Pedro Almodovar during the Movida Era?

11/2/2010

What influence do you think Almodovar had during the Movida Era, Post-Franco? Do you currently and did you like him? Do you think he contributed to the Spanish transition of freedom and liberal thinking? I would love to know your opinions and thoughts...

22 Comments

Sandra - 42yrs Female - British

11/30/2010 12:19:38 am

I think your website is fantastic! I have been searching for a website that sums up and explores the genius that is Almodovar. I am British but my grandparents are Spanish. I lived in Spain when I was younger and I am very familiar with everything that went on in the post-Franco era, I was one of the rebellious teenagers in this time period! Almodovar definitely contributed to Spanish culture, I remember a few of my friends copying some of the fashion of some of the female stars in his films like Victoria Abril. My favourite film is Pepi, Luci, Bom y otras chicas because I believe it was his first film launch his career and we learn so much about the newfound freedom that you talk about in your question. What is your favourite film Anna? What did you think of Pepi, Luci Bom? And was it just pure interest that inspired you to create this website? Keep up the good work!

John - 24 - United States of America - California

1/10/2011 02:12:12 am

Hi Anna,

While Almodovar does produce popular films in the Spanish language, I feel that his themes and content have been adapted to suit Hollywood audiences and so it takes away from the Spanish cultural status. I do not agree that he influenced a nation's culture with his films - it is impossible for a film director to do so. Perhaps film viewers appreciated seeing film actors engaging in rebellious activites as well as them, however he was not in my eyes a major film 'hero'. He did not contribute to the amount of liberalness in society because people were doing these activites ad behaving this way anyway.

Laura 40 UK

1/11/2011 04:52:16 am

Being a huge fan of Almodovar I would have to say that he obviously been a great influence on Spanish liberal thinking. People engaged in his films, took their ideas and this is why his films have become so internationally recognised. Yes it would have happened anyway but not to the extent. It set in stone the transition that happened after Franco died.

Georgia Harris - 45 UK

1/13/2011 08:30:29 pm

Hi Anna, found your website posted on the amazon forum, it's very professional!
I have Spanish parents but lived in the Uk all my life. I find that all the aesthethics Almodovar uses in his films, from the music, melodrama, sexual content, humour were highly iconoclastic of the Movida era. I went on holiday to Spain at the time when 'Pepi, Luci, bom y otras chicas' came out and it was a huge taboo film - I remember my mother telling me about a certain Almodovar that existed at that time who was showing naughty things on screen! She did not approve as many older Spanish people didn't, it was more the younger generation that engaged with his films. Your clip on the film page sums it up perfectly. Even though I am now in the UK Almodovar is still a huge figure of Spanish cinema for many of the British...after all it is his face that we see in the press whenever Spanish cinema is talked about!

Eliot - 23 United states University of Washington

1/19/2011 01:52:14 am

Almodovar is a legend, he has changed Spain in so many ways. Before he came around cinema was scarce in Spain, the attitudes that came about were there because Almodovar contributed to them being there. Daily life in the modern society we live in has become accustomed to young people generally following the activities of movie stars and famous people. The stars Almodovar put in his films weren't famous until he made them famous - so not only is he a legend in this respect but he has also changed the lives of so many film stars and their viewers. On a different note I remember visiting Europe a few years back and seeing Talk to Her advertised everywhere, it's a sick film. Liking your site Miss Guglielmi

Gertrude, 24 yrs old - University of Washington

1/29/2011 07:34:32 pm

I don't think it is possible for one man, especially a film director that is completley unrelated to the government and politics, to have changed the culture of a country after such a huge revelation. The country was already engaging in the types of taboo activities that he showed on screen - he simply encouraged it.

On a different note I absolutely adore the music that comes on automatically on your pages. I have been trying to find some of the music in Almodovar's older films and I was so happy when I heard it come on. 'Resistere' by Duo Dinamico is a brilliant one for your homepage...it sets the atmosphere really well! Any chance you could send me the music files by email?

