Early life and career beginnings

Early life

Pedro Almodóvar Caballero was born on 25 September 1949 in Calzada de Calatrava, a small rural town of Almagro, Ciudad Real, a province of Castile-La Mancha in Spain. He was born into a family of four children and has two older sisters, Antonia and MaríaJesús, and one brother Agustín. His father, Antonio Almodóvar, was a winemaker, and his mother, Francisca Caballero, who died in 1999, was a letter reader and transcriber for illiterate neighbours.

When Almodóvar was eight years old, the family sent him to study at a religious boarding school in the city of Cáceres, Extremadura, in western Spain, with the hope that he might someday become a priest. His family eventually joined him in Cáceres, where his father opened a gas station and his mother opened a bodega where she sold her own wine. Unlike Calzada, there was a cinema in Cáceres. "Cinema became my real education, much more than the one I received from the priest," he said later in an interview. Almodóvar was influenced by Luis Buñuel.

Against his parents' wishes, Almodóvar moved to Madrid in 1967 to become a filmmaker. As a result of dictator Francisco Franco closing the National School of Cinema in Madrid, he had to become self-taught. To support himself, Almodóvar had a number of jobs, including selling used items in the famous Madrid flea market El Rastro and as an administrative assistant with Spanish phone company Telefónica, where he worked for twelve years. Since he worked only until three in the afternoon, he had the rest of the day to pursue his own interests.

Career beginnings

In the early 1970s, Almodóvar grew interested in experimental cinema and theatre. He collaborated with the vanguard theatrical group Los Goliardos, in which he played his first professional roles and met actress Carmen Maura. Madrid's flourishing alternative cultural scene became the perfect scenario for Almodóvar's social talents. He was a crucial figure in La Movida Madrileña (the Madrilenian Movement), a cultural renaissance that followed the death of dictator Francisco Franco. Alongside Fabio McNamara, Almodóvar sang in a glam rock parody duo.

Writing under the pseudonym Patty Diphusa, Almodóvar also penned various articles for major newspapers and magazines, such as El País, Diario 16 and La Luna as well as contributing to comic strips, articles and stories in counterculture magazines, such as Star, El Víbora and Vibraciones. He published a novella, Fuego en las entrañas (Fire in the Guts) and kept writing stories that were eventually published in a compilation volume entitled El sueño de la razón (The Dream of Reason).

Almodóvar bought his first camera, a Super-8, with his first paycheck from Telefónica when he was 22 years old, and began to make hand-held short films. Around 1974, he made his first short film, and by the end of the 1970s they were shown in Madrid's night circuit and in Barcelona. These shorts had overtly sexual narratives and no soundtrack: Dos putas, o, Historia de amor que termina en boda (Two Whores, or, A Love Story that Ends in Marriage) in 1974; La caída de Sodoma (The Fall of Sodom) in 1975; Homenaje (Homage) in 1976; La estrella (The Star) in 1977; Sexo Va: Sexo viene (Sex Comes and Goes); and Complementos (Shorts) in 1978, his first film in 16mm. He remembers, "I showed them in bars, at parties… I could not add a soundtrack because it was very difficult. The magnetic strip was very poor, very thin. I remember that I became very famous in Madrid because, as the films had no sound, I took a cassette with music while I personally did the voices of all the characters, songs and dialogues."

After four years of working with shorts in Super-8 format, Almodóvar made his first full-length film Folle, folle, fólleme, Tim (Fuck Me, Fuck Me, Fuck Me, Tim) in Super-8 in 1978, followed by his first 16 mm short Salome.

Film career

Pepi, Luci, Bom (1980)

Almodóvar made his first feature film Pepi, Luci, Bom (1980) with a very low budget of 400,000 pesetas, shooting it in 16mm and later blowing it up into 35mm. The film was based on a comic strip titled General Erections that he had written and revolves around the unlikely friendship between Pepi (Carmen Maura), who wants revenge from a corrupt policeman who raped her, a masochistic housewife named Luci (Eva Siva), and Bom (Alaska), a lesbian punk rock singer. Inspired by La Movida Madrileña, Pepi, Luci, Bom captured the sense of cultural and sexual freedom of the time with its many kitsch elements, campy style, outrageous humour and explicit sexuality (there is an infamous golden shower scene in the middle of a knitting lesson).

