September 25, 2020

Birthday of the Spanish "enfant terrible"

September 25th is considered the birthday of "enfant terrible" of Spanish cinema, as it is often called, - Pedro Almodovar Caballero. Although, in fact, he was born on September 24, 1949. But his parents registered his birthday on September 25th.

Pedro Almodovar during the awarding of the 2019 Cannes International Film Festival Prize to Antonio Banderas for the Best Actor in the film Pain and Glory. Director Pedro Almodovar.

How many different negative epithets he had got in his address even recently: a marginal, a bully, a counterculture character, a patented brawler, and so on in the same vein. However, the reasons for this were rather significant. Suffice it to say that he titled his first feature film "Folle ... folle ... folleme Tim!" Or “Fuck me, fuck me, fuck me Tim!” in English.

Pedro Almodovar in an episodic role in his film ?Que he hecho yo para merecer esto? (What Have I Done to Deserve This?) (1984).

I also dare to suggest that to some extent the negative epithets addressed to him are caused by homophobia: after all, Almodovar is an open gay. But today he is named not otherwise than the "cultural hero of Spain", "the most famous Spanish director since Luis Buñuel" and so on.

Hable con ella (Talk to Her). 2002. Movie's Rating - 10,868. 14th Rank in the Golden Thousand.

But in my opinion the main definition of Almodovar is a nugget. Born into a poor family, forced to earn his own living from the age of 16, he was deprived of the opportunity to receive any serious education, even a general one, not to mention the cinematic one. Working as a telephone operator, he was saving money from meager earnings to buy a movie camera ... But today Almodovar is the owner of 162 different film awards, including five British BAFTA awards, four Cesars and four European Film Academy awards, two Danish Bodil and two Italian David di Donatello awards, two Cannes and two Venice film festivals and one Academy Award. Now estimate how many people, at least in our country, have diplomas of filmmakers. And what's the result?

Todo sobre mi madre (All About My Mother). 1999. Movie's Rating - 10,795. 16th Rank in the Golden Thousand.

To date, the filmography of Pedro Almodovar includes 22 full-length feature films. Of these, 4 are included in the FilmGourmand's Golden Thousand. Based on this indicator, Almodovar is included in the list of 100 greatest filmmakers of the XX-XXI centuries, compiled by FilmGourmand.

Volver (To Return). 2006. Movie's Rating - 8,938. 175th Rank in the Golden Thousand.

Today, on the day when Pedro Almodovar turns 71, fans of his work are invited to recall frames from his best films included in the Golden Thousand.

Mujeres al borde de un ataque de nervios (Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown). 1988. Movie's Rating - 8,733. 229th Rank in the Golden Thousand.