Female Film Critics 24/375
The Spanish auteur (“Talk to Her,” “The Skin I Live In”) wisely turned to his frequent collaborator Antonio Banderas to star in his autobiographical drama. Banderas earns his best actor prize from Frances’ Cannes Film Festival – and seems to be a shoo-in for an Oscar nod – with his magnetic turn as Salvador Mallo, celebrated filmmaker plagued with a cavalcade of physical maladies.
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Multi-award winning Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar has impressed audiences, myself included, since the 80s with original, creative, provocative and often humorous narratives. His art direction—often riotously colorful—infuses compositions with dynamic energy. Now, after almost forty years, Almodóvar has made his most personal and deeply moving film, Pain and Glory.
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Working at a film festival always comes with the frustration that you cannot possibly see all the movies you want. I was dying to see The Lighthouse and Waves for instance and could not make it. But from the 23 movies I did manage to see I chose these to highlight.
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That no competitive awards are presented makes Telluride Film Festival a pure celebration of film as the aesthetic treasure it is. The festival’s 46th edition maintained its reputation for outstanding film selection, though more foreign films and more offerings directed by and starring women would have been welcome addition to the roster. Yet, the brilliant and varied program made for a great cinematic experience at Telluride 2019. It’s a good time to be a film lover.
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In Pain and Glory Pedro Almodóvar and Antonio Banderas paint a portrait of a man in crisis through a shared understanding and acceptance of the volatility of human suffering, and how it can often manifest in unexpected ways. With one of the most beautiful twist reveals of any film this year, they remind us just how magical and enduring their professional relationship has been.
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