Review: Pain and Glory ( Dolor y Gloria )
There is something about the story of a boy whose name is a synonym to 'Saviour' ( read Salvatore/ Salvador ), hailing from a remote village with innocence, unaware of all the exoticism of urban life and chasing the only path which connected the both worlds to them - cinema.
It is often an aesthetic experience when a filmmaker tries to tell us the story of the struggles involved in forming an art form or looking back upon their own reflections for inspiration. In a way, it can also be described as an attempt to reconnect with the past and finding the tiny pieces which were left behind as dismissive or too painful to reconnect with, which in turn were the original inspirations or reasons which gave them a story to tell to the world.
In Pedro Almodovar's latest, Pain and Glory ( Dolor y Gloria ), the charismatic master filmmaker brings the canvas for a self reflection inspired by his own journey through Salvador Mallo, played by Antonio Banderas, a filmmaker past his prime and struggling to draw inspiration to work anymore due to the mental block as well as physical ailments. In a way, the physical ailments themselves are a reflection of the pain he carries within himself, unable or having someone to open up to. Slowly, fading away to oblivion, he gets an invitation to be present for a remastered re-release of one of his earlier acclaimed work, Sabor, which he loves and hates to equal measure. The part of hate comes from the belief that the man he chose to play the protagonist in the film, did no justice to what he has created or imagined. It has been 30 years since the premiere of that movie and the same since he last watched or spoke to Alberto Crespo, the leading man of Sabor.
Haunted by creator's block, loneliness and a body which is beginning to give up on him, Salvador sets on a journey down the path of memory lane, as he tries to connect with his own present and past with the modern world and the world he has left behind, meanwhile finding solace in drugs. There are many scenes and lines in the movie which takes us through the childhood of Salvador and his past. Of all of them, the one which touched me the most was when Salvador talks to his long lost love, whom he tried relentlessly to get the person out of the pits of downward spiral of life, only to find out how years later, the roles have drastically reversed. The movie is filled with several of such softly spoken scenes, which brings forth much larger emotions layered beneath them.
This one could possibly be the best of what Antonio Banderas has done in his career and unsurprisingly it comes in a film made in a memoir pattern by a director, with whom he has a very long, very close work relation. There could also be a possibility that, having worked with Almodovar over many years, Banderas did not have to look much further to see what the creator is asking from him or what he means and in many ways it could have worked the other way around too. Then, there is Penelope Cruz too. The ever-beautiful, gifted actress who also has several years of experience working along Almodovar, brings her aura every time she appears on the screen.
In many ways, Almodovar's Pain and Glory is a serene and passionate voyage to the past of every artist, an experience to behold for every cinema lover. Well, we did not expect anything less from a master creator who has given us gems like Volver, Habla con ella, Todo sobre mi Madre etc. and we can add one more to that list of gems we are thankful for!
It is often an aesthetic experience when a filmmaker tries to tell us the story of the struggles involved in forming an art form or looking back upon their own reflections for inspiration. In a way, it can also be described as an attempt to reconnect with the past and finding the tiny pieces which were left behind as dismissive or too painful to reconnect with, which in turn were the original inspirations or reasons which gave them a story to tell to the world.
In Pedro Almodovar's latest, Pain and Glory ( Dolor y Gloria ), the charismatic master filmmaker brings the canvas for a self reflection inspired by his own journey through Salvador Mallo, played by Antonio Banderas, a filmmaker past his prime and struggling to draw inspiration to work anymore due to the mental block as well as physical ailments. In a way, the physical ailments themselves are a reflection of the pain he carries within himself, unable or having someone to open up to. Slowly, fading away to oblivion, he gets an invitation to be present for a remastered re-release of one of his earlier acclaimed work, Sabor, which he loves and hates to equal measure. The part of hate comes from the belief that the man he chose to play the protagonist in the film, did no justice to what he has created or imagined. It has been 30 years since the premiere of that movie and the same since he last watched or spoke to Alberto Crespo, the leading man of Sabor.
Haunted by creator's block, loneliness and a body which is beginning to give up on him, Salvador sets on a journey down the path of memory lane, as he tries to connect with his own present and past with the modern world and the world he has left behind, meanwhile finding solace in drugs. There are many scenes and lines in the movie which takes us through the childhood of Salvador and his past. Of all of them, the one which touched me the most was when Salvador talks to his long lost love, whom he tried relentlessly to get the person out of the pits of downward spiral of life, only to find out how years later, the roles have drastically reversed. The movie is filled with several of such softly spoken scenes, which brings forth much larger emotions layered beneath them.
This one could possibly be the best of what Antonio Banderas has done in his career and unsurprisingly it comes in a film made in a memoir pattern by a director, with whom he has a very long, very close work relation. There could also be a possibility that, having worked with Almodovar over many years, Banderas did not have to look much further to see what the creator is asking from him or what he means and in many ways it could have worked the other way around too. Then, there is Penelope Cruz too. The ever-beautiful, gifted actress who also has several years of experience working along Almodovar, brings her aura every time she appears on the screen.
In many ways, Almodovar's Pain and Glory is a serene and passionate voyage to the past of every artist, an experience to behold for every cinema lover. Well, we did not expect anything less from a master creator who has given us gems like Volver, Habla con ella, Todo sobre mi Madre etc. and we can add one more to that list of gems we are thankful for!
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