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| Yohana Cobo and Penélope Cruz |
Director: Pedro Almodóvar
Screenwriter: Pedro Almodóvar
Cast: Penélope Cruz, Carmen Maura, Lola Dueñas, Blanca Portillo, Yohana Cobo, Chus Lampreave, Antonio de la Torre.
Synopsis: Raimunda (Cruz) has raised her daughter (Cobo) in the city, far away from the village where she grew up and the painful memories of a fractious relationship with her now-dead mother (Maura). But the past has a way of catching up with you - Raimunda's sister, Sole (Dueñas), returns from their aunt's (Lampreave) funeral apparently experiencing visions of their dead mother. But is she dead? And what does their aunt's neighbour (Portillo) know? But Raimunda has enough problems of her own -like what to do with the dead man (de la Torre) in her kitchen...
This is probably my favourite of Almodóvar’s films, although it does have some pretty strong competition. Few directors can veer so masterfully between comedy and tragedy as Almodóvar does in this film, sometimes within a single scene –it is genuinely funny but also carries a powerful emotional punch. My longer post on the film, seen through the prism of Cruz’s star image, is here.
