How the Films of Pedro Almodóvar Draw Upon and Influence Spanish Society: Bilingual Essays on His Cinema

This is a collection of essays discussing important social issues in the work of Spanish director Pedro Almodovar. Through a variety of authors and angles, as well as in two languages, this volume opens new perspectives on the films of Pedro Almodovar. This work portrays how Almodovar reaches into Spanish history and utilizes social changes that followed the fall of Franco to form his aesthetic creations. The book links the transformations of Spanish society and that of the evolution, if not the maturity of the filmmaker as he observes a society that is finally free to be and become what it desires. Each chapter reveals how the audience can witness the auteur's maturation at the same pace as that of the Spanish society. Just like Almodovar's films, often criticized for their complex plots, today's Spain is a complex mosaics that is constantly evolving and adjusting to the world that surrounds it. If many questions about what defines and inspires the filmmaker's personal vision of the world still remain, one thing is for sure: the Almodovar phenomenon has established an international image of Spain that is open and yet traditional, vibrant, and dynamic.