About

Presented in conjunction with the exhibition 'Portrait of Spain: Masterpieces from the Prado' at QAG

'Cinema is an irrational passion. All my cinema is impregnated with cinema. The experience of seeing a film forms part of my biography.' Pedro Almodóvar

Pedro Almodóvar is one of the most celebrated and charismatic figures in contemporary Spanish cinema. For more than 30 years, Almodóvar has created a unique blend of melodrama, suspense, black humour and visceral emotion, writing and directing films that deal with excess, passion and the complexity of family and identity. Central to his films are his fascinations with the disenfranchised, with the roles adopted by women (in particular the figure of the housewife), and exploring the nexus between religion, love and sexuality. Simultaneously flamboyant, humorous and deeply earnest, Almodóvar's films contain some of the most memorable stories and characters in international cinema.

After a provincial upbringing, Almodóvar began his career in the mid-1970s, during the period of Spain's transition to democracy and amid Madrid's vanguard underground cultural movement known as 'La Movida'. His provocative early films and his involvement with punk music and publishing helped to mark his early work with a distinctive sense of personal and social liberation, which carried him on to international acclaim.

This program would not have been possible without the assistance of our Fédération Internationale des Archives du Film partners. Special thanks to National Film and Sound Archive Australia; British Film Institute; Instituto de la cinematografía y de las artes audiovisuales (ICCA) and the Embassy of Spain in Australia. Program curated by José Da Silva, Australian Cinémathèque. Film notes are abridged; sources are indicated.

List of Works

• Pepi, Luci, Bom y otras chicas del montón (Pepi, Luci, Bom and Other Girls Like Mom) 1980
• Laberinto de pasiones (Labyrinth of Passion) 1982
• Entre tinieblas (Dark Habits) 1983
• ¿Qué he hecho yo para merecer esto!! (What Have I Done to Deserve This?) 1984
• Matador 1986
• La ley del deseo (Law of Desire) 1987
• Mujeres al borde de un ataque de nervios (Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown) 1988
• Átame! (Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!) 1990
• Tacones lejanos (High Heels) 1991
• Kika 1993
• La flor de mi secreto (The Flower of my Secret) 1995
• Carne trémula (Live Flesh) 1997
• Todo sobre mi madre (All About My Mother) 1999
• Hable con ella (Talk to Her) 2002
• La mala educación (Bad Education) 2004
• Volver 2006
• Los abrazos rotos (Broken Embraces) 2009
• La piel que habito (The Skin I Live In) 2011