In April 2018, El Deseo announced the film. Federico Fellini's 1963 Italian neo-realism classic 8½ served as an inspiration for the film. By mid July, Antonio Banderas, Penélope Cruz, Asier Etxeandia, Cecilia Roth, Susi Sánchez, Julieta Serrano and Leonardo Sbaraglia were cast. The film marks Almodóvar's eighth collaboration with Banderas and sixth collaboration with Cruz, as well as Banderas and Cruz's second collaboration in a Almodóvar film after I'm So Excited! (2013). At the same time, principal photography commenced, and wrapped in mid September. Filming took place throughout Madrid, Spain.
The film stars Banderas, Cruz, Etxeandia, Roth, Sánchez, Serrano and Sbaraglia. Thanks to the complex performances given by the cast, there's no clean way to boil the characters of the film down to their psychoanalytical essence. Banderas still proves that he is a great avatar for Almodovar in the surreal cinematic self-interrogation that takes place in the film.
A marvellous and immensely personal piece of self analysis, which journeys into the heart, mind and soul of its illustrious director, Almodovar. It is a delightful piece of filmmaking full of psychological flights of creative delirium and accomplished with wit, verve, style, grace, and a tongue-in-cheek joy. Amiably spiking all criticism through a gloomy scriptwriter mouthpiece, Almodovar pulls a multitude of rabbits out of the showman's hat. Almodovar is so incredibly creative that when he was enduring physical pain, he turned his personal struggle into a phenomenal masterpiece of introspection. Almodovar's flights into the surreal are his self-examination and confession. Like Fellini, his confession is without moral rigor; he wants to be indulged, not absolved. Here is a piece of entertainment that will really make you sit up straight and think, a film endowed with the challenge of a fascinating intellectual game. Though he can't face up to the total case, we must be grateful to Almodovar for having presented so much of it, and with such flair and exuberance. It is probably the most potent movie about film-making, within which fantasy and reality are mixed without obfuscation, and there's a tough argument that belies Almodovar's usual felicitous flaccidity. The effect is sometimes confusing - but always beautiful - and eventually intertwines to a singular life-confirming realisation that cuts through the madness and embraces it. Somehow, the movie is more than the dated crisis of a naval-contemplating artist. It's about the inability in all of us to make sense of our lives, put it all together and come up with something meaningful. Maybe it is a film that will grown on me over time? I'm not sure but it didn't do much for me on this watch. Still, it does look great so I will give it that. Almodovar is that rare sort of artist who can be loved, revered and just barely tolerated, all at the same time.
A marvellous and immensely personal piece of self analysis, which journeys into the heart, mind and soul of its illustrious director, Almodovar. It is a delightful piece of filmmaking full of psychological flights of creative delirium and accomplished with wit, verve, style, grace, and a tongue-in-cheek joy. Amiably spiking all criticism through a gloomy scriptwriter mouthpiece, Almodovar pulls a multitude of rabbits out of the showman's hat. Almodovar is so incredibly creative that when he was enduring physical pain, he turned his personal struggle into a phenomenal masterpiece of introspection. Almodovar's flights into the surreal are his self-examination and confession. Like Fellini, his confession is without moral rigor; he wants to be indulged, not absolved. Here is a piece of entertainment that will really make you sit up straight and think, a film endowed with the challenge of a fascinating intellectual game. Though he can't face up to the total case, we must be grateful to Almodovar for having presented so much of it, and with such flair and exuberance. It is probably the most potent movie about film-making, within which fantasy and reality are mixed without obfuscation, and there's a tough argument that belies Almodovar's usual felicitous flaccidity. The effect is sometimes confusing - but always beautiful - and eventually intertwines to a singular life-confirming realisation that cuts through the madness and embraces it. Somehow, the movie is more than the dated crisis of a naval-contemplating artist. It's about the inability in all of us to make sense of our lives, put it all together and come up with something meaningful. Maybe it is a film that will grown on me over time? I'm not sure but it didn't do much for me on this watch. Still, it does look great so I will give it that. Almodovar is that rare sort of artist who can be loved, revered and just barely tolerated, all at the same time.
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