Kim - University of Washington

2/15/2011 01:14:01 am

Pedro Almodovar did not have a direct influence on people during this people. Sure he helped portray political and cultural views on the screen but they were only there because the people revolted after Franco died.

Tanya - California 30

2/15/2011 01:55:01 am

I liked Pepi, Luci, Bom y otras chicas...it marked the transition of Spanish life under Franco's control and the newfound freedom that was acquired after he died. The parts in the film I liked most are those that i mentioned on the 'films' page - the penis size competition and the urinal scene (i saw the clip on this page). These were extremely controversial elements and there is a strong correlation between the sexual and the political in this film.

Clarissa 29 New Orleans

2/15/2011 02:01:35 am

I really don't think that Almodovar was capable of changing the mind-set of Spanish people and least of all foreign people. People love his movies because they are daring and exploit what Franco was so against during his dictatorship in Spain. 'All about my mother' is a prime example where there is a strong sense of sexual ambiguity. However he is only a film director, he is not capable of having that much of an influence on a whole nation's way of thinking.

Nancy 25 University of Washington

2/15/2011 02:07:27 am

I disagree with Clarissa's comment. There was an everlying notion of cultural radicalism produced in all of Pedro Almodovar's films. Every film that he produces demonstrates this and I think it is 100% possible to say that a film director has an influence on a nation's way of thinking. Cinema is ever so powerful sometimes, especially in a context where there has just been a political outcry;it suggests things about the country. Is this happening in my country? Are people like that? Could I identify myself with that actor and be like that? When Franco died, it was the end of Francoism and everyone had something to say about Almodovar's reaction to it, the good and the bad.

Eliot - University of Washington

2/18/2011 12:19:36 am

Almodovar is a legend, he has changed Spain in so many ways. Before he came around cinema was scarce in Spain, the attitudes that came about were there because Almodovar contributed to them being there. The roles the stars have been given have been so challenging and most fans are awestruck by seeing their reactions to unfamiliar situations. In Almodovar’s films we see consistently a component of this new society by these stars giving in to their desires as well as suffer the outcome of them. ‘Talk to her’ conveys this notion of desire with Benigno giving in to his obsession with Alicia and raping her while she is in a coma. Almodovar transports us into situations that are fascinating because they do not happen every day. Benigno gets sent to jail and Alicia gives birth to a still baby showing that even in a transformed society, justice will be done.

Sandra - 42yrs Female – British

2/18/2011 02:21:17 am

I lived in Spain when I was younger and I am very familiar with everything that went on in the post-Franco era, I was one of the rebellious teenagers in this time period! Almodovar captures extremely well the new mentality in Spanish culture of people letting themselves get carried away with their desires and the great lengths people go to get them, but they end up being doomed to failure – in ‘Broken Embraces’ Cruz rebels against her boyfriend to be with her lover, but she ends up dying in a car crash and her lover goes blind. It is a typical example of the way in which Almodovar portrays this concept.

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sougat paul

6/29/2011 07:21:16 pm

i am 30 & i am an india. i discovered his movies quite late bit i am happy in a way because i think the age has given me the maturity to understand the beauty of his movies. his suttle underplay of charecters & complex relationships is somthin which lingers with me for a long time after watching his movies.
i find spanish movies quite relevent to our culure as well which makes it so close to my heart.
i am a fashion designer by profession. i would love to capture his essence and represent his beauty through my next collection.

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Iisidoro

8/12/2013 06:27:15 am

Ii just finished a little novel to edte in in few months. It´s film will be for him,Pedó Almodóvar. I want to contact to him. I can from Tenerife and I´m spanish.

isidoro

8/12/2013 07:13:19 am

Ii just finished a little novel to edte in in few months. It´s film will be for him,Pedó Almodóvar. I want to contact to him. I can from Tenerife and I´m spanish.

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Pedro Almodovar during the Movida Era?

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