All About My Mother (1999)
"Todo sobre mi madre" (original title)

Young Esteban want to become a writer and also to discover the identity of his father, carefully concealed by the mother Manuela.

Director:

Pedro Almodóvar

Writer:

Pedro Almodóvar

Stars:

Cecilia Roth, Marisa Paredes, Candela Peña

Won 1 Oscar. Another 48 wins & 33 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Cecilia Roth	...	Manuela
Marisa Paredes	...	Huma Rojo
Candela Peña	...	Nina
Antonia San Juan	...	Agrado
Penélope Cruz	...	Hermana Rosa
Rosa Maria Sardà	...	Madre de Rosa (as Rosa María Sardá)
Fernando Fernán Gómez	...	Padre de Rosa
Toni Cantó	...	Lola
Eloy Azorín	...	Esteban
Carlos Lozano	...	Mario
Fernando Guillén	...	Doctor en 'Un tranvía llamado Deseo'
Manuel Morón	...	Doctor 1
José Luis Torrijo	...	Doctor 2
Juan José Otegui	...	Ginecólogo
Carmen Balagué

Storyline

A single mother in Madrid sees her only son die on his 17th birthday as he runs to seek an actress's autograph. She goes to Barcelona to find the lad's father, a transvestite named Lola who does not know he has a child. First she finds her friend, Agrado, a wild yet caring transvestite; through him she meets Rosa, a young nun bound for El Salvador, but instead finds out she is pregnant by Lola. Manuela becomes the personal assistant of Huma Rojo, the actress her son admired, by helping Huma manage Nina, the co-star and Huma's lover. However, Agrado soon takes over when Manuela must care for Hermana Rosa's risky pregnancy. With echos of Lorca, "All About Eve," and "Streetcar Named Desire," the mothers (and fathers and actors) live out grief, love, and friendship.

---

Plot Keywords:

transvestite | single mother | actor | autograph | birthday | 

---

Taglines:

Part of every woman is a mother/actress/saint/sinner. And part of every man is a woman. (English trailer)

---

Genres:

Drama

---

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for sexuality including strong sexual dialogue, language and some drug content

Details

Official Sites:

Sony Pictures Classics

Country:

Spain France

Language:

Spanish Catalan

Release Date:

16 April 1999 (Spain)

Also Known As:

All About My Mother

Filming Locations:

A Coruña, Galicia, Spain

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$89,515 (USA) (19 November 1999)

Gross:

ESP 1,656,949,822 (Spain) (29 June 2001)

Company Credits

Production Co:

El Deseo S.A., Renn Productions, France 2 Cinéma

Technical Specs

Runtime:

101 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Pedro Almodóvar dedicated his movie to Bette Davis, Gena Rowlands and Romy Schneider.

---

Quotes

Agrado: Well, as I was saying, it costs a lot to be authentic, ma'am. And one can't be stingy with these things because you are more authentic the more you resemble what you've dreamed of being.

---

Connections

Referenced in Sandra or Luis (2005)

---

Soundtracks

"Coral para mi pequeño y lejano pueblo"
Written by Dino Saluzzi
Performed by Dino Saluzzi (bandoneon), Marc Johnson and José Saluzzi
Courtesy of EMC Records
(from "Cité de la musique" 1997)

User Reviews

Dignity

What a genius Almodovar is! Who else could take such esoteric material and make it not only enjoyable, but relatable. It takes a lot of chutzpah for a male director to swan dive into the gulf of womanhood (I can't believe I just wrote that) and emerge with such truth, HUMAN truth. While the characters of this film seem to represent certain female archetypes, they still flow organically through the ingenious plot. Almodovar shows us that any taboo subject can be tackled without it being exploited when it is done with a compassionate heart. The sheer WARMTH of this movie is what makes it a stunning success. The performances in this film are unforgettable. Cecilia Roth is so dazzling and real, and heartbreaking. But only a genius like Almodovar can break our hearts but still give us hope.