Parallel mothers, parallel movies

Parallel mothers, parallel movies

So captivating is that part of the film that it is a shame to reveal (or “spoil”) its plot, as has been done in much of the press since the film premiered at the Venice Film Festival last year. Suffice it to say that Janis (Penélope Cruz), in the role of a mature photographer (in whom the most movie-addicted viewer can see Bette Davis, Joan Crawford, Barbara Stanwyck or any of the great divas of classic melodrama), has her daughter the same day as teenager Ana (Milena Smit) to hers. It is the only link, up to that moment, between the two, until in a later and fortuitous meeting we learn that one of the two girls has died (which one will not be said here).

Since then, the heartbreaking news has generated a different, deep and complex relationship between the two women, where altruism is not lacking, but neither is pettiness. And when Almodóvar has the viewer immersed in the story, he takes that unexpected turn he spoke of before. Another film appears: the story of Janis’s past, that of her ancestors shot during the Civil War by the Franco regime in a distant town, and whose corpses have been located by the Historical Memory movement. Arturo (Israel Elejalde), father of Janis’s child whom he does not want to have nor does he want to recognize, will be in charge -in his capacity as forensic archaeologist- of the exhumation.

And what about the basic melodrama, just when its biggest secret was revealed? The script resolves it in a hurry, even with a happy ending unworthy of the director of “Talk to her”, to continue with the second film. Why didn’t she make two instead of one parallel to the other? “The official story” was a coherent drama: the narration of the illegally appropriated creature was directly linked to the political background. “Parallel Mothers” completely lacks that coherence. It is as if, halfway there, Almodóvar had decided on another way out. None of this overshadows, however, the odd Penelope Cruz.

“Parallel mothers” (Spain, 2021). Dir.: P. Almodóvar. Int.: P. Cruz, M. Smit, I. Elejalde, R. De Palma.

Source: Ambito

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