All About My Mother

Director- Pedro Almodovar

Cast- Cecilia Roth, Marisa Paredes

Country of Origin- Spain

Distributor - Criterion

Number of Discs - 1

Reviewed by - Scott MacDonald

Date- 02/03/2020

     When I took film classes with Del Jacob's at the State College of Florida in the early 2000's there were predictably film posters all over his screening/classroom. I remember from the earliest days taking notes of these posters which included films from Max Ophuls, Bicycle Thieves, and Pedro Almodovar's All About My Mother.  I tried to borrow as many of these titles from the class (and many others) from the class library as possible, but I distinctly remember All About My Mother's melodramatic power slowly working it's way on me over the course of the film.

   I remember thinking how much worse can this get (for the characters)? Before becoming fully invested in the drama, and story and even shedding a tear by the end. I quickly followed my screening with other Almodovar films like Bad Education, Law of Desire, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, and an early favorite Dark Habit, but through all those years, and all those films All About My Mother stood out.

    The film stars Cecilia Roth as Manuela a woman whose son wishes to celebrate his 18th birthday by seeing a live performance of a Streetcar Named Desire  starring Huma Rojo (Marisa Parades).  After the performance he tries to get her autograph, but dies getting hit by a car crossing the street.  Going through his journals Manuela finds that his greatest wish was to meet his Father, whom he never knew. Even though it was his living wish, Manuela goes to Barcelona from her home in Madrid to carry it out.  The boy's father it turns out is an outlaw transsexual prostitute named Lola, and he has recently impregnated another woman Sister Rosa, a nun.  The film brings the trio together around another performance by Huma Rojo's Streetcar Named Desire now in Barcelona, and the events around it.

    The film's title is a homage to the classic Hollywood drama All About Eve, and like that film this is less a film about story (though there is one), and more a film about characters.  The characters of Manuela, Lola, Rosa, and Huma develop as the tragedy of life unfolds around them, in unexpected ways.  The performances across the board are truly powerful, and truly fantastic. The direction by Almodovar is stylish, well-paced, and truly wonderful.

    Criterion presents All About My Mother in a 2:35:1 1080p AVC encoded transfer preserving the OAR of the film. Everything here looks amazing, colors pop, detail is excellent, I could detect no obvious issues. Audio is included with a DTS-HD 5.1 track that comes across clear with no issues.  Extras include  a making of documentary, a 1999 TV episode on the film, a Q&A from 2019 on the film, and so much more. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.