IMDb RATING
7.8/10
96K
YOUR RATING
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.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.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.
IMDb RATING
7.8/10
96K
YOUR RATING
- Won 1 Oscar
- 58 wins & 40 nominations total
Videos2
Rosa Maria Sardà
- Madre de Rosaas Madre de Rosa
- (as Rosa María Sardá)
Yael Barnatán
- Yaelas Yael
- (as Yael Bernatán)
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- See more cast details at IMDbPro
Storyline
Argentine Manuela Echevarria, an organ transplant coordinator at a Madrid hospital, ran off from her husband in Barcelona eighteen years ago upon learning that she was pregnant, their son, Esteban, who she has never told about his father despite his curiosity, and her husband who didn't know about the pregnancy when she ran off. An event coinciding with Esteban, an aspiring writer, turning seventeen leads to Manuela feeling the need to return to Barcelona to look for her husband. There, she ends up further acting as the maternal figure for people in need. One is a young nun named Sister Rosa, who she meets through her old friend, a transvestite prostitute who has assumed the name Agrado in her agreeable nature. Rosa has a strained relationship with her own conservative mother, as she is consumed with caring for her ill husband, who suffers from Alzheimer's. The other is actress Huma Rojo, currently appearing as Blanche Dubois in a stage production of A Streetcar Named Desire, which has long been a touchstone for Manuela in productions of it coinciding with milestone moments in her life, this production no different. Huma is in a troubled codependent relationship with her younger "Stella Kowalski" costar Nina Cruz, a closet junkie, hence Huma's emotional need for support. By the end of her stay in Barcelona, Manuela will have another non-relative for who she will feel the need to act as a mother figure. —Huggo
- Taglines
- Part of every woman is a mother/actress/saint/sinner. And part of every man is a woman. (English trailer)
- Genre
- Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)
- Rated R for sexuality including strong sexual dialogue, language and some drug content
- Parents guide
Did you know
- TriviaAgrado's monologue was based on a real life event. When the electronic system of an Argentinian theater failed, the director suspended the show. Actress Lola Membrives decided to give the news to the audience and make them an offer: if they'd stay, they could listen to the narration of her life.
- Alternate versionsThree minutes are cut from the US version. The total running time of the Spanish version is 104 minutes.
- ConnectionsFeatured in At the Movies: Instinct/The Loss of Sexual Innocence/Limbo (1999)
- SoundtracksGorrión
Written by Dino Saluzzi
Performed by Dino Saluzzi (bandoneon), Marc Johnson and José Saluzzi
Courtesy of ECM Records
(from "Cité de la musique" 1997)
Top review
At last, an Almodovar Masterpiece!
At last, an Almodovar Masterpiece! Now we have the final proof and can say without any doubt: Spain has a new true genius. From MUJERES AL BORDE DE UN ATAQUE DE NERVIOS, Almodovar had shown that in his mind rounded an ace, and now several years after and with an irregular filmography, brings us his perfect masterpiece: TODO SOBRE MI MADRE, a homage to all women beginning with Bette Davis, Gena Rowlands, Romy Schneider
and ending with his own mother.
Here we see not just a delicious plot, perfectly narrated, but a camera that fixes everything as if it was the last time, our last chance to watch the indescribable feminine nature in a whole panorama where tenderness and courage rule life.
A puzzle of transitions, a delicate picture of characters and, as ever, a set design that remarks each scene with a touch of simplicity and sophistication. Cecilia Roth is great, superb, unforgettable but she's not alone: Penelope Cruz, beautiful, vulnerable as a `rose'; Marisa Paredes, an actress in her perfect role, without forget to Antonia San Juan, `La Agrado' and Mr. Fernando Fernan Gomez.
Please, don't wait until someone tells you more about a film that puts melodrama, drama, comedy and how not: tragedy, in a eternal stream of harmony. It's a pity: cinema is more pretty than life.
Here we see not just a delicious plot, perfectly narrated, but a camera that fixes everything as if it was the last time, our last chance to watch the indescribable feminine nature in a whole panorama where tenderness and courage rule life.
A puzzle of transitions, a delicate picture of characters and, as ever, a set design that remarks each scene with a touch of simplicity and sophistication. Cecilia Roth is great, superb, unforgettable but she's not alone: Penelope Cruz, beautiful, vulnerable as a `rose'; Marisa Paredes, an actress in her perfect role, without forget to Antonia San Juan, `La Agrado' and Mr. Fernando Fernan Gomez.
Please, don't wait until someone tells you more about a film that puts melodrama, drama, comedy and how not: tragedy, in a eternal stream of harmony. It's a pity: cinema is more pretty than life.
helpful•3213
- peregrino00
- Dec 10, 1999
Details
- Release date
- Countries of origin
- Official site
- Languages
- Also known as
- Todo sobre mi madre
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Gross US & Canada
- $8,344,738
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $50,362
- Nov 7, 1999
- Gross worldwide
- $67,953,969
- Runtime1 hour 41 minutes
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.35 : 1
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