Viva Pedro

Background:

“I don't get involved with my actors. I don't get so involved with the films. If I lived like my characters, I would have been dead before I made 16 films.” Pedro Almodóvar

Oscar-winning filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar, the most internationally popular and important Spanish director since Luis Bunuel, garnered rave reviews for his acclaimed films All About My Mother (1999) and Talk to Her (2002). He is also the brain behind such films as Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (1988), Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! (1990), Bad Education (2004) and Volver (2006).

The openly gay, celebrated auteur, who often uses symbolism and metaphorical techniques to portray circular storylines and often portrays strong female characters and transsexuals in his films, recently released Viva Pedro, a theatrical re-release of eight of his greatest films.

"All my movies have an autobiographical dimension, but that is indirectly, through the personages. In fact, I am behind everything that happens and that is said, but I am never talking about myself in first person singular. Something in me, probably a dislike of cheap exhibitionism, stops me from approaching a project too autobiographically." Pedro Almodóvar


Bad Education

Childhood and Family:

In the small town of Calzada de Calatrava in the impoverished Spanish region of Ciudad Real, Castilla-La Mancha, Pedro Almodóvar Caballero was born on September 24, 1949, to a humble family. His mother, actress Francisca Caballero, and his younger brother, actor and producer Agustin Almodóvar (head of the Almodóvar brothers’ production company El Deseo), often appear as cameos in his films. Francisca, who appeared in Almodóvar’s Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown and Atame! (a.k.a. Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!), died in September 1999.

When he was eight years old, Almodóvar migrated with his family to Cáceres in Extremadura, another Spanish province. In the 1960s, he attended a Catholic boarding school run by Salesian Fathers and Franciscan Friars, where some of his friends were abused. Almodóvar, who says he was not abused, later used his experience as the inspiration for his film Bad Education (2004; a.k.a. La mala educación).

“I do remember having extreme physical fear of the priests. One of the things we had to do was kiss the priest's hand, which I found revolting. The notorious abuser, who eventually had to leave, had this harem of about 20 boys.” Pedro Almodovar


Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!

Career:

"Already, when I was very young, I was a fabulador. I loved to give my own version of stories that everybody already knew. When I got out of a movie with my sisters, I retold them the whole story. In general they liked my version better than the one they had seen." Pedro Almodóvar

17-year-old Pedro Almodóvar arrived in Madrid, where he made a living selling used items in a flea-market called El Rastro. The aspiring filmmaker initially wanted to study filmmaking but could not afford it. Besides, the filmmaking schools were shut down in the early 1970s by Franco's government. Pedro later worked at the National Spanish Telephone Company Telefónica, where he worked for twelve years as an administrative employee. He saved his salary to buy a Super 8 camera and began making numerous short super-8 films with the help of his friends. His first short film was shot in 1974 and was called Dos Putas, o Historia de Amor que Termina en Boda (a.k.a. Two Whores, or a Love Story Which Ends in Marriage).

During that time, Almodóvar devoted his time acting with the theater group Los Goliardos, where he met Carmen Maura and Antonio Banderas. He also wrote comic strips and articles for various underground Spanish magazines like Star, Vibora, and Vibraciones, and was the lead singer for the infamous punk-glam-rock parody duo Almodóvar & McNamara (with Fabio McNamara).

In 1980, Almodóvar’s first mainstream feature, Pepi, Luci, Bom y otras chicas del montón (a.k.a. Pepi, Luci, Bom and Other Girls on the Heap), was made into 16 mm and blown-up to 35 mm for public release. He wrote the initial script of the film in 1978, when he worked for Telefónica. It is inspired by the punk film Bom ("Alaska") which follows three girls, Pepi (Carmen Maura), Luci (Eva Siva) and Bom (Olvido Gara) during the punk era. Almodóvar’s first commercial film was eventually regarded as a document of La movida, the post-Franco punk scene that developed in Madrid.

Following his first success, Almodóvar retired from Telefónica to direct, compose and perform the score for his next film, Labyrinth of Passions (1982; a.k.a. Laberinto de pasiones), a melodrama/comedy starring Cecilia Roth and Antonio Banderas. Later that year, he attracted attention outside of Spain for the first time with his third feature, the dark comedy Dark Habits (a.k.a. Entre tinieblas). He also made his first international hit with the 1984 drama comedy What Have I Done To Deserve This (a.k.a. ¿Qué he hecho yo para merecer ésto?).

