Julieta saps some of Almodovar's bright spirit

Pedro Almodovar remains faithful to his cause of bringing strong female roles to his films. He also remains true to the theme of the absent or abandoned loved one, child, parent or partner. Sickness, suffering, death, mourning, and love, his often-repeated themes are also  all there.

Still from 'Julieta' directed by Pedro Almodovar Manolo Pavón © El Deseo

Julieta, a woman in her 50s, played by Emma Suarez is about to quit Madrid and move to Portugal with her boyfriend Lorenzo (Dario Grandinetti). Julieta bumps into the childhood bosom pal of her estranged daughter, Antia. Julieta and Antia’s story is told in flashbacks.

The Spanish director who has had five films in the main competition in the Cannes Film Festival since Toda sobre mi Madre (All About My Mother) in 1999 said the gravity of the heroine Julieta’s story toned down his style.

In fact there are two stories and two Julieta’s. Almodovar’s scenario is adapted from three short stories by Canadian writer and Nobel Literature Prize winner, Alice Monro, in the collection called Fugitives.

Running away, escaping, for different reasons, whether Antia or Julieta or Xoan or Lorenzo or the mystery man in the train, seems as central to Julieta as the hidden emptiness which defines certain relationships.

"A Spanish film critic some time ago invented a term to describe my work as 'Almodrama'. My melodramas contain lots of songs, deep colour s and bold characters who never hide their feelings. Neither my writing nor my actors practice modesty. Julieta is not an Almodrama nor a melodrama. I tried to make a sober drama because it’s what the story required."

Julieta is less spectacular, more reserved, than Almodovar’s inventions to date. The spectator is nonetheless captivated from start to finish by a polished picture, as they are delighted by Rossy de Palma’s smaller but spot-on housekeeper character, Marian.

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