Almodovar's "What Have I Done...?"
Pedro Almodovar's films are generally incredible. I am a big admirer of his and can be accused of singing his praises. But even I don't find much to like in his anti-bourgeois films.
I saw one of those films tonight, entitled melodramatically, "What Have I Done to Deserve This!!" A seemingly normal middle class family live next to a prostitute and get along with her famously--even the traditional old grandma!. However, her closest friend in the family is the unhappy housewife, who would have been traditionally depicted as the victim and a soulful protagonist. Despite the stereotype about the soulfulness of the housewife, which is still upheld here, she is portrayed alternatively as a cold and selfish monster. In contrast to the housewife, the prostitute is innocent and endearing. To give just a few examples of the monstrous behavior: she can only bicker when her 12 year old son, who is a hardheaded young brat, admits sleeping with his best friend's father...again. And, later in the movie, she leaves the aforementioned son with a louche dentist, who obviously has designs on the young boy, letting him be adopted. She pops pills, has reckless sex with men. The prostitute often comes across as more tolerable than the selfish housewife.
Her family is a mess. The elder son does drugs along with petty thefts, and hilariously tries to hide them from his mother. Her husband is a selfish son of a bitch, bad at bed, and highly neglectfull of his home; he loves his mother, who lives with them, more than his wife. Meantime, they have sitcom moments every now and then, like the incident of the hibernating iguana that was brought home from the park by the eldest son and bespectacled grandma without the permission of the mother. Oy.
Almodovar must have been frustrated when he made this film, and it is not one of the hallmarks of his career. It shows a glimpse of the artist he later evolved into. His trademarks, like the sensitive eye for unhappiness of women and the almost dizzying fluctuation of traditional gender roles and conventional mores, are already in here.
This film did not really grab me, but I'd rather see an Almodovar film these days than anything else.
I saw one of those films tonight, entitled melodramatically, "What Have I Done to Deserve This!!" A seemingly normal middle class family live next to a prostitute and get along with her famously--even the traditional old grandma!. However, her closest friend in the family is the unhappy housewife, who would have been traditionally depicted as the victim and a soulful protagonist. Despite the stereotype about the soulfulness of the housewife, which is still upheld here, she is portrayed alternatively as a cold and selfish monster. In contrast to the housewife, the prostitute is innocent and endearing. To give just a few examples of the monstrous behavior: she can only bicker when her 12 year old son, who is a hardheaded young brat, admits sleeping with his best friend's father...again. And, later in the movie, she leaves the aforementioned son with a louche dentist, who obviously has designs on the young boy, letting him be adopted. She pops pills, has reckless sex with men. The prostitute often comes across as more tolerable than the selfish housewife.
Her family is a mess. The elder son does drugs along with petty thefts, and hilariously tries to hide them from his mother. Her husband is a selfish son of a bitch, bad at bed, and highly neglectfull of his home; he loves his mother, who lives with them, more than his wife. Meantime, they have sitcom moments every now and then, like the incident of the hibernating iguana that was brought home from the park by the eldest son and bespectacled grandma without the permission of the mother. Oy.
Almodovar must have been frustrated when he made this film, and it is not one of the hallmarks of his career. It shows a glimpse of the artist he later evolved into. His trademarks, like the sensitive eye for unhappiness of women and the almost dizzying fluctuation of traditional gender roles and conventional mores, are already in here.
This film did not really grab me, but I'd rather see an Almodovar film these days than anything else.