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, Esteban tries to get the main actress' autograph but is run down on the street and dies. Manuela is beside herself with grief and decides to return to Barcelona to tell the boy's transgender mother Lola, about the death of the son she never knew he had. She is nowhere to be found but Manuela does find an old friend, Agrado and meets up with a pregnant nun, Rosa. Together they form a life and become fast friends - until tragedy strikes again.

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Plot Keywords:

sex talk | friend | grief | birthday | actress | 

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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

All authors mentioned in the movie are famously gay writers: Truman Capote, Tennessee Williams and Federico García Lorca.

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Quotes

Agrado: I look like the Elephant Man!

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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

Referenced in Miao Miao (2008)

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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

This is what I call a masterpiece!

A movie by Almodovar, and no surprise it's marvellous. I decided to watch this one after seeing Hable Con Ella and being stunned by it. I don't know which one's better, but both are worth seeing for sure.

Penelope Cruz, who's usually in the role of charming woman, is an average girl on this movie. Perhaps below average, as she gets pregnant from a transvestite and has a fairly crappy life in general. And the head character, Cecilia Roth as Manuela, is simply a delight to watch. Absolutely no mistakes and flaws throughout the movie, no weird scenes, and everything linked perfectly. The plot not only tells a sad story perfectly articulately, but it also puts a mirror on the lives of people from extraordinary walks of life. Not to mention it feels European to the bone, the movie is completely different from any other European, American, or Latin movie I've seen.

By all means, WATCH IT! Absolutely a piece to be added to your DVD collection. 10/10 from me.