Reviews & Ratings for
All About My Mother More at IMDbPro »Todo sobre mi madre (original title)

Filter:

Best Chronological Prolific Authors Loved It Hated It Hide Spoilers:

Page 1 of 22:

[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11]

Index

219 reviews in total

---

77 out of 106 people found the following review useful:
A VERY PRIVATE UNIVERSE, 19 March 2004

Author: marcosaguado from Los Angeles, USA

Very few directors, since Bunuel, Fassbinder, Lindsay Anderson and Roman Polanski, have been able to translate their own, very private universes, to the screen. That is why, it divides audiences in such a radical way.

You love it or you hate it. I think, that is the final objective of an artist, to express their view, to give us their own version of the world we live in. It enriches us, it makes us more aware of the million faces of human nature. Thanks to Almodovar we're allowed to feel identified with, what we may consider, marginal characters. What a different experience is to sit through an Almodovar film and a Ron Howard film for instance. Almodovar remains, becomes part of us, Ron Howard's vanishes as we're leaving the movie theater.

---

56 out of 67 people found the following review useful:
One of the most compelling movies I've ever seen., 4 March 2004

Author: tomreynolds2004 from Washington DC

I've watched this masterpiece by Almodovar four times. Each time I unearth new sequences of pure unadulterated truth, beauty, and genius. It is just a totally compelling and amazingly insightful comedy-tragedy that works on so many levels.

Cecilia Roth is an Almodovar favorite, and there's no mystery as to why this is the case. She can express tragedy, wisdom, and an appreciation of dark humor only with her eyes and facial positioning, and express all three vividly at the same time. Her voice also is as commanding of respect as it is sexy and fragile.

Almodovar eye for visual poems of incongruity reaches a new pinnacle in this masterpiece. First, there is the haunting by-play of darkness and light preceding Roth coming to the rescue of El Agreado. Much later, we are treated to the brightness of the upscale restaurant Roth where Roth waits for her ex-husband Lola juxtaposed with a merciless exploration of the vast dark despair of Lola's eyes. Between these bookend-style frames, the profound dualities abound.

If you see one foreign language film per year, make this your next one.

---

54 out of 65 people found the following review useful:
What a sensational study of the women universe!, 13 February 2000

Author: danielll_rs from Belo Horizonte, Brazil

This time of the year, when we talk about movies, we have to talk about Oscar. The nominees will be announced this Tuesday, but there are already favorites in some categories. Some people still doubt that "American Beauty" will win as best picture- which I don't, because I think it was the best film of the decade- but almost everyone agrees that this wonderful movie "Todo sobre mi madre"/ "All About My Mother" will win as best foreign language film. And it really deserves that.

I've always recognized Pedro Almodóvar's talent. Most of his films are very weird and quite surreal, but sometimes I don't understand him. So I couldn't decide if I would see "All About My Mother" on the movies, or if I would wait for it to come out on video. It was released in Brazil last October, and only yesterday I went to see it at a local cinema. And... What did I think about it? Well... A true, true masterpiece!

The story of the film is about Manuela (wonderfully played by Cecilia Roth), a nurse who works at a hospital in Madrid, Spain, and has a 17 year old son, Esteban, who doesn't know the identity of his father. On the day of his birthday, he dies in an accident and Manuela gets desperate. She reads his notes and finds out that he wanted to know at least the name of his father. So she goes back to Barcelona, where she got pregnant, trying to search for her ex-husband, but some surprises will change her life.

What Almodóvar makes to this movie is just incredible. He makes us cry and laugh- specially in the scenes where the transvestite Agrado is. But, in fact, the film is a deep drama, studying carefully the female universe with strength and realism, and also explaining the importance of a mother. All the main characters are very well developed and each of them has some importance in the plot. It's really amazing how Almodóvar knows women so well, and how he loves and cares about them. His film is a very complex masterpiece, with some important messages and a wonderful story, and should be seen by everyone, even for the American people who don't like subtitles. But pay attention- the dialogues are fabulous!

