15 Mar 2017
Director: Pedro Almodóvar
Spain
2016
99 min
Pedro Almodóvar is back on familiar ground with this sombre and ravishing study of grief, guilt and burden. Told over 30 years with two actresses (Emma Suárez and the younger Adriana Ugarte) playing one woman, this is the story of Julieta who is facing family crises that will change her forever. We first meet Julieta as a middle-aged woman living in Madrid and preparing to move to Portugal with her partner. A chance meeting with Bea, a childhood friend of her daughter Antía, changes her mind about the move and she starts writing notes about her earlier adult life. These memories lead us through the film. Alberto Iglesias’ mournful jazzy score provides a fitting accompaniment for the film’s exquisite cinematography, design and costumes. It might be familiar territory for Almodóvar, but only a master of his art could make it look so easy.