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Parallel Mothers
Oscar winners Pedro Almadovar and Penelope Cruz pair up again for a stylish and emotionally charged soap opera called Parallel Mothers that provides compelling entertainment for most of its running time but takes just a tad too long to wrap things up.
This is the story of two women who meet in the hospital after giving birth on the same day in 2016 Madrid: Janis is a 40 year old fashion photographer who has a one night stand with a handsome archeologist and finds herself pregnant with no one but her BFF/boss as a support system; Ana is the spoiled and selfish teenager of a struggling actress who is touring Spain with a new play. Janis and Ana are strangers who have nothing in common but new children. They bond in the hospital and continue to communicate with each other after they are released, but a shocking revelation is revealed at the beginning of the second third of the film that bonds these women together and changes their lives forever.
On the surface, Almavador's screenplay is soap opera at its purest form, but he allows the story to unfold slowly enough that we don't see it right away. As a matter of fact the first ten-fifteen minutes of the screenplay is exposition involving Cruz' character wanting to hire the archeologist (named Arturo) for a dig that involves several generations of Janis' family and initially, it seems like this is what the film is going to be about. This turns out to be one big red herring as a bombshell dropped at the second third of the film, that we don't see coming at all, actually reveals what this story is going to be.
Even with this reveal, we're still navigating some pretty murky cinematic waters as there is some very questionable behavior from the Janis character that really had this reviewer scratching his head, but eventually denial seemed to explain her behavior away and we are pleasantly surprised by the way she plays the rest of it out. Unfortunately, we lose interest near the end where Janis and Arturo take us back to the dig, but honestly, be the time this re-addressed, we really don't care.
Almavodar's direction is delicate and Cruz' rich Janis has earned her a fourth Oscar nomination. Also loved the sexy Israel Elejalde as Arturo, Melina Smit as Ana, and Rossy de Palma as Ana's mother. it's pretty sophisticated entertainment for the majority of its running time.
Oscar winners Pedro Almadovar and Penelope Cruz pair up again for a stylish and emotionally charged soap opera called Parallel Mothers that provides compelling entertainment for most of its running time but takes just a tad too long to wrap things up.
This is the story of two women who meet in the hospital after giving birth on the same day in 2016 Madrid: Janis is a 40 year old fashion photographer who has a one night stand with a handsome archeologist and finds herself pregnant with no one but her BFF/boss as a support system; Ana is the spoiled and selfish teenager of a struggling actress who is touring Spain with a new play. Janis and Ana are strangers who have nothing in common but new children. They bond in the hospital and continue to communicate with each other after they are released, but a shocking revelation is revealed at the beginning of the second third of the film that bonds these women together and changes their lives forever.
On the surface, Almavador's screenplay is soap opera at its purest form, but he allows the story to unfold slowly enough that we don't see it right away. As a matter of fact the first ten-fifteen minutes of the screenplay is exposition involving Cruz' character wanting to hire the archeologist (named Arturo) for a dig that involves several generations of Janis' family and initially, it seems like this is what the film is going to be about. This turns out to be one big red herring as a bombshell dropped at the second third of the film, that we don't see coming at all, actually reveals what this story is going to be.
Even with this reveal, we're still navigating some pretty murky cinematic waters as there is some very questionable behavior from the Janis character that really had this reviewer scratching his head, but eventually denial seemed to explain her behavior away and we are pleasantly surprised by the way she plays the rest of it out. Unfortunately, we lose interest near the end where Janis and Arturo take us back to the dig, but honestly, be the time this re-addressed, we really don't care.
Almavodar's direction is delicate and Cruz' rich Janis has earned her a fourth Oscar nomination. Also loved the sexy Israel Elejalde as Arturo, Melina Smit as Ana, and Rossy de Palma as Ana's mother. it's pretty sophisticated entertainment for the majority of its running time.