Living amongst daughters, sisters, mothers-in-law, aunts, neighbors – and, yes, sons and husbands – Almodóvar positions them as the pillars of their communities, the load-bearing wall that keeps the roof over everyone’s heads. Strikingly feminist with an emphasis on the superhuman virtues of intergenerational sisterhood, What Have I Done To Deserve This? and Volver display two working women hustling on the verge with no time for a nervous breakdown.ĭespite their household settings – and Almodóvar’s instantly iconic leer down Cruz’s top while she sponges a knife – these women are less kitchen sink than carbon sink: they absorb the joy, sorrow, and secrets of all who surround them. While their inattentive lazybones husbands bark orders from the couch and fail to see the strength beyond their busts – no matter, as they’ll soon both be dead– Gloria and Raimunda are the breadwinners, juggling odd jobs and managing the affairs of family and friends to simply keep the lights on. Both domestic dramas with a hint of the supernatural, they showcase a pair of imperfect pragmatists – respectively, Gloria (Carmen Maura) and Raimunda (Penelope Cruz) – caught in the crucible of their everyday lives with no signs of slowing down, spinning an interminable amount of plates only to wash them straight after so they can serve their families dinner on time. Women hold the universe together according to the peacock-feathered films of Pedro Almodóvar, and never more earthily or elegant than in his mirrored portraits of multitasking matriarchs putting out the fires of the men around them: 1984’s What Have I Done To Deserve This? and 2006’s Volver.
We're celebrating Almodóvar each day as we count down to Cannes 2017.