It may seem somewhat of a moot point to review the movie "All About My Mother" now. It won the Oscar for best foreign film just last week and has been out for quite some time.
However, this startling masterwork by Spanish director Pedro Almodovar has finally come to Charlottesville so our small community can partake in its strange beauty.
The most important thing to remember about "Mother" is that it is not your typical fare; it is not even your typical foreign fare. But in the independent spirit of many foreign movies before it, it may make viewers say, "Now that's something you probably won't see from the average filmmaker!"
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This complicated film starts simply enough, with a single mother named Manuela (Cecilia Roth) and her beloved son Esteban (Eloy Azarin), a student of literature and a writer himself (a story of his gives the movie its title). As Manuela and Esteban celebrate his birthday, he asks that his only present be to know his real father - a man whom his mother has never spoken of and obviously does not like to remember.
That night, she and Esteban attend performance of the Tennessee Williams play "A Streetcar Named Desire." After the show, Esteban darts off to try to get an autograph from one of the actresses. He pursues her into a busy street and is hit and killed by an oncoming car.
This tragedy prompts Manuela to quit her job and return to her former home of Barcelona to seek out Esteban's father. As she retraces the journey of her life, she encounters her own demons. In addition, she finds others hurting as she does, and they come to depend on each other for support through their various struggles.
Sounds rather simple, right? Well, the lifestyles of Almodovar's characters can be described as anything but conventional. Although she ultimately became a devoted mother with a stable job, Manuela once earned a living as a prostitute in Barcelona. She arrives in Barcelona at a gathering place for prostitutes, where men pass by in cars, eager to buy some nighttime entertainment. She finds her friend Agrado (Antonia San Juan), an acquaintance of Esteban's father who is also a transvestite prostitute. She also links up with a nun named Rosa (Penelope Cruz), who is dealing with the aftermath of intimacy with Esteban's father, who is now apparently a transvestite himself named "Lola."
When Manuela catches up to Huma Roja, the actress whom her son was pursuing when he was killed, Huma too becomes a part of their lives as she is torn by her own quarrels with her drug-addled understudy and lover Nina. As Huma says of their relationship, "She's hooked on junk and I'm hooked on her."
Huma's reason for her difficult relationship with Nina can be applied to all the relationships in "Mother." Without such a reason, it is hard to understand why Agrado, Rosa and Manuela would let a man (now a transvestite) like Lola into their lives.
All of these characters are ones that looked, and perhaps still look, for others to define who they are to establish meaning for their lives. Just like Williams' character of Blanche, they rely "on the kindness of strangers." And as often happens with wandering souls, sex was mistaken for love, drugs mistaken for a higher consciousness, and abuses became tolerated. But damaged as they might be, these are strong women, not victims.
Although the movie seems melodramatic, it is also quite hilarious, as indicated by the bizarreness of Almodovar's characters. The story prompts viewers to laugh at some truly strange people while at the same time identifying with the real trouble of their lives and the depth of their love and support for each other.
By utilizing a beautiful, vivid and almost surreal visual style to depict this unconventional story, Almodovar's film proves to be a workout for both the eyes and the mind. One key example of this is Esteban's death, where the camera observes his point-of-view until he is no longer alive.
Despite its requirement to suspend normal judgment, there are many rewards to reap from "Mother." It praises humanity, love and art, and shows how all three are helplessly interlinked. "Mother" is a picture that deserves to be enjoyed by all those who have a chance (and an open mind).
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