Almodovar, Pedro

Born in the city of Calzada de Calatrava (province of Ciudad Real , Castile-La Mancha ). At 8, he moved with his family to Extremadura , where he attended first the Salesian , and then the Franciscan schools.

At 16, alone, without family and money, he moved to Madrid . Having changed many places of work, he settled for 12 years at Telefonika. At the same time he became a member of the theater group "Los Goliardos". He played small roles in a professional theater, where he met Carmen Maura . Together with Fabio McNamara he organizes a musical group in the style of parody punk - glam - rock . He writes short stories that are periodically published in collective collections (The Dream of Reason).

In 1980, he shot his first full-length film " Pepi, Lucy, Bom and the rest of the girls ." The start of this project was Almodovar's photonovel, Frequent Erections (Erecciones generales), commissioned by El Víbora magazine. The film was shot over a year, only on weekends. The money, in the amount of half a million pesetas, was found by Felix Rotaeta , another member of the Los Goliardos group, and Carmen Maura , the equipment was borrowed. However, the lack of funds turned into freedom of action. The film immediately became a cult among independent circles and among visitors to the Alphaville cinema chain, where it went on at night sessions for 4 years.

The first major success came to Almodovar after the film “ What am I for? ". This is how the New York Times commented on this picture: “A wonderful black comedy. Just a little masterpiece. ”

In 1985, together with his brother, Agustin Almodovar, he created the production company El Deseo, which began its work with the release in 1986 of the movie Pedro Almodovar's Law of Desire. El Deseo later released projects by directors such as Alex de la Iglesia , Guillermo del Toro , Daniel Calparsoro , Monica Laguna , Isabelle Coishet , as well as a duet consisting of Dunya Ayaso and Felix Sabroso .

Eccentric comedy “ Women on the verge of a nervous breakdown ” brought world recognition to Almodovar. She received about fifty national prizes, the first European Felix prize and was nominated for an Oscar . A series of bright, “reckless” comedies of the post-Franco liberation period, known as movida , was followed by more restrained pictures of the 1990s, in which Almodovar mastered a more mature, less shocking theme. With his melodramas, he is trying to develop the traditions of idols - Fassbinder , John Steel and Douglas Sirk .

The result of these searches was the film “ All About My Mother ” (1999), where the director enters into universal human themes from the labyrinth of exotic passions, this time leaving his heroes a chance for reconciliation and gaining. With this film, which received dozens of national awards and an Oscar for the best film in a foreign language, Almodovar began his second heyday. All four films released in 1999-2006 were recognized as world cinema masterpieces. In 2002, the film “ Talk to Her ” brought Almodovar an Oscar for the best screenplay.

The triumph of Almodovar is accompanied by an aggravation of relations with the Film Academy of Spain , which did not nominate a “Talk to Her” for the Oscar in the nomination “ Best Foreign Film ”. In 2005, when Almodovar’s next film, Bad Education, did not receive any Goya awards, he and his brother announced his withdrawal from the academy, explaining this by disagreeing with the voting system that did not allow him to win the nomination with a small number of votes "behind".

In June 2019, the Directorate of the Venice Film Festival decided to present the honorary award “Golden Lion of St. Mark” to Almodovar ^[2] .

In the films of Almodovar, especially the early ones, the life of transvestites and marginals is presented; they are full of shocking characters and, nevertheless, Almodovar’s cinema goes far beyond the genre of “gay” cinema. Particularly interested in his work with female characters:

The world of Almodovar’s films is a world of women who are free, attractive, and decisive, whether they are nuns, housewives, or famous singers. The director in numerous interviews admits that he is experiencing hellish torments, creating male characters. Rejecting the obsolete movie star system, in his opinion, the director creates his own, presenting with equal success on the screen and at receptions a whole brood of exotic actors and actresses, whose entire subsequent career inevitably bears the imprint of working with Almodovar ^[3] .

The work of Almodovar is closely connected with the national mentality of the Spaniards. The influence of baroque , poetics of esperpento is noted , especially the Valle Inclan Theater and Bunuel films. Typical Spanish features include, in particular, the combination of the tragic and farcical principles ^[4] . The raging colors on the screen are also conveyed by the juicy colors that have become an element of Almodovar's corporate identity:

Almodovar became the cultural hero of Spain, the creator of her new post-modern image. In this image, the key role is played by advertising design using bright, “chemical” colors - yellow, blue, raspberry; close-ups of such erotic fragments of the human body as eyes, feet, fingers with painted nails and, of course, lips, which in Almodovar’s films can be found countless - capricious, lusting, contemptuous, promising, invocative. In sharp compositions with them, with a slight shade of syur, inanimate objects appear - cut flowers, scissors, rings, black glasses, leather dresses, lipstick cylinders and high-heeled shoes.

- Andrey Plakhov ^[1]

Almodovar is gay ^[5] . Since 2002, he has been in a relationship with actor and photographer Fernando Iglesias ^[6] .

Director

Producer

• Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
• Prize of the Princess of Asturias for achievements in art (2006)
• Honorary Doctor of the University of Oxford (2016).

Rewards

Pedro Almodovar received many different film awards, the most prestigious of them are listed here.

Two Oscars :

• 1999 - Best Foreign Film (“All About My Mother”)
• 2003 - Best Screenplay (Talk to Her)

Two Cannes Film Festival Awards :

• 1999 - Best Director (“All About My Mother”)
• 2006 - Best Screenplay ("The Return")

“ Felix Award (Euroscar”) :

• 1988 - Best film in the category of young beginner directors ("Women on the verge of a nervous breakdown")

Two Golden Globes :

• 1999 - Best Foreign Film (“All About My Mother”)
• 2003 - Best Foreign Film (“Talk to Her”)

Four Goya Prizes:

• 1988 - Best film ("Women on the verge of a nervous breakdown")
• 1988 - Best Original Screenplay (Women on the Edge of a Nervous Breakdown)
• 1999 - Best film ("All About My Mother")
• 1999 - Best Director (“All About My Mother”)

• Frederick Strauss. Pedro Almodovar. Interview./Perev. Marusi Klimova , St. Petersburg: ABC classic, 2007 - ISBN 978-5-91181-523-3
• Almodovar P. Patti Difus and other stories. SPb., Alphabet, 2005.

• Official website of Pedro Almodovar
• Interview with Pedro Almodovar. Thanks to the dictator!
• Articles about Pedro Almodovar on the website of the magazine "Session"
• A review article on the early stage of Pedro Almodovar’s work at Cinematheque
• Audio. Anton Dolin about the films of Pedro Almodovar