious and unmissable confection.