"All About My Mother" is surely on my Top 10 of 1999. And... let's wait for the Oscar nominees on Tuesday, but I'm sure it will be nominated, and certainly win. It's much better than last year's winner as a foreign language film, "Life is Beautiful", and is a serious must-see. Just do me a favor: DON'T MISS IT!

Rating: 10/10

---

57 out of 72 people found the following review useful:
Superb Acting make for Absorbing Drama, 22 July 2004

Author: erwan_ticheler from Amsterdam, Holland

As this was my first Almodovar movie I didn't quite expect that much,was I ever going to be surprised.Almodovar is widely seen as the greatest Spanish cineast since Luis Bunuel,which I really like,and I must say that I concur with that.The resemblances between the two directors are also there,both use intense drama and comedy in one scene to great effect and both attack the church in a big way.

TODO SOBRE MI MADRE is simply one of the best drama's I've ever seen because of it's superb acting and difficult but inventive storyline.The characters are also very well worked out. Leading lady Cecilia Roth is sensational as the mourning mother and the rest of the cast isn't any worse.The supporting roles by Penelope Cruz,Marise Paredes and especially Antonia San Juan are great.San Juan is a real time transvestite which makes it even more realistic. Almodovar caused quite a commotion with this provocative film although it never goes over the line(at least not in my taste)but you should not be old fashioned or truly religious because then it will offend you.

The humor that is put in the film makes it an even better experience.The mixture of intense drama and comedy is perfect.Another brilliant addition is the great soundtrack.The mixture between harmonic classical pieces and jazzy compositions is magnificent.

I can't wait to see more of Almodovar's work. 9/10 (currently number 39 in my all time top 100 list)

---

41 out of 44 people found the following review useful:
Almodovar's Poignant Study of Women., 5 May 2005

Author: nycritic

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

Departing more and more from his more usual farcical style while retaining many of the elements that have made him the kind of storyteller he is today, Pedro Almodovar ended the year 2000 with a striking, passionate film that unless you had a rock for a heart you would never grasp its ultimate, compassionate essence.

Manuela (Cecilia Roth) is at the center of this story, and through her unimaginable tragedy -- her son Esteban (Eloy Azorin) is killed in a freak accident while trying to get the autograph of his favorite theatre actress, Huma Rojo (played with great dignity by Spanish legend Marisa Paredes) -- she is able to reassemble the pieces of her life even though the people she encounters within her future bring her right back to her past.

Almodovar films this in a completely non-exploitative way though there may be times when it feels as though it is, but being a Spanish film maker, I can see and appreciate where the growing passion reflected in many of its emotional scenes is coming from. The tragedies of these women, and of one of the more gender-confused men, all lead to that last gesture of maternal compassion, and the fact that Manuela decides to let her ex-lover Esteban, now a trans-gendered female, learn that not only did he have a son who died and loved him blindly but has another infant son borne from a nun (Penelope Cruz) is the core of what human relations are about: love which transcends errors, sex, character, even the absence of a father. A fascinating movie experience that resonates and brings the real Almodovar into the spotlight.

---

31 out of 37 people found the following review useful:
Todo sobre mi madre, all about you and me, 2 April 2003
Author: willitts from Sydney

What I like most about Almodovar's films, this one in particular, is the way he will grab you and pull you into a world you would not normally know and then, confront you with people's lives, emotions, relationships. Manuela, the mother who at the beginning seems so in control and clinical, earnest in her love and with the best intentions for her son, is shown to be much like you and me... full of doubts, questions, a need for answers and trying to understand how her life course has brought her to the present day and made her who she is. Barcelona in winter is richly filmed and serves as a backdrop for the renewing of old satisfying friendships and the budding of new ones, happening simultaneously and somewhat unexpectedly. It rings so true. The slow realisation that we are never really complete, that it's the people we love and live with, or avoid and later regret having done so, that makes us who we are. Almodovar sees the human condition and paints it carefully in this film.

