Dolor y gloria [Pain and Glory] (Pedro Almodóvar, 2019)

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domino harvey
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Re: Dolor y gloria [Pain and Glory] (Pedro Almodóvar, 2019)

#26 Post by domino harvey » Wed Dec 11, 2019 12:49 am

No Criterion for this one, Sony will be releasing it themselves next month on Blu-ray

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Finch
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Re: Dolor y gloria [Pain and Glory] (Pedro Almodóvar, 2019)

#27 Post by Finch » Fri Dec 20, 2019 11:35 pm


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DarkImbecile
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Re: Dolor y gloria [Pain and Glory] (Pedro Almodóvar, 2019)

#28 Post by DarkImbecile » Wed Jan 08, 2020 6:30 pm

I'll just echo what everyone else has said about this lovely film and its masterful observations of memory, aging, art, and loneliness. The experience of watching it felt like dozing in a warm, soothing bath and slipping in and out of loosely connected dreams before awaking refreshed and content; considering I went in last night wired from reports of missiles flying, seeing a film this personal, generous, and humane was about the most psychologically calming experience I could have hoped for.

To add to all the justifiably unanimous praise for the noteworthy final shot and sexual awakening scene, I'd also emphasize two moments that haven't been singled out as much here:
SpoilerShow
The reunion between Salvador and Federico was for me the emotional crux of the film, and the rollercoaster of disappointment and hope that plays over Salvador's face as his former lover mentions his wife and children, his divorce, and then his current (female) partner is when Banderas' performance elevated from merely excellent to one of the two or three best I've seen this year.

Similarly, the scene on the balcony when Salvador's mother chides him for not taking her in after his father died, and he responds by apologizing for failing her by being who he is was wonderfully written and performed; a brief but crystalline representation of family members whose love only imperfectly fills the space between them, talking past each other and subtly saying something that the other may or may not be fully understanding.
For these moments and many others, this is the best performance of Banderas' that I've ever seen — soulful, physical, and appropriately mannered, yet never to the detriment of letting viewers feel tuned into his character — and now I'll be sorely disappointed if he isn't at least nominated for Best Actor. My coverage of Almodóvar's filmography is unfortunately spottier than it should be outside of his consensus classics, but if he's made a film more delicate and carefully observed than this one, I'd love to see it.

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therewillbeblus
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Re: Dolor y gloria [Pain and Glory] (Pedro Almodóvar, 2019)

#29 Post by therewillbeblus » Wed Jan 08, 2020 7:34 pm

Lovely appreciation, DI - those scenes you point out are as good examples as any of Almodóvar's validating approach toward humanity in not trying to explain or forcefully show but to feel it and hold both the pain and wonders together. There are so few people who can or want to accept this complicated melting pot of perspective and to exhibit it on the screen with humility is another skill altogether.

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knives
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Re: Dolor y gloria [Pain and Glory] (Pedro Almodóvar, 2019)

#30 Post by knives » Tue Mar 17, 2020 11:28 am

The beautiful expression of self that the world needs right now. This is magical as a tool for happiness on the level of von Trier's Melancholia. Structurally this mirrors Bad Education most of all. Not only with Banderas being Almodovar down to the crazed hair, but also for the structure being dependent on a particular perception of time. Time kills us, but also makes the secrets not matter. It's a flattering portrait of how to heal without healing or to put it into the catholic language the film fights against: life without confession.

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therewillbeblus
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Re: Dolor y gloria [Pain and Glory] (Pedro Almodóvar, 2019)

#31 Post by therewillbeblus » Tue Mar 17, 2020 12:53 pm

knives wrote:
Tue Mar 17, 2020 11:28 am
This is magical as a tool for happiness on the level of von Trier's Melancholia.
And here I was thinking that my weird comparison between LvT and Almodovar the other day was original.. nice appreciation, though can you expand upon this thought? I think there is something beautiful about the ability to let go and accept life on life's terms even if those aren't full of typically defined positive markers in traditional 'optimism,' which both films exhibit and going by the rest of your post I think that may be what you mean, but I'm not sure.

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knives
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Re: Dolor y gloria [Pain and Glory] (Pedro Almodóvar, 2019)

#32 Post by knives » Tue Mar 17, 2020 1:02 pm

Honestly I was just talking about the raw emotional experience of watching the movie. I'm not sure if there's much I can expand. Just that the emotional way that the film was expressing the experience of living life touched me as deeply as the von Trier did. It made me feel safe I guess is the closest word I can express to this feeling.

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therewillbeblus
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Re: Dolor y gloria [Pain and Glory] (Pedro Almodóvar, 2019)

#33 Post by therewillbeblus » Tue Mar 17, 2020 2:01 pm

I get that feeling too, and I guess I'm not trying to break apart that feeling into deep analysis, but especially with something like Melancholia, which in so many ways presents as the opposite of a feeling of safety, it's worth reflecting on the question of: why something like that can and does make us feel safe? I don't think there's an easily described or simple reason there, other than the uncertainty and overwhelming emotions being validated and allowed to exist without the stipulation of confession, as you put it, and so we are provided a process that is gently liberating and humanistic. I know I said in one of the other Lars threads that I see him and Almodovar as being incredibly humanist filmmakers in strange ways, and there is a raw validation that exists that can provide me with a serenity unprecedented by many others (though not "happiness" necessarily, as you said in your writeup).

I think the reason this film gives me that feeling is a lot like the glass empty/full perspective shift for people who practice the serenity prayer and are either thrown into chaos or alleviated once presented with the notion of our limits of control over the universe. Those who fight it can engage in nihilistic viewpoints and depression, and I have no doubt some who watch Melancholia do just that (I think von Trier likely intended the first half to represent this, as well as various characters' reactions in the back half - i.e. Sutherland); but those who accept this lack of power and transform it into gratitude, dropping the dead weight of that futile attempt to grasp control over what cannot be controlled, well then we can be Sisyphus and content, which is where I think Dunst's character reaches in the back half. What I love about Dolor y Gloria is that Almodovar validates the impermanence of this process as well, and so Banderas is able to bask in moments without the necessity to hold into that as 'growth' or 'healing' in any permanent way, for it's impossible like freezing time, but that does not liquidate the fact that he heals or grows.

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