The film was noted for its lack of polished filming technique, but Almodóvar looked back fondly on the film's flaws. "When a film has only one or two, it is considered an imperfect film, while when there is a profusion of technical flaws, it is called style. That's what I said joking around when I was promoting the film, but I believe that that was closer to the truth."

Pepi, Luci, Bom premiered at the 1980 San Sebastián International Film Festival and despite negative reviews from conservative critics, the film amassed a cult following in Spain. It toured the independent circuits before spending three years on the late night showing of the Alphaville Theater in Madrid. The film's irreverence towards sexuality and social mores has prompted contemporary critics to compare it to the 1970s films of John Waters.

Labyrinth of Passion (1982)

His second feature Labyrinth of Passion (1982) focuses on nymphomaniac pop star, Sexila (Cecilia Roth), who falls in love with a gay Arabian prince, Riza Niro (Imanol Arias). Their unlikely destiny is to find one another, overcome their sexual preferences and live happily ever after on a tropical island. An outrageous look at love and sex framed again in Madrid during La Movida Madrileña, between the dissolution of Franco's authoritarian regime and the onset of AIDS consciousness, Labyrinth of Passion caught the spirit of liberation in Madrid and it became a cult film. The film marked Almodóvar's first collaboration with cinematographer Ángel Luis Fernandez as well as the first of several collaborations with actor Antonio Banderas. Labyrinth of Passion premiered at the 1982 San Sebastian Film Festival and while the film received better reviews than its predecessor, Almodóvar later acknowledged: "I like the film even if it could have been better made. The main problem is that the story of the two leads is much less interesting than the stories of all the secondary characters. But precisely because there are so many secondary characters, there's a lot in the film I like."

Dark Habits (1983)

For his next film Dark Habits (1983), Almodóvar was approached by multi-millionaire Hervé Hachuel who wanted to start a production company to make films starring his girlfriend, Cristina Sánchez Pascual. Hachuel set up Tesuaro Production and asked Almodóvar to keep Pascual in mind. Almodóvar had already written the script for Dark Habits and was hesitant to cast Pascaul in the leading role due to her limited acting experience. When she was cast, he felt it necessary to make changes to the script so his supporting cast were more prominent in the story.

The film heralded a change in tone to somber melodrama with comic elements. Pascual stars as Yolanda, a cabaret singer seeks refuge in a convent of eccentric nuns, each of whom explores a different sin. This film has an almost all-female cast including Carmen Maura, Julieta Serrano, Marisa Paredes and Chus Lampreave, actresses who Almodóvar would work with several times in later years. This is also Almodóvar's first film in which he used popular music to express emotion: in a pivotal scene, the mother superior and her protégé sing along with Lucho Gatica's bolero "Encadenados". Almodóvar intended the film as a satire of Spain's religious institutions, portraying spiritual desolation and moral bankruptcy, exploring the emerging decline of morality in Spain.

Dark Habits premiered at the Venice Film Festival and was surrounded in controversy due its subject matter. Despite religious critics being offended by the film, it went on to become a modest critical and commercial success, cementing Almodóvar's reputation as the enfant terrible of the Spanish cinema.

What Have I Done to Deserve This? (1984)

Inspired by the Spanish black comedies of the 1950s and 1960s Almodóvar's fourth film What Have I Done to Deserve This? (1984) tells the story of Gloria (Carmen Maura), a struggling housewife living within an extremely dysfunctional family: her husband (Ángel de Andrés López) is abusive; her oldest son (Juan Martínez) is a drug dealer; her youngest son (Miguel Ángel Herranz) sells his body to the local perverts; and her mother (Chus Lampreave) hates the city and just wants to return to her rural village. Her only source of solace is her neighbor Cristal (Verónica Forqué), who happens to be a prostitute.

What Have I Done to Deserve This? mixes melodrama with campy humour and features the theme of the downtrodden housewife coping with the travails of everyday life as well as the issues of female independence and solidarity, which would later feature prominently in the director's work. The film is also a critique on consumerism and patriarchal culture. In one scene, the housewife trades her own son so she doesn't have to pay a dentist bill, and in another the only witness of a crime is a lizard, aptly named "Money".

When it was released in Spain in 1984, What Have I Done to Deserve This? became more commercially successful than previous films Almodóvar had made, which led to a limited international release the following year.

Matador (1986)

Almodóvar's growing success caught the attention of emerging Spanish film producer Andrés Vicente Gómez, who wanted to join forces to make his next film Matador (1986). A dark and complex story, the film centres on the relationship between a former bullfighter and a murderous female lawyer, who both find sexual fulfillment through acts of murder. The film offered up desire as a bridge between sexual attraction and death, exploring sexual desire and the sometimes brutal laws governing it.

Written together with Spanish novelist Jesús Ferrero, Matador drew away from the naturalism and humour of the director's previous work into a deeper and darker terrain. Almodóvar cast several of his regulars actors in key roles: Antonio Banderas was hired for the role of Ángel, a bullfighting student who, after an attempted rape incident, falsely confesses to a series of murders that he did not commit; Julieta Serano appears as Ángel's very conservative mother; while Carmen Maura, Chus Lampreave, Verónica Forqué and Eusebio Poncela also appear in minor roles. Newcomers Nacho Martínez and Assumpta Serna also had roles in the film, who would later work with Almodóvar again. Matador also marked the first time Almodóvar infused notable cinematic references into his films, using King Vidor's Duel in the Sun in one scene.

The film premiered in 1986 and received a lot of attention due to its subject matter. Almodóvar justified his use of violence, explaining "The moral of all my films is to get to a stage of greater freedom." Almodóvar went on to note, "I have my own morality. And so do my films. If you see Matador through the perspective of traditional morality, it's a dangerous film because it's just a celebration of killing. Matador is like a legend. I don't try to be realistic; it's very abstract, so you don't feel identification with the things that are happening, but with the sensibility of this kind of romanticism."

Law of Desire (1987)

Following the success of Matador, Almodóvar solidified his creative independence by starting his own production company, El Deseo, together with his brother Agustín Almodóvar in 1986. El Deseo's first major release was Law of Desire (1987), a film about the complicated love triangle between a gay filmmaker (Eusebio Poncela), his transsexual sister (Carmen Maura) and a repressed murderously obsessive stalker (Antonio Banderas).

Taking more risk from a visual standpoint, Almodóvar's growth of as a filmmaker is clearly on display. In presenting the love triangle, Almodóvar drew away from most representations of homosexuals in films. The characters neither come out nor confront sexual guilt or homophobia; they are already liberated.. The same can be said for the complex way he depicted transgender characters on screen. Almodóvar said about Law of Desire: "It's the key film in my life and career. It deals with my vision of desire, something that's both very hard and very human. By this I mean the absolute necessity of being desired and the fact that in the interplay of desires it's rare that two desires meet and correspond."

Law of Desire made its premiere at the Berlin International Film Festival in 1987, where it won the festival's first ever Teddy Award, which recognises achievement in LGBT cinema, broadening Almodóvar's name internationally as well as a major figure in the LGBT community. The film went on to be a hit in art-house theatres and received much praise from critics.

Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (1988)

Almodóvar's first major critical and commercial success internationally came with the release of Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (1988). Inspired by Hollywood comedies of the 1950s, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown became the stepping stone for Almodóvar's later work.This feminist light comedy of rapid-fire dialogue and fast-paced action further established Almodóvar as a "women's director" in the same vein as George Cukor and Rainer Werner Fassbinder. Almodóvar has said that women make better characters: "women are more spectacular as dramatic subjects, they have a greater range of registers, etc."

Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown centres on Pepa (Carmen Maura), a woman who been abruptly abandoned by her married boyfriend Ivan (Fernando Guillén). Over two days, Pepa frantically tries to track him down. In the course, she discovers some of his secrets and realises her true feelings. Almodóvar filled out his cast with many familiar actors, including Antonio Banderas, Chus Lampreave, Rossy de Palma, Kiti Mánver and Julieta Serrano as well as newcomer María Barranco.

The film was released in Spain in March 1988, and became a hit in the US, making over $7 million when it was released later that same year, bringing Almodóvar to the attention of American audiences. Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown won five Goya Awards, Spain's top film honours, for Best Film, Best Original Screenplay, Best Editing (José Salcedo), Best Actress (Maura), and Best Supporting Actress (Barranco). The film went on to critical and commercial acclaim worldwide, winning two awards at the European Film Awards as well as being nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the BAFTAs and Golden Globes. It also gave Almodóvar his first Academy Award nomination for Best Foreign Language Film.

Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! (1990)

Almodóvar's next film marked the end of the collaboration between him and Carmen Maura, and the beginning of a fruitful collaboration with Victoria Abril. Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! (1990) tells the story about a recently released psychiatric patient, Ricky (Antonio Banderas), who kidnaps a porn star, Marina (Abril), in order to make her fall in love with him.

Rather than populate the film with many characters, as in his previous films, here the story focuses on the compelling relationship at its center: the actress and her kidnapper literally struggling for power and desperate for love. The film's title line Tie Me Up! is unexpectedly uttered by the actress as a genuine request. She does not know if she will try to escape or not, and when she realizes she has feelings for her captor, she prefers not to be given a chance. In spite of some dark elements, Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! can be described as a romantic comedy, and the director's most clear love story, with a plot similar to William Wyler's thriller The Collector.

Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! made its world premiere at the Berlin Film Festival to a polarising critical reaction. It was decried by feminists and women's advocacy groups for what they perceived as the film's sadomasochist undertones, while others praised Almodóvar's ambition. In the US, the film received an X rating by the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), but the stigma attached to the X rating marginalised the distribution of the film in the country. Miramax, who distributed the film in the US, filed a lawsuit against the MPAA over the X rating, but lost in court. However, numerous other filmmakers had previously complained about the X rating given to their films. In September 1990, the MPAA dropped the X rating and replaced it with the NC-17 rating. This was especially helpful to films of explicit nature, like Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!, that were previously regarded unfairly as pornographic because of the X rating.

High Heels (1991)

High Heels (1991) is built around the fractured relationship between a famous torch song singer, Becky del Páramo (Marisa Paredes), and her news reporter daughter, Rebeca (Victoria Abril), as the pair get caught up in a murder mystery. Much of Almodóvar's film focuses on Rebeca's struggles of constantly being in her mother's shadow. The fact that Rebeca is married to Becky's former lover only adds to the tension between the two.

The film was partly inspired by old Hollywood mother-daughter melodramas like Stella Dallas, Mildred Pierce, Imitation of Life and particularly Autumn Sonata, which is quoted directly in the film. Production took place in 1990; Almodóvar enlisted Alfredo Mayo to shoot the film as Jose Luis Alcaine was unavailable. Japanese composer Ryuichi Sakamos created a score that infused popular songs and boleros; High Heels also contains an unexpected prison yard dance sequence.

While High Heels was a box office success in Spain, the film received poor reviews from Spanish film critics due to its melodramatic approach and unsuspecting tonal shifts. The film got a better critical reception in Italy and France and won France's César Award for Best Foreign Film. In the US, Miramax's lack of promotional effort was blamed for the film's underperformance in the country. It was however nominated for the Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film.

Kika (1993)

His next film Kika (1993) centres on the good-hearted, but clueless, makeup artist named Kika (Verónica Forqué) who gets herself tangled in the lives of an American writer (Peter Coyote) and his stepson (Àlex Casanovas). A fashion conscious TV reporter (Victoria Abril), who is constantly in search of sensational stories, follows Kika's misadventures. Almodóvar used Kika as a critique of mass media, particularly its sensationalism.The film is infamous for its rape scene that Almodóvar used for comic effect to set up a scathing commentary on the selfish and ruthless nature of media. Kika made its premiere in 1993 and received very negative reviews from film critics worldwide; not just for its rape scene which was perceived as both misogynistic and exploitative, but also for its overall sloppiness. Almodóvar would later refer to the film as one of his weakest works.

The Flower of My Secret (1995)

Almodóvar changed direction with The Flower of My Secret (1995). The story focuses on Leo Macias (Marisa Paredes), a successful romance writer who has to confront both a professional and personal crisis. Estranged from her husband, a military officer who has volunteered for an international peacekeeping role in Bosnia and Herzegovina to avoid her, Leo fights to hold on to a past that has already eluded her, not realising she has already set her future path by her own creativity and by supporting the creative efforts of others.

The Flower of My Secret also marked a change amongst Almodóvar's collaborators behind the scenes. Emerging composer Alberto Iglesias and cinematographer Affonso Beato became two key figures for him during this new period. The film premiered in Spain in 1995 where, despite receiving 7 Goya Award nominations, was not initially well received by critics. Despite this, The Flower of My Secret heralded a change in Almodóvar's filmography to a more mature period; it is the transitional film between his earlier and later style.

Live Flesh (1997)

Live Flesh (1997) was the first film by Almodóvar that had an adapted screenplay. Based on Ruth Rendell's novel Live Flesh, the film follows a man who is sent to prison after crippling a police officer and seeks redemption years later when he is released. Almodóvar decided to move the book's original setting of the UK to Spain, setting the action between the years 1970, when Franco declared a state of emergency, to 1996, when Spain had completely shaken off the restrictions of the Franco regime.

Almodóvar cast Javier Bardem as the police officer David and Liberto Rabal as Victor, the criminal seeking redemption. Italian actress Francesca Neri rounded out the cast in the part of a former junkie who sparks a complicated love triangle with David and Victor. Live Flesh also marked Almodóvar's first collaboration with Penélope Cruz.

Live Flesh premiered at the New York Film Festival in 1997 where it got an extremely positive reception from audiences and critics. The film did modestly well at the international box office and also earned Almodóvar his second BAFTA nomination for Best Film Not in the English Language.

All About My Mother (1999)

Almodóvar then continued to work in more serious dramatic confines, directing All About My Mother (1999). The film grew out of a brief scene in The Flower of My Secret. The premise revolves around a woman Manuela (Cecilia Roth), who loses her teenage son, Esteban (Eloy Azorín) in a tragic accident. Filled with grief, Manuela decides to track down Esteban's transgender father, Lola (Toni Cantó), and notify him about the death of the son he never knew he had. Along the way she encounters an old friend, Agrado (Antonia San Juan), and meets up with a pregnant nun, Rosa (Penélope Cruz). Together they form a life that has unexpected ramifications on them all. The multi-layered story explores the human need to find hope even in the worst circumstances.

The film revisited Almodóvar's familiar themes of the power of sisterhood and of family. Almodóvar shot parts of the film in Barcelona and used lush colors to emphasise the richness of the city. Dedicated to Bette Davis, Romy Schneider and Gena Rowlands, All About My Mother is steeped in theatricality, from its backstage setting to its plot, modeled on the works of Federico García Lorca and Tennessee Williams, to the characters' preoccupation with modes of performance. His love for American cinema was clearly evident as one of the film's key scenes, where Manuela watches her son die, was inspired by John Cassavetes' 1977 film Opening Night. The film's title is also a nod to All About Eve, which Manuela and her son are shown watching in the film. The comic relief of the film centers on Agrado, a pre-operative transsexual. In one scene, she tells the story of her body and its relationship to plastic surgery and silicone, culminating with a statement of her own philosophy: "you get to be more authentic the more you become like what you have dreamed of yourself."

All About My Mother opened to enormous success at the 1999 Cannes Film Festival, where Almodóvar won both the Best Director and the Ecumenical Jury prizes. The film garnered a strong critical reception and grossed over $67 million worldwide. All About My Mother has accordingly received more awards and honours than any other film in the Spanish motion picture industry, including Almodóvar's very first Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, the Golden Globe in the same category, the BAFTA Awards for Best Direction and Best Film Not in the English Language as well as 6 Goyas in his native Spain.

Talk to Her (2002)

After the success of All About My Mother, Almodóvar decided to take a break from filmmaking to focus on his production company El Deseo. During this break, Almodóvar had an idea for Talk to Her (2002), a film about two men, played by Javier Cámara and Darío Grandinetti, who become friends while taking care of the comatose women they love, played by Leonor Watling and Rosario Flores. Combining elements of modern dance and silent filmmaking with a narrative that embraces coincidence and fate, in the film, Almodóvar plots the lives of his characters, thrown together by unimaginably bad luck, towards an unexpected conclusion.

Talk to Her was released in April 2002 in Spain, followed by its international premiere at the Telluride Film Festival in September of that year. It was hailed by critics and embraced by arthouse audiences, particularly in America. The unanimous praise for Talk to Her resulted in Almodóvar winning his second Academy Award, this time for Best Original Screenplay, as well as being nominated in the Best Director category. The film also won the César Award for Best Film from the European Union and both the BAFTA Award and Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Talk to Her made over $51 million worldwide.

Bad Education (2004)

Two years later, Almodóvar followed with Bad Education (2004), a richly baroque tale of child sexual abuse and mixed identities, starring Gael García Bernal and Fele Martínez. In the drama film, two children, Ignacio and Enrique, discover love, cinema, and fear in a religious school at the start of the 1960s. Bad Education has a complex structure that not only uses film within a film, but also stories that open up into other stories, real and imagined to narrate the same story: A tale of child molestation and its aftermath of faithlessness, creativity, despair, blackmail and murder. Sexual abuse by Catholic priests, transsexuality, drug use, and a metafiction are also important themes and devices in the plot. Almodóvar used elements of film noir, borrowing in particular from Double Indemnity. The film's protagonist, Juan (Gael Garcia Bernal), was modeled largely on Patricia Highsmith's most famous character, Tom Ripley, as played by Alain Delon in René Clément's Purple Noon. A criminal without scruples, but with an adorable face that betrays nothing of his true nature. Almodóvar explains : "He also represents a classic film noir character - the femme fatale. Which means that when other characters come into contact with him, he embodies fate, in the most tragic and noir sense of the word." Almodóvar claimed he had been working on the film's screenplay for over ten years before starting the film.

Bad Education premiered in March 2004 in Spain before opening in the 57th Cannes Film Festival, the first Spanish film to do so, two months later. The film did modestly well upon its release, grossing more than $40 million worldwide, despite its NC-17 rating in the US. It won the GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Film - Limited Release and was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Film Not in the English Language; it also received 7 European Film Award nominations and 4 Goya nominations.

Volver (2006)

Volver (2006), a mixture of comedy, family drama and ghost story, is set in part in La Mancha (the director's native region) and follows the story of three generations of women in the same family who survive wind, fire, and even death. The film is an ode to female resilience, where men are literally disposable. Volver stars Penélope Cruz, Lola Dueñas, Blanca Portillo, Yohana Cobo and Chus Lampreave in addition to reunited the director with Carmen Maura, who had appeared in several of his early films.

The film was very personal to Almodóvar as he used elements of his own childhood to shape parts of the story. Many of the characters in the film were variations of people he knew from his small town. Using a colorful backdrop, the film tackled many complex themes such as sexual abuse, grief, secrets and death. The storyline of Volver appears as both a novel and movie script in Almodóvar's earlier film The Flower of My Secret. Many of Almodóvar's stylistic hallmarks are present: the stand-alone song (a rendition of the Argentinian tango song "Volver"), references to reality TV, and an homage to classic film (in this case Luchino Visconti's Bellissima).

Volver received a rapturous reception when it played at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival, where Almodóvar won the Best Screenplay prize while the entire female ensemble won the Best Actress prize. Penélope Cruz also received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress, making her the first Spanish woman ever to be nominated in that category. Volver went on to garner several critical accolades and earned more than £85 million internationally, becoming Almodóvar's highest-grossing film worldwide.

Broken Embraces (2009)

Almodóvar's next film, Broken Embraces (2009) a romantic thriller which centres on a blind novelist, Henry Caine (Lluís Homar), who uses his works to recount both his former life as a filmmaker, and the tragedy that took his sight. A key figure in Caine's past is the beautiful Lena (Penélope Cruz), an aspiring actress who gets embroiled in a love triangle with Caine and a paranoid millionaire, Ernesto (José Luis Gómez). The film has a fractured puzzling structure, mixing past and present and film within a film that Almodóvar explored previously in both Talk to Her and Bad Education.

