After the incredible response to our Early Almodóvar Week and in anticipation of his return to reflective, women-centered stories with JULIETA, RoxCine presents THE FLOWER OF MY SECRET, ALL ABOUT MY MOTHER and VOLVER, all films in which he explores the lives of women caught between two worlds, chaos and culture, sanity and insanity, life and death.
Want to see all three? The Roxie is offering a limited number of $30 passes that provide access to all three films. Go to http://bit.ly/2eeONqk to ...
After the incredible response to our Early Almodóvar Week and in anticipation of his return to reflective, women-centered stories with JULIETA, RoxCine presents THE FLOWER OF MY SECRET, ALL ABOUT MY MOTHER and VOLVER, all films in which he explores the lives of women caught between two worlds, chaos and culture, sanity and insanity, life and death.
Want to see all three? The Roxie is offering a limited number of $30 passes that provide access to all three films. Go to http://bit.ly/2eeONqk to buy your More Pedro Pass before they sell out (if you get one, your Pedro Pass will be held at the box office) Otherwise, see below for individual show information. All screenings are free or discounted for Roxie members.
The Flower of My Secret
Wednesday, December 28 at 7pm (Big Roxie)
Pedro Almodovar casts aside his predilection for stylized high comedy and moves into full-blooded melodrama in “The Flower of My Secret.” Far from abandoning his trademark humor, however, the writer-director skillfully enlists it in the service of an emotional story, charting the heroine’s journey from loss and torment to rediscovered strength and hope. The lovelorn femme is Leo (Marisa Paredes), whose marriage to NATO official Paco (Imanol Arias) is fast skidding to a halt. A writer of bestselling romance novels under the nom de plume Amanda Gris, Leo’s dismal personal life renders her incapable of delivering the rosy pulp required by her contract. Instead, she becomes progressively more fond of the bottle, and pens a dark tale of death, deemed un-publishable. In an amusing dig at one of Almodovar’s compatriot directors, the novel is stolen from Leo’s trash and sold, becoming the basis for a Bigas Luna feature. (Variety)
Written and directed by Pedro Almodóvar. With Marisa Paredes, Rossy de Palma, Chus Lampreave, Imanol Arias and Juan Echanove. Spain/France, 1995, 107 min, DCP. Spanish with English subtitles.
All About My Mother (35mm)
Thursday, December 29 at 7pm (Big Roxie)
A master of the genre, Almodóvar creates a modernist melodrama with dashes of his trademark surrealism that draws not only on empathy for the wounded but on an admiration for the resilience of women. All About My Mother is a story of love and friendship that is born of significant loss. After losing her son in an unfortunate accident after attending a production of A Streetcar Named Desire, a single mother seeks solace from her grief. Along the way she rediscovers pieces of her past as she reunites with the boy’s transvestite father, meets an old friend, and realizes new friendships with a nun who runs a shelter for battered prostitutes and with the stage actress her son so admired. Embracing issues of gender, role playing, and melodrama itself, Almodóvar creates a uniquely affecting work. (Harvard Film Archive)
Written and directed by Pedro Almodóvar. With Cecilia Roth, Marisa Paredes, Penelope Cruz. Spain, 1999, 105 min. 35mm. Spanish with English subtitles. Won Academy Award for Best Foreign Language in addition to the Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film.
Volver
Friday, December 30 at 7pm (Big Roxie)
Almodóvar’s glorious, gaudy, ghostly ‘women’s picture’ managed to charm just about everyone who sat in front of it. Even though the director claimed the film contained elements of autobiography, he gave it another delicious personal twist by casting long-time muse Carmen Maura as the mother of his glamorous future muse, Penélope Cruz. A beautifully written tale of betrayal, murder, independence and sisterhood set in a dusty suburb of Madrid, it charts three generations of women attempting to overcome the various troubles – men, money, ghosts – that have been heaped upon them. While Almodóvar’s control as a director is a joy to behold, there’s no denying that it’s Cruz who makes the film her own: the scene in which she sings the song of the title (‘Volver’ or ‘to return’), clad in a ridiculously tight red-and-white striped dress, probably stands at the pinnacle of her acting CV. (Time Out London)
Written and directed by Pedro Almodóvar. With Penélope Cruz, Carmen Maura, Lola Dueñas. Spain, 2006, 121 min. DCP. Spanish with English subtitles.