---

35 out of 46 people found the following review useful:
An exquisite masterpiece, 22 December 1999

Author: irin from New York, USA

Almodovar is masterful: he has created a film that seeps into you and rips apart your insides. Each moment is flawlessly crafted- the cinematography and light are lush, the writing is heart-wrenching. Loaded with irony and paradox, the story deals sensitively with a plotline that could have been sensationalistic. The strongest feature is perhaps the acting here, which is consistently superb, particularly in the case of Cecilia Roth, the lead actress. This may be the best film I have ever seen.

---

32 out of 44 people found the following review useful:
A Streetcar named Manuela..., 6 October 2004

Author: Coventry from the Draconian Swamp of Unholy Souls

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

Todo Sobre mi Madre seemly starts off as a portrait of devoted mother Manuela and her ambitious son, Esteban. They have an unusually close relationship and share everything with each other. The happiness abruptly turns into heart-breaking melodrama when Esteban dies in a car-accident while trying to obtain an autograph from his favorite stage-performer. Emotionally devastated, Manuela returns to Barcelona, the city she fled from 17 years ago when she was pregnant with her son. Slowly and one step at the time, our heroine regains her will to live again and she's doing this by helping others. She watches over the confused Rosa during her pregnancy, becomes the personal assistant of the depressed actress Huma (and even fills in for the part of Stella in the 'Streetcar Named Desire'-play) and rejoins her old transvestite friend Agrado. This film is about human beings and their thoughts, emotions and feelings. So don't expect an adrenalin-filled action movie that'll blow you out of your seat. More specifically, Almódovar puts the slightly more eccentric (prostitutes, transvestites and lesbians) members of society in the spotlights and succeeds in informing the masses that these are ordinary people, capable of hurting…loving…and feeling. Through the clever and sophisticated use of absolute film classics like "All about Eve" and - of course - "Streetcar", this film reflects the depth and maturity of the substance. Todo Sobre Mi Madre contains several colorful characters worth analyzing, but it's Manuela's main storyline that impresses the most. Not in the least thanks to the outstanding performance by Celicia Roth! The tears she cries are real and the agony she feels contaminates you, the viewer. Roth is a very charismatic actress who amazingly represents every mother in this world. This is the best recent Spanish film I've seen recently (aside from "Tésis", which is a completely different genre) and warmly recommended to everyone interested in character-driven cinema. You better watch it repeatedly to make sure you don't miss any aspect of the player's personalities.

This review is dedicated to my Iberian Queen, Nisa. I probably never would have seen this film if it weren't for her

---

27 out of 35 people found the following review useful:
Dignity, 1 May 2005

Author: dissidenz from United States

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.

---

25 out of 36 people found the following review useful:
Harsh world thru the eyes of a mother., 26 November 2004

Author: samuelding85 from Singapore

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

Being a greenhorn to Almodovar's film, All About My Mother is the 1st movie from Almodovar i watched. Overall, All About My Mother is one of the finest film that i've watched, where it is hard for me to find any flaws in it. With Cecilia Roth playing Manuela, the nurse who lost her only son,Estaban, to an road accident, Manuela decided to fulfill her son's wish by looking for her son's father, which turns out to be Lola, who has become a transsexual. The whole movie is not only her journey of getting back a piece of memory of Estaban, but at the same time, it also looks into the world of transsexuals and lesbians. Not forgetting Penelope Cruz's role of Sister Rosa, a pregnant nun who contracted HIV from Lola. With conflicts between Huma, a theatre actress and Nina, her assistant come lover, Agardo's monologue on being a transsexual and unstable relationship between Sister Rosa and her mother, Almodovar presented us the dark side of human being, apart from a mother who wants to fulfill her dead son's wishes. Somehow, Almodovar hints us a message in most of his films, that even homosexuals and transsexuals are human beings, even though they are totally different from the rest. In all, All About My Mother is one of the few remarkable films that is worth watching.

---

---

Page 1 of 22:

[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11]

Add another review

---

Related Links

Plot summary	Plot synopsis	Amazon.com summary
Ratings	Awards	Newsgroup reviews
External reviews	Official site	Plot keywords
Main details	Your user reviews	Your vote history