With Parallel Mothers, Pedro Almodóvar has delivered a tender and exquisite melodrama which deserves all the acclamation going...
Director: Pedro Almodóvar
Starring: Penélope Cruz, Milena Smit, Israel Elejalde
Running time: 123 minutes
Parallel Mothers explores the relationship between two mothers - Janis, a photographer, played superbly by Penelope Cruz in her seventh Almodóvar film, and Ana, played by newcomer Milena Smith - who meet at hospital while they are in labour, with their children accidentally swapped after birth. In the background of this story, the film also explores the unresolved legacy of the Spanish Civil War, with Janis determined to find out what happened to her great-grandfather during the conflict.
What unravels is a melodrama that harks back to the films of Douglas Sirk, but with flashes of a thriller that only Almodóvar can deliver in such a successful manner. Penelope Cruz is simply brilliant throughout, in what could arguably be called her best performance to date - or at least on par with her role in Volver, another excellent Almodóvar film. Cruz has earned much praise for her display, and should be in the mix for an Academy Award nomination in the coming weeks.
Milena Smit’s Ana is a younger mother with such vulnerability, yet as the film progresses she develops a newly found strength, in part through interactions with Janis. Almodóvar remarked in an interview that he had chosen Smit based on her face, and you can see why, as he opts for a series of excellent close-ups of her and Cruz.
Almodóvar is clearly a director at the top of his game
However, an Almodóvar film would not be an Almodóvar film without glorious colour palette and cinematography; his true hallmarks. Added into the mix is Alberto Iglesias’ superb score that echoes and reverberates like a haunting spectre.
Almodóvar is clearly a director at the top of his game, with Parallel Mothers following the excellent Pain & Glory, Julieta and The Human Voice, a short film starring Tilda Swinton. His next project, an adaption of Lucia Berlin’s A Manual for Cleaning Women with Cate Blanchett set to star, will be his first English language film, a prospect that will no doubt excite many of his fans.
Unfortunately, Parallel Mothers was not selected as the Spanish entry for the Academy Awards, which is a shame - but be in no doubt at all, it is one of the finest films of the year so far.
Did you know? There was a poster for Parallel Mothers over a decade ago in a scene of Almodóvar's Broken Embraces. He was already working on the script and had made a poster.
Parallel Mothers is now showing in cinemas.
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