About a Film: All About My Mother/ Todo Sobre Mi Madre (1999)
We're assholes and a bit lesbo
(Manuela)
Director: Pedro Almodovar
Screenwriter: Pedro Almodovar
Stars: Cecilia Roth, Marisa Paredes, Candela Pena
Origin: Spain
Runtime: 101 minutes
Sinopsis: A story about a mother who just loses her son and come to Barcelona, to inform the father
Manuela and her son
I have mixed and indescribable feeling after watching this movie. First, I'm not too familiar with Spanish movie, other than telenovela that I've watched in my childhood and some of Del Toro's films. It's been a new experience (and experiment) for me to watch a comedy drama Spanish like this (I don't really think it's a comedy but, Roger Ebert said so, then...I'm just referring to his genre). The story begins with the story of a single mother with her son. The mother worked in a hospital and her son is in brink of adulthood, aimed to be a writer. Once, the mother and her son watched All about Eve together and his son complained about how the dubbed version always changed the title of the movie into something which is completely different with the original one. Well, I think this is how the title All about My Mother or Todo Sabre Mi Madre is chosen. It might be a personal taste of the director, that he has something to do with All about Eve and her mother which eventually inspires him to make this movie (later, I found that there is a slight plot of All about Eve reflected in the movie).
Instead of Huma Rojo, it's the mother who's the star, as in the picture
Honestly, it takes three times for me to watch the movie in a full concentration. I ended up sleeping at my first attempt, doesn't pay a lot attention in my second attempt, and finally, I know why this movie is interesting in my third attempt. Based on my experience, this is not a movie that you will find exciting in the first time. I mean, there are some bizarre moments crawled in my mind during my experience in watching this movie. The first is I'm kinda speechless when Manuela can work with the one who indirectly cause her son died in accident, without feeling any anger. In other hand, she can sosialize well with her. I find it weird but, maybe it's just because I've watched many thriller which has a lot of revenge issues. But, well, I let it pass and keep watching it. Then, the other bizarre moment is when Sister Rosa is having a baby and the father of the baby is a transvetite. I can't compherend it well, maybe it's just cultural barrier that makes me kinda confused. But, truth is sometimes stranger than a fiction. This might be happened in the real life and the director wants to show that. Other than those two, I have some others but, people just need to find it by themselves.
One of my favorite scenes
Beside all of the new experiences that I've had after watched it, I find that this is a very straight movie. There is no exaggerating moments. It just flows as it is. While Agrado, one of the characters, seemed to steal the center spot. This movie still revolves around the mother, Manuela. Especially, it's about her and Esteban, her husband and the father of her son, her deceased son, and the son of Sister Rosa who is actually the half-brother of her deacesed son and the son of her husband. Quite entangled, eh? There are three Estebans in the movie and all of them related to the Manuela. So, I think it's quite understandable why the title of this movie is All about My Mother. The mother has to lose her second Esteban to force herself in meeting the first Esteban, and eventually she's the one who reunites the first Esteban with the third Esteban. It's been a quite journey to watch all of extravaganza performances in the movie, other than I've mentioned in here. It's been fun and entertaining to watch this movie. Not to mention the music that comes together with the attractive scenes which spoilt you with its colors. It's just amazing
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