After forming the production company El Deseo with brother Agustin in 1985, Almodóvar created the thriller-drama Matador (1986; starring Antonio Banderas and Assumpta Serna) and drew criticism for depicting unprotected gay sex in his first explicitly gay film, Law of Desire (1987; a.k.a. La ley del deseo; starring Banderas and Maura). He also made his biggest US success with the 1988’s comedy Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (a.k.a. Mujeres al borde de un ataque de nervios). The film, which again stars Banderas and Maura, brought Almodóvar widespread international attention. It was nominated for the 1989 Academy Award for Best Foreign-language film and won five Goya Awards, including one Best Film and Best Actress in a Leading Role for Maura.

Entering the new decade, Almodóvar made his fifth and last collaboration to date with Banderas in his offbeat Spanish drama Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! (1990; a.k.a. ¡Átame!). He then directed Marisa Paredes and Victoria Abril in the family drama High Heels (1991; a.k.a. Tacones lejanos) and cast Verónica Forqué to play the title role in the drama comedy Kika (1993). He also appeared in the documentary charting Madonna's world tour, "Truth of Dare," in 1991 and became a member of the jury at the Cannes Film Festival in 1992.

In the mid 1990s, Almodóvar departed from his typically comedic story lines for The Flowers of My Secret (a.k.a. La flor de mi secreto; starring Marisa Paredes). The film, which grossed $1 million in the USA, earned Almodóvar and Paredes nominations for Goya awards. In 1998, Almodóvar revealed a continued attraction for the austere and sober narratives with the crime drama Live Flesh (a.k.a. Carne trémula), which was very loosely adapted from Ruth Rendell’s book with the same name. The film, starring Javier Bardem and Francesca Neri, won a 1998 Goya Award for Best Supporting Actor (José Sancho).

1999 saw Almodóvar with his finest and most mature film to date, All About My Mother (a.k.a. Todo sobre mi madre). It won the 1999 Academy Award for Best Foreign-language Film and seven Goya Awards, including Best Film, Best Director and Best Actress in a Leading Role for Cecilia Roth. The film was also named by Richard Schickel of Time Magazine, among other critics, as the best of the year. Almodóvar then followed it up with another acclaimed project, the romantic drama comedy Talk To Her (2002; a.k.a. Hable con ella). The film, starring Javier Cámara, Darío Grandinetti, Leonor Watling, and Rosario Flores, won the 2002 Academy Award for Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen and the 2003 Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

"The education we received was about guilt, sin, punishment." Pedro Almodóvar (on his experience in a Catholic boarding school which he based his film Bad Education on)

In 2004, Pedro released the movie Bad Education ((a.k.a. La mala educación). The film opened at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival. It earned Almodóvar an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Foreign Film.

“Bad Education (2004) deals with my own biography. It took time to remove myself from it. Now it's not me. I changed the tone of the story, but the main situation is the same.” Pedro Almodóvar

Almodóvar’s latest project was the bitter-sweet comedy Volver (2006), starring Penelope Cruz, Carmen Maura and Lola Duenas. The film, which competed for the Palme d'Or at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival, received rave reviews and gathered a standing ovation when it won two awards: Best Actress (shared by the six main actresses) and Best Screenplay.

More recently, Sony Pictures Classics presented Viva Pedro, the theatrical re-release of eight of Almodóvar’s greatest films. It opened in New York and Los Angeles in 2006.

“Cinema has become my life. I don't mean a parallel world, I mean my life itself. I sometimes have the impression that the daily reality is simply there to provide material for my next film.” Pedro Almodóvar


Awards:

- BAFTA: Best Foreign Film, Talk to Her, 2003
- BAFTA: Best Original Screenplay, Talk to Her, 2003
- Oscar: Best Original Screenplay, Talk to Her, 2003
- Golden Globe: Best Foreign Film, All About My Mother, 2000
- BAFTA: Best Foreign Film, All About My Mother, 2000
- Oscar: Best Foreign Film, All About My Mother, 2000
- Cannes Film Festival: Best Director, All About My Mother, 1999
- Venice Film Festival: Best Screenplay, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, 1988