Advertisement

Movies & TV TIFF 2019

TIFF review: Pain And Glory

PAIN AND GLORY SPEC D: Pedro Almodóvar. Spain. 113 min. Sep 6, 5:30 pm, Ryerson Sep 7, 2:45 pm, Scotiabank 1. Rating: NNNNN


When a cinematheque in Madrid asks Salvador Mallo (Antonio Banderas), an aging filmmaker experiencing creative block, to attend a screening of one of his classic films, he notes that he originally hated the lead performance by actor Alberto (Asier Etxeandia) and stopped speaking to him. But time has changed how he views the past.

Billed as the third film in a semi-autobiographical trilogy (along with Law Of Desire and Bad Education), Pain And Glory finds Almodóvar looking back to move forward.

It’s got all the vivid colour and considered composition for which the Spanish cinema titan is known, but the film isn’t powered by plot. There’s something freeing about the way he allows Salvador, who suffers from body pains that he quells by smoking heroin, to drift through experiences and memories. He remembers his childhood with his mother (Penélope Cruz) and artistic opportunities precipitate amazingly dramatic coincidences.

We get melodrama, comedy, infographics and theatrical monologues, all moving toward a sensuous climactic sequence that beautifully illustrates that how things happen can be more cinematically exhilarating than why they happen.

Advertisement

Exclusive content and events straight to your inbox

Subscribe to our Newsletter

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

By signing up, I agree to receive emails from Now Toronto and to the Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions.