BY: LOUIE LA COMPTE

Spanish director Pedro Almodovar pays tribute to women, actresses, and especially mothers, in his touching 1999 film about strength and identity in the face of tragedy.

After recently seeing "All About My Mother" (1999) on IFC, I have come to the decision that it’s my favorite - and possibly one of the best - films of Pedro Almodovar. 

The plot is completely outrageous but Almodovar plays it straight, and the actresses make it believable with their complete sincerity from start to finish; you just can’t help but truly feel for this woman who has lost her child. You are right there with her every step of the way as she continues down this strange journey. The set up is fairly simple (relatively speaking, that is): a woman loses her son in a freak accident and goes on a search for his father to tell him the son he didn't even know he had has died. Enter transsexual prostitutes, a pregnant nun, and a troubled actress performing "A Streetcar Named Desire." Like I said, outrageous but classic Almodovar. To try to explain it all would take up twice as much space, so I won't even try. Somehow he pulls it all together into a very enjoyable, cohesive whole.

What drives this film forward is its many, varied characters. I should say "actresses" because Almodovar is the new George Cukor when it comes to being the “woman’s director.” Cecilia Roth is my favorite of Almodovar's leading ladies (Cruz a close second). You truly feel for Manuela (Roth) as if she really did just lose her son and is thrown into this journey. She reminds me so much of Maria Bello - I don't know why, but it certainly doesn't hurt any. The strength she displays when everyone she encounters needs her help is powerful, especially knowing what she has gone through in the first fifteen minutes of the film. She becomes the rock for all of these troubled women, holding true to her character's occupation as a nurse.

Penelope Cruz is superb as the nun who finds herself in the family way, a performance that just doesn't translate very well in her English language films. I like to think it's the touch of Almodovar and his ability to draw such a powerful performance from her.

Antonia San Juan, as Agrado, the pre-op transsexual, is simply fantastic, and the most interesting character. She steals every scene she is in. Her scenes at the theatre are particularly hilarious and heartbreaking. (“They call me La Agrado, because I have always tried to make everyone's life more pleasant.”) The speech she gives to the drug addict actress Nina - at the very moment that she is shooting up during a performance, no less - is the voice of experience and endears one to her even more. Nina’s only reaction is to sexualize Agrado, just like the johns that pay her for tricks do on the street. In fact, the man playing the <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Stanley</st1:place></st1:City> role even asks for a sexual favor,  reducing her to just a sex object. Everyone is obsessed with the fact that she has a "cock" (as they so elegantly put it, many times throughout the film); all but the four main characters. The scene when she gives a monolog to an audience-filled theatre expecting to see “A Streetcar Named Desire” is inspired. The show must go on, so Agrado tells them the story of her life. It's like a Shakespearean character turning to the audience to express her plight directly to the viewer.

I love the way art and life are intertwined. Right from the first scene we are exposed to the film's namesake, Joseph L. Mankiewicz’s "All About Eve" (1950), which pays off later in the film. It’s art imitating art ("I started smoking because of Bette Davis"). The famous Tennessee Williams play “A Street Car Named Desire” plays a prominent part in Manuela's life. ("’A Streetcar Named Desire’ has marked my life.") She was playing Stella when she met her future husband, the  father of her son, and she and her son went to see it the night he was tragically killed. It’s interesting to hear the play performed in Spanish, of which you get many opportunities because there are many scenes of the play being performed on the stage.

It’s a celebration of women. It is dedicated to actresses, Bette Davis in particular, women in general, and especially to mothers. It makes you want to give your own mother a big hug just for being your mother.

Louie La Compte has been a Tucson resident for the past 12 years now. As a self-proclaimed cinephile, he screens an average of 6-8 films a week. Since his first viewing of Francois Truffaut's "The 400 Blows," he has been increasingly interested in film and filmmaking. He is currently working on various short film projects. As a bibliophile, he is a frequent patron of Bookmans; just look for the guy in the fedora. You can read more of his random babblings and rants on his LiveJournal.