Iconic Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar (Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, All About My Mother, The Skin I Live In) is in a decidedly sombre and reflective mood as he takes stock of his own life and mortality in Pain And Glory, his latest and arguably most personal film to date.
Bagging a Best Actor prize at Cannes earlier this year for longtime Almodóvar collaborator Antonio Banderas (Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, The Skin I live In), the film tells the story of an ageing film directro Salvador Mallo (Banderas), struggling with ill health and depression who has to face his past before moving forward.
After a career full of ups and downs, Mallo is in the midst of a destructive creative crisis. Crippled by excruciating back-pain and still mourning the recent passing of his elderly mother, he is given a new lease of life when he learns that one of his earlier films has been selected for an imminent retrospective at a Madrid cinematheque.
To prepare for the retrospective, Salvador takes it upon himself to reconcile with Alberto, the star of his film played by the brilliant Asier Etxeandia. Alberto is a high functioning heroin addict with whom the director fell out and the pair haven't spoken to eachother for almost 30 years. Things take an unexpected turn when Alberto introduces his old friend to the pleasures of heroin and triggers flashbacks of painful memories.
Almodóvar presents an achingly melancholic, detailed and masterfully executed story about love, loss and regret. From a bucolic childhood defined by an early sexual awakening experience, to his fraught relationship with his mother Jacinta (played as a young woman by Penélope Cruz), Mallo is depicted as a man broken by years of unfathomable physical pain and yearning for lost love.
There are moments of heartbreaking tenderness as the director deals with the death of his mother (later played by Julieta Serrano) in a series of almost dream-like vignettes, and moments of euphoric joy and trepidation as he is finally reunited with handsome former lover Federico (Leonardo Sbaraglia).
Aesthetically, Pain and Glory appears to be an amalgamation of the directors own tastes and preferences down to the minor detail. Mallo's apartment is a treasure trove of beautifully intricate period pieces and wonderfully kitsch furniture reminiscent of the director’s earlier output.
Antonio Banderas shines in the role of a lifetime as a man attempting to put whatever remains of his life back together. His ability to capture the essence of Almodovar down to the most inconsequential detail, suggests he was born to play this very role.
