From his own adaptation of Alice Munro short stories (which ones?), Pedro Almodóvar honors her nonlinear story organization (the film in flashback before a coda moves forward) painted in a lush retro style (very ‘50s VistaVision/TechniColor) charting the visually lux course taken by glamorous hard-luck Julieta (double cast: Adriana Ugarte; Emma Suárez). Almodóvar somehow presents it straight and crooked with a lead character Lana Turner would have killed to play.* (Though in looks, the younger Julieta more Kim Novak - see picture.)
The narrative has Julieta alternately leaving or losing lovers, relatives and significant others over the course of decades; her daughter topping the list of past regrets. That daughter the outcome of a one-night stand (make that a one-night-on-a-train stand) that later becomes a long-term relation with handsome, fresh widower Xoan (Daniel Grao). He too will be lost, with Julieta partially culpable, or so her daughter believes after hearing secrets passed along by Xoan’s long-time female friend-with-benefits who in turn will also succumb to the story’s fatal demands. Almodóvar plays this all completely straight and, more importantly, gets away with it not coming across as campy or OTT thanks to unity of style in acting and even more in stunning visuals. Movie compositions worth hanging on a wall can kill momentum in most films, but not here. Cakes, arranged window views, a staggering high angle shot of a RED car traveling thru a GREEN woods, unforgettable and dramatically engaging. Over the last decade or two, Almodóvar has made deeper more mature films, but this one throbs thru passion and sheer surface appeal.
SCREWY THOUGHT OF THE DAY: *But Turner would have insisted on playing Julieta at both ages.
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