Entre tinieblas (1983)

Director:

Pedro Almodóvar

Writer:

Pedro Almodóvar (story)

Release Date:

22 March 1984 (Argentina)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Plot:

A nightclub singer seeks refuge with gay nuns on dope in a Madrid convent.

Plot Keywords:

Convent | Nun | Abbess | Priest | Singer

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Cristina Sánchez Pascual	...	Yolanda Bel
Will More	...	Jorge (as Willmore)
Laura Cepeda	...	Lina
Miguel Zúñiga	...	Madero
Julieta Serrano	...	Abadesa Julia
Marisa Paredes	...	Sor Estiércol
Mary Carrillo	...	Marquesa
Carmen Maura	...	Sor Perdida
Lina Canalejas	...	Sor Víbora
Manuel Zarzo	...	Cura
Chus Lampreave	...	Sor Rata de Callejón
Marisa Tejada	...	Lola
Eva Siva	...	Antonia
Cecilia Roth	...	Merche
Rubén Tobías	...	Policía

Also Known As:

Dark Habits
Dark Hideout

Runtime:

114 min | Finland:96 min (25 fps) (DVD)

Country:

Spain

Language:

Spanish

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

UK:15 | Australia:MA (TV rating) | Argentina:18 | Australia:R | Spain:18 | Sweden:11 | Hong Kong:IIB | Finland:K-15

Filming Locations:

Madrid, Spain

Company:

Tesauro S.A.

Trivia:

Pedro Almodóvar's first film to have a proper producer and be made for a proper film company, rather than be made on the hoof like his previous projects. Almodóvar has since distanced himself from the film as he felt that he had to bow to commercial considerations.

Quotes:

Sor Rata de Callejón: Are you going out?
Abbess Julia: Yes, I have to pay a visit.
Sor Rata de Callejón: Where to?
Abbess Julia: I'm going to blackmail the Marquise.

Movie Connections:

References My Fair Lady (1964)

Soundtrack:

Dime

A love/hate story about heroine

This film made after Almodovar's first more upbeat outrageous films, is a film that tells of the end of the Movida Madrilenia, a movement existing in the early eighties in Madrid that was defined by a mixture of new romantic punk and pop, and the ironic use of Spanish folklore and the 'housewife' culture. When people in this subculture started to commonly use heroine, the downfall of the movement had begun. This film is about the choices that people had to make at the end of this era. some stayed junkies, others died, some went back to the small towns where they had moved from, others went on to give up on drugs and become more constructive. The convent where the nuns reside can be interpreted as the habitation of this irreverent movement, frequented by police searches, dealers, artists, and junkies. The movie has some great musical moments which indicate that Almodovar might one day take his hand to this genre. The religious element interwtined with (homo)sexuality will certainly be proliferated again in the forthcoming movie La Mala Educacion. The movie also contains a cameo of a Spanish 'Harrold Robbins' type of writer, who is featured sitting at one of the tables wiping her mouth with a handkerchief as Yolanda sings in a night club at the beginning of the movie. This authopr refers to the character of sister Rata de Callejon, who has a secret career as trashy novel writer. The film is somewhat darker than most of Almodovar's early movies, but is very gentle, provides enough comedy and the characters above all remain very human, all of them have their virtues and vices.