All About Almodovar

Although I'm somewhat out of the film loop, in yesterday's Sunday NY Times Arts & Leisure section, I got the scoop on Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodovar's new film starring Penelope Cruz, "Broken Embraces." The article also mentioned that there might be a stage musical in the works based on his international breakthrough hit "Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown."

I recently watched this 1980's comedy and thought it was one-of-a-kind. Less tragedy than farce, it is full of emotion all the same. The characters express themselves so passionately and with such urgency. It seems almost that what they say matters less than how they say it. I feel that is often the case in his films. I have also seen "All About My Mother" or "Volver." In both of those films I am drawn to the characters' facial expressions and body language and how those physical traits can often dominate the principle action and overpower the words spoken. I think that this is how Almodovar gets away with the over-the-top nature of "Women on the Verge..."

After reading the article and revisiting "Verge" (notice the title gets shorter and shorter), I'm getting very excited to see what he does next.