"All about My Mother"

After a long delay, I am finally back to report on the movies I've been watching recently.

From my favorite Almodovar series, I watched Todo Sobre Mi Madre (1999) which, to me, was even more fascinating than all the other movies I have been watching by him. This movie is about mothers (as I had correctly predicted even before knowing about this movie, Almodovar is focused on the exploration of this theme: how mothers are related to their offsprings and vice versa). The two mothers here become connected to eachother through their love for a man both used to know: the father of their children. Here, in contrast to Hable con Ella, two women become true friends through their relationship with one man. Again, the apparently absent link is always there, and eventually reappears at the final sequences of the movie.

One of these two women has lost her son right on his birthday night, and the child of other woman loses her mother right after her birth. The story, typically Almodovarian, is about loss, and a hope to regain what is destined to be lost. The subplot of Huma and Nina as lovers, Huma almost always disappointed with Nina, is also about loss and a possibility to regain: Huma goes through all the fluctuations expected in her relationship with Nina to finally find relevant peace without her. The references to other theatrical works (A Street Car Named Desire) and Huma as acting perfectly on the stage also is in contrast to Huma's inability to carry on her real-life role as a woman. She has a messed up relationship with Nina and in ways is unable to free herself. This movie, can be also viewed as a movie about liberation and catharsis. Either way, it is a great movie to watch.