KALTBLUT-HONK! 03 The Divas

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creates a story of desolation, loneliness, true love and
obsession. The script is nearly perfect, winning the
Academy Award for best writing, original screenplay
beating “Gangs of New York” (Martin Scorsese, 2002)
or “Far from Heaven” (Todd Haynes, 2002) in the
same category. If someone told me before that it was
possible to mix classic ballet, Pina Bausch and her
“Café Müller”, a female bullfighter and Caetano Veloso
singing unplugged in the same movie I would thought
he was just mad. But with all those ingredients Almodóvar
cooks a film about the happiness of talking,
about the word as a weapon to run away from solitude,
illness, death and madness. Or even that kind of madness
so close to tenderness and common sense that it’s
difficult to distinguish from normality. And if you still
need to add a topping just watch Geraldine Chaplin
(Charles Chaplin’s daughter) as a ballet teacher. She’s
just Cinema History.
Just a curiosity. For some years during the ninety’s
there was a project to do a remake of “Women on the
Verge of a Nervous Breakdown” with Hollywood stars
and some of the names interested in the project were
Jane Fonda, Faye Dunaway or even Sharon Stone (Antonio
Banderas’ good friend). But I bet the producers
thought it would be impossible to shoot with so many
divas and egos so the project went back to the drawer
where it was until many years later where it became
a Broadway musical that was cancelled last year after
just a few months on stage.
Ok, homework to do: Listen to a Chavela Vargas CD,
watch Tennessee Williams’ “The Rose Tattoo” (Daniel
Mann, 1955) with Anna Magnani and make a trip to
a small village in Castilla La Mancha where I promise
you won’t get a word of what they are saying and you
will understand why Mr. Pedro Almodóvar makes
movies the way he does.
You see!... That wasn’t too bad. I can be nice sometimes.
That’s because I’m listening to Charles Chaplin’s
“Smile” while I’m writing the last part of this article
telling me to light up my face with gladness and make
me forget shit like “Live Flesh”, “Matador” or “Broken
Embraces”.... I can’t! Those movies are all the Razzie
Awards together. I need a better image to finish this
article… What about Penélope Cruz wearing a pair of
Christian Louboutin high heels? Yeah, much better...!