Details
Movie Description
This colorful hit put director Pedro Almodóvar on the international map and cemented the reputation of its star, Carmen Maura. The film is a peppy little soap bubble as TV actress Pepa (Maura) wakes up to find a note from her lover, Ivan (Fernando Guillén), informing her he is leaving. Desperate to tell him some important information, Pepa almost kills herself with sleeping pills, burns her bed, and spends most of the movie trying to track him down. Her adventures put her in contact with Ivan's insane ex-wife (Julieta Serrano), his handsome son (Antonio Banderas), and the son's fiancée (Rossy de Palma). They all descend on her penthouse apartment in a deliriously comic extended scene, complicated by a pitcher full of narcotic gazpacho and her friend Candela (María Barranco), a ditzy beauty wanted by the police for associating with Shiite terrorists. Through it all, the indefatigable Pepa fights gallantly against her crushing heartbreak. As a testament to the resilient beauty of women, this free-spirited film rings true and is a treasure. Also appearing are Chus Lampreave, Kiti Manver, Yayo Calvo, and Guillermo Montesinos as the hilarious driver of the Mambo Taxi.
Synopsis
Set in Madrid, Pedro Almodóvar's WOMEN ON THE VERGE ON A NERVOUS BREAKDOWN features two lovers who dub films for a living. They enjoy a long-term relationship until the man abruptly pulls out, shocking the woman and sending her on a frantic search to locate him.
Film Notes
DVD Features:
Region 1
Keep Case
Anamorphic Widescreen - 1.85
Audio:
Dolby Digital Mono - Spanish
Dolby Digital Mono - French
Dolby Digital Mono - English
Additional Release Material:
Trailers
Filmed in Madrid, Spain.
Though this film did not win the Academy Award for Best Foreign Film of 1989, it did win that category in other awards that year, including the U.S. National Board of Review, the National Society of Film Critics Awards, and the New York Film Critics Circle Award.
Pedro Almodóvar won for Best Screenplay at the 1988 Venice Film Festival and the People's Choice Awards at the 1988 Toronto Festival.
Carmen Maura won for Best Actress in the 1988 European Film Awards and the 1989 Spanish Goya Awards. Goya Awards also went to María Barranco for Best Supporting Actress, Jose Salcedo for Best Editing, and Almodóvar for Best Screenplay and Best Film.
Industry Reviews
Included in The New York Times "10 BEST FILMS OF 1988"
New York Times - p.II, 9 - Vincent Canby
"...Rossy de Palma is startling....And there is a spectacularly fine shot of Maria Barranco..."
Film Comment - Elliott Stein (11/01/1988)
"...A funny movie full of sly comic touches....Bernardo Bonezzi's energetic score is as amusing as everything else in the film..."
Los Angeles Times - Kevin Thomas (12/20/1988)
"...[A] most entertaining, deliberately benign new Spanish farce....Fiendishly funny..."
New York Times - Vincent Canby (09/23/1988)
Quotations
"How many men have you had to forget?"--Ivan (Fernando Guillén) to Pepa (Carmen Maura)
"As many as the women you remember."--Pepa
"For two days everyone has been saying no to me. Now it's my turn to say no."--Pepa
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