All About My Mother

Is that all there is? That very well could be your reaction at the end of Todo sobre mi madre, renowned Spanish film director Pedro Almodóvar's latest effort. The film, which opened in late 1999 in the United States as All About My Mother and which won the Academy Award for best foreign-language film, seems upon first watching to be little more than a well-done, stylish soap opera. Like any soap, it is made up of out-of-nowhere tragedies, lies, and improbable coincidences. On the surface that seems to be all there is.
 
 

Indeed, Almodóvar (and he is often referred to by his last name only, even in the opening credits), has packed an incredible amount of character, pathos, and subtle humor into 105 minutes. Todo sobre mi madre has more than its share of quirky characters, but several of them we come to know intimately even if seeing them for a few scenes. Almodóvar has a way of drawing viewers into a story despite its improbabilities.

Todo sobre mi madre tells the story of Manuela, a 40-ish single mother of a teenage son. The boy never knew his father, and we find out throughout the film how the father's absence has affected both the boy and the mother.  A tragedy forces Manuela, played by Cecelia Roth, to leave her home in Madrid and seek the father. The relationships she makes or revives there form the heart of the movie.

As is befitting a soap opera, nobody is what he/she (and that awkward pronoun is apropos for this film) appears to be. People who seem to have life together don't, while some of the most profound reactions come from people who seemingly have let life fall out of control.

At one level, the theme of Todo sobre mi madre is the relationship between the main character's life and the Tennessee Williams play A Streetcar Named Desire (Un tranvía llamado deseo). But in reality it's about the depth of the bond between parent and child. Manuela is who she is because she's a mother, and several other characters are who they are because of the relationships they have (or don't) with their parents or children. Although the film isn't particularly emotionally satisfying to watch, it has a way or evoking emotions days later in a way that most soap operas don't.

Final note to Spanish students: Watch for at least two plays on words that are only partially conveyed by the subtitles. One is an allusion to the title of the film, while the other involves the name of a major character.

Discuss Todo sobre mi madre on the bulletin board
Previous Features