JULIETA
space
Always fond of grand melodrama, Pedro Almodóvar (All About My Mother) has delivered a stylishly bewitching tale of personal grief and misery that is unsettling and entertaining, if also a little frustrating.
Always fond of grand melodrama, Pedro Almodóvar (All About My Mother) has delivered a stylishly bewitching tale of personal grief and misery that is unsettling and entertaining, if also a little frustrating.
space
space
On the eve of leaving Madrid with her boyfriend, 50-something Julieta suddenly cancels her plans on an unlikely whim: she hears from an old friend about her estranged daughter. Nothing more, no address or news, no plans nor intentions. But it’s enough to keep her in the city and send Lorenzo packing. Flashback a number of decades and young Julieta meets her future husband on a train journey under unusual circumstances. They have sex, they fall in love, they have a child, they move, they marry, they part, Julieta returns to Madrid and then, most unexpectedly, her teenage daughter vanishes.
Staged with the kind of élan only Almodóvar can muster, this effortlessly beautiful film is a treat to watch. Charismatic performances from both Adriana Ugarte and Emma Suárez as Julieta young and old are the heart of the film as their character turns from hopeful to haunted, a once optimistic woman whose life has been punctured by grief and loss, not once but twice. It’s not a cheerful account and there’s no pause for humour as the story takes form and slides toward an uncomfortable conclusion (although the formidable Almodovar favourite Rossy De Palma, channelling Mrs Danvers as Julieta’s challenging house-keeper, comes close to levity).
Julieta is a down the line, melodramatic study of pain from which Almodóvar is not willing to veer: frustrating for some, uncomplicated for others. In all regards, this is a visual treat that with above par performances and an enigmatic score by long time collaborator Alberto Iglesias makes a most beguiling package. Julieta isn’t Almodóvar’s best work, it’s a little one-note for that, but after the sensational misstep of 2013’s I’m So Excited, it’s great to see Spain’s favourite son more or less back on form.
// COLIN FRASER
Previewed at the Dendy Opera Quays, Sydney, on 14 October 2016.
Staged with the kind of élan only Almodóvar can muster, this effortlessly beautiful film is a treat to watch. Charismatic performances from both Adriana Ugarte and Emma Suárez as Julieta young and old are the heart of the film as their character turns from hopeful to haunted, a once optimistic woman whose life has been punctured by grief and loss, not once but twice. It’s not a cheerful account and there’s no pause for humour as the story takes form and slides toward an uncomfortable conclusion (although the formidable Almodovar favourite Rossy De Palma, channelling Mrs Danvers as Julieta’s challenging house-keeper, comes close to levity).
Julieta is a down the line, melodramatic study of pain from which Almodóvar is not willing to veer: frustrating for some, uncomplicated for others. In all regards, this is a visual treat that with above par performances and an enigmatic score by long time collaborator Alberto Iglesias makes a most beguiling package. Julieta isn’t Almodóvar’s best work, it’s a little one-note for that, but after the sensational misstep of 2013’s I’m So Excited, it’s great to see Spain’s favourite son more or less back on form.
// COLIN FRASER
Previewed at the Dendy Opera Quays, Sydney, on 14 October 2016.
space
space
STARRING
Adriana Ugarte
Emma Suárez
Daniel Grao
Darío Grandinetti
DIRECTOR
Pedro Almodóvar
SCREENWRITER
Pedro Almodóvar
COUNTRY
Spain (subtitles)
CLASSIFICATION
M
RUNTIME
100 minutes
AUSTRALIAN
RELEASE DATE
October 13, 2016
Adriana Ugarte
Emma Suárez
Daniel Grao
Darío Grandinetti
DIRECTOR
Pedro Almodóvar
SCREENWRITER
Pedro Almodóvar
COUNTRY
Spain (subtitles)
CLASSIFICATION
M
RUNTIME
100 minutes
AUSTRALIAN
RELEASE DATE
October 13, 2016
space
space
