All About My Mother (1999)

Thanks for the memories!

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

This movie is hard to rate as I have very mixed feelings about it.I definitely give it points for being very artistic and original. There are great colors in the setting, all the interweaving of Streetcar Named Desire and the story itself is very unusual so it is also not predictable.But amazingly with this unpredictable story the movie that came out was so boring. I didn't really feel for these characters. Only for Manuela at first when her son dies and she deals with it by going to find the father, who is a cross dresser. Yet I don't get why she did it. I understand she would do it when her son is alive to show him that half that is missing from his life no matter how ugly it is. But Lola didn't deserve the satisfaction. The character is absolutely despicable. The rest are also not that great. Rosa is boring and I feel bad for her mother. Agrado is supposed to make me smile but I dislike this character as well.

Almodóvar is famous for repeatedly and warm-heartedly depicting women, men, transgenders and homosexuals without caring much about taboos.In "All About My Mother," he does this again, with well-written dialogues, portraying people with universal problems of love, loss, sickness and death. Like few other male writers and directors, he seems able to grasp and convey the sentiments and situations of persons that, in different ways, live in the shadow of the patriarchy.

A single mother, Manuela, raises her son Esteban for 17 years. On his 17th birthday, he is hit by a car while trying to get the autograph of a famous theatre actress. In his diary, Manuela finds out that on his birthday, Esteban expressed his wish to know who his father was, regardless of what kind of person he is.And so begins Manuela's journey from Madrid to Barcelona to find the father of her child, a transvestite, who never knew he had a son in the first place. "Todos sobre mi madre" is a beautiful Spanish language film, that at first glance seems like a completely random and superficial spotlight. But if you look beneath the surface, this movie examines issues about religion, morality, gender identity and even awareness of trans-gender issues. All complex and intricate topics to explore interwoven into the simple story of a woman trying to connect with her past. There are tears, there is laughter but nothing is over-emphasized over the other. You are both happy and sad while watching this film, but there is no imbalance of emotion towards one or the other. Intriguing and original for its time.

First I must say "Curses Netflix!". It isn't that I don't love the service, but my DVD got stuck with four minutes to go in the film and I could not get this disk to play that portion--so I finally just read it on website. So, this is a rare case when I did not see all the film...just 98%. Curses...I must first point out that this is NOT a film to watch with your mother or priest. It is jam-packed full of morally ambiguous people and situations that are bound to offend. This is NOT surprising, as director Almondovar seems to LOVE to offend or at least challenge the viewer--and this is a frequent theme in his films. It covers topics like AIDS, transvestite prostitution, drug abuse, nuns getting pregnant and codependency. This is NOT a film for the faint-hearted!! HOWEVER, despite a bizarre plot that I won't even try to summarize, I must also point out that this is among the best-acted films I have ever seen...period. The film sure packs an emotional wallop as well and leaves the viewer marveling at the cast and the expert direction. A must-see for anyone wanting to see great acting...simply great.