Pain and Glory – review

This evening our Cineworld unlimited screening was Pedro Almodovar’s Pain and Glory.  A Spanish language film starring Antonio Banderas as Salvador an ageing film director who has health issues and has seemingly given up on everything.  

The film moves through his life in various narrative strands the present where we learn about his health issues and why he has stopped writing and directing. His childhood which we see non-sequentially.  

Penelope Cruz plays his mother in the flashbacks and her performance is nuanced and exquisite. The film opens with the young Salvador watching his mother and her friends sing as they wash their laundry in the river.

Grudges that Salvador has had, are explored and resolved and it’s all beautifully done.  I found it really moving, the film is a good 2 hours long and I didn’t really notice the time passing at all.

It feels autobiographical – a quick look at Wikipedia suggests that there are elements which are. If you enjoy personal film making you should see this – it has a lot of heart and is very moving.