Almodovar still has it - in spades. Pain and Glory is a near masterpiece as far as I'm concerned. It's basically Almodovar's 8 1/2 - but of course done when he was much older than Fellini at the time. Almodovar is 70, and let me say, age has not slowed him down at all, judging by this movie. It seems a bit of a trend - Jodorowsky directed a masterpiece Endless Poetry when he was 86 (here's the thread where I discussed this film: http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?358707-Endless-Poetry-2016-Alejandro-Jodorowsky).
What a well done movie! The camera work is outstanding, the framing, the movement, the choice of shots, just so good. Editing - outstanding. Of course, the traditional Almodovar strengths of use of color and art direction are on splendid display here. The story, the pacing, the emotional pull - beautiful. Acting uniformely fantastic, but Antonio Banderas achieves supremacy here. Now, I'm not a fan of Banderas - he's just a poor actor in my experience, the only time he's been any good is when he was first directed by Almodovar in Matador (1986) - where indeed he was excellent. Otherwise, he always to my eye was clumsily "acting" - nothing worse than an actor who "ACTS". However here, he's just phenomenal - one of the great performances out there, and that's saying quite a bit, given how much good acting there is nowadays (as opposed to the dismal rarity of good directing!). Banderas is no kidding brilliant here.
I have not started a new thread on this, but Almodovar's Julieta (2016) is also well worth experiencing, an excellent film.
Anyhow, this was one of the most enjoyable films I have seen in a very long time, and if you are interested in the grand continental European tradition of filmmaking, do yourself a favor and see this. Highly recommended!
What a well done movie! The camera work is outstanding, the framing, the movement, the choice of shots, just so good. Editing - outstanding. Of course, the traditional Almodovar strengths of use of color and art direction are on splendid display here. The story, the pacing, the emotional pull - beautiful. Acting uniformely fantastic, but Antonio Banderas achieves supremacy here. Now, I'm not a fan of Banderas - he's just a poor actor in my experience, the only time he's been any good is when he was first directed by Almodovar in Matador (1986) - where indeed he was excellent. Otherwise, he always to my eye was clumsily "acting" - nothing worse than an actor who "ACTS". However here, he's just phenomenal - one of the great performances out there, and that's saying quite a bit, given how much good acting there is nowadays (as opposed to the dismal rarity of good directing!). Banderas is no kidding brilliant here.
I have not started a new thread on this, but Almodovar's Julieta (2016) is also well worth experiencing, an excellent film.
Anyhow, this was one of the most enjoyable films I have seen in a very long time, and if you are interested in the grand continental European tradition of filmmaking, do yourself a favor and see this. Highly recommended!
