Pedro Almodolovar is certainly an accomplished film-maker, in many respects: his movies look good and invariably contain interesting elements of plot. Yet for such an acclaimed director, I'm often surprised that when I see his movies, I see elements that I might consider amateurish, with stories that often feel like hastily assembled collections of scenes rather than an integrated whole. 'All About My Mother' displays this fault strikingly. Probably intentionally (because the film is in part a homage to the theatre), the story consists of separate acts, each one filling us in on what has happened since we last met the characters: and while drama occurring off-stage is a staple necessity of the live play, it seems weird in a film. Also, we are introduced to a long succession of characters, and it's hard to care about each, especially as certain key details are never explained (a nun is seduced by a transvestite, for example, but no-one seems to regard this is particularly odd). While I enjoyed the beginning of the movie (when I still had hope of a dramatic resolution), it seemed to lose focus as it went on, and it's final cut - to a rather strange, melodramatic dedicated presumably expressed by Amoldovar himself - leaves everything unresolved (although on reflection, the resolution has probably already happened, it's just that it does so undramatically so you don't even identify the pivotal scenes as you watch them). This film won plaudits, but it left me flat - and not knowing exactly what I was supposed to feel.
Review of All About My Mother
