All About My Mother (1999)

Young Esteban wants to become a writer and also to discover the identity of his second mother, a trans woman, carefully concealed by his mother Manuela.

Director:

Pedro Almodóvar

Writer:

Pedro Almodóvar

Stars:

Cecilia Roth, Marisa Paredes, Candela Peña

Won 1 Oscar. Another 57 wins & 38 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

Manuela is a hard-working single mom who has raised her son Esteban by herself since the time he was born. On his 17th birthday they go to the theater and after the show, he tries to get the main actress' autograph but is run down on the street and dies. She quits her job and journeys to Barcelona, where she hopes to find her son's father, Lola, a transvestite she kept secret from her son, just as she never told Lola they had a son. In Barcelona, Manuela reunites with her old friend Agrado, a warm and witty transvestite prostitute. She also meets and becomes deeply involved with several characters: Rosa, a young nun who works in a shelter for battered prostitutes, but is pregnant by Lola and is HIV positive; Huma Rojo, the actress her son had admired; and the drug-addicted Nina Cruz, Huma's co-star and lover. Her life becomes entwined with theirs as she cares for Rosa during her pregnancy and works for Huma as her personal assistant and even acts in the play as an understudy for Nina ...

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Plot Keywords:

sex talk | friend | grief | actress | nun | 

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Taglines:

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

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Genres:

Drama

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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:

31 March 2000 (USA)

Also Known As:

All About My Mother

Filming Locations:

Teatre Tívoli, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$89,515, 21 November 1999, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$8,264,530, 9 July 2000

Company Credits

Production Co:

El Deseo, 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.

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Quotes

Huma Rojo: But can you act?
Manuela: I can lie very well, and I'm used to improvising.

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Alternate Versions

Three minutes are cut from the US version. The total running time of the Spanish version is 104 minutes.

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Connections

References A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)

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Soundtracks

Gorrión
Written by Dino Saluzzi
Performed by Dino Saluzzi (bandoneon), Marc Johnson and José Saluzzi
Courtesy of ECM Records
(from "Cité de la musique" 1997)

User Reviews

An exquisite masterpiece

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.