Todo Sobre Mi Madre (All About My Mother) - review

Pedro Almodóvar is a director who finds women fascinating. This might explain why almost all the men in this movie (and there aren't many) wear wigs and makeup and have artificial breasts. The story is about a woman, Manuela, who loses her son and goes back into the world of her past to tell this tragic news to the boy's father, who never even knew he existed. She reacquaints herself with prostitutes, transsexual men and flamboyant actors. And she finds some semblance of her past self in a young woman (the very beautiful Penelope Cruz), impregnated and infected (literally) by the same man who made Manuela pregnant. With references to "A Streetcar Named Desire" and the movie "All About Eve", this movie is in many ways reminiscent of a play. It is also a movie that lets you get into it easily if you let it. It isn't hard to feel sympathy for these people, strange as they are. There is a warmth here that is very deliberate and sophisticated. I recommend it to everyone.