Jose Luis Alcaine was unable to take part in the production, so Almodóvar hired Mexican cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto to shoot the film. Prieto's approach to shading and shadows helped to give the various time periods within Broken Embraces a very distinctive look. This was crucial as Almodóvar's narrative jumps back-and-forth between the early 1990s and the late 2000s. To accentuate the sense of tragedy and jealousy, Almodóvar infused music, ranging from Cat Power to Alberto Iglesias, that nicely captured the dark emotional tone.

Broken Embraces was accepted into the main selection at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival in competition for the Palme d'Or, his third film to do so and fourth to screen at the festival. The film made £30 million worldwide, and was nominated for both the BAFTA Award and Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

The Skin I Live In (2011)

Loosely based on the French novel Tarantula by Thierry Jonquet, The Skin I Live In (2011) is the director's first incursion into the physiological horror genre Inspired to make his own horror film, The Skin I Live In revolves around a plastic surgeon, Robert (Antonio Banderas), who becomes obsessed with creating skin that can withstand burns. Haunted by past tragedies, Robert believes that the key to his research is the patient who he mysteriously keeps prisoner in his mansion.

The film marked a long-awaited reunion between Almodóvar and Antonio Banderas, reunited after 21 years. Penélope Cruz was initially slated for the role of the captive patient Vera Cruz, but she was unable to take part as she was pregnant with her first child. As a result, Elena Anaya, who had appeared in Talk to Her, was cast.

The Skin I Live In has many cinematic influences, most notably the French horror film Eyes Without a Face directed by Georges Franju, but also refers to Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo, and the style of the films of David Cronenberg, Dario Argento, Mario Bava, Umberto Lenzi and Lucio Fulci while also paying tribute to the films of Fritz Lang and F. W. Murnau.

After making its premiere at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival to a rousing reception, reviews across the globe were extremely positive, and the film grossed $30 million worldwide. The Skin I Live In received the BAFTA Award for Best Film Not in the English Language and a Golden Globe nomination in the same category.

I'm So Excited (2013)

After a long period of dramatic and serious feature films, Almodóvar decided his next film would be a comedy. I'm So Excited (2013) is set almost entirely on an aircraft in flight, whose first-class passengers, pilots, and trio of gay stewards all try to deal with the fact that landing gears are malfunctioning. During the ordeal, they talk about love, themselves, and a plethora of things while getting drunk on Valencia cocktails. With its English title taken from a song by the Pointer Sisters, Almodóvar openly embraced the campy humor that was prominent in his early works.

The film's cast was a mixture of Almodóvar regulars such as Cecilia Roth, Javier Cámara, and Lola Dueñas, Blanca Suárez and Paz Vega as well as Antonio Banderas and Penélope Cruz who make cameo appearances in the film's opening scene. Shot on a soundstage, Almodóvar took great pleasure in the campy tone by incorporating a dance number and oddball characters like Dueñas' virginal psychic.

The film premiered in Spain in March 2013 and had its international release during the summer of that year. Despite mixed reviews from critics, the film did respectably well at the international box office.

Julieta (2016)

For his 20th feature film, Almodóvar decided to return to drama and his "cinema of women." Julieta (2016) stars Emma Suárez and Adriana Ugarte, who play the older and younger versions of the film's titular character, as well as regular Rossy de Palma, who has a supporting role in the film. The film was released in April 2016 in Spain to positive reviews and received its international debut at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival. It was Almodóvar's fifth film to compete for the Palme d'Or.

At the start of the film's release week, Pedro and Agustín Almodóvar were listed in the leak of the Panama Papers from the database of the offshore law firm Mossack Fonseca; their names showing up on the incorporation documents of a company based in the British Virgin Islands between 1991 and 1994. As a result, Pedro cancelled scheduled press, interviews and photocalls he had made for the release of Julieta in Spain. Agustín released a statement in which he declared himself fully responsible, saying that he has always took charge of financial matters while Pedro has been dedicated to the creative side and hoping that this would not tarnish his brother's reputation. He also stressed that the brothers have always abided by Spanish tax laws. "On the legal front there are no worries," he explained. "It's a reputation problem which I'm responsible for. I'm really sorry that Pedro has had to suffer the consequences. I have taken full responsibility for what has happened, not because I'm his brother or business partner, but because the responsibility is all mine. I hope that time will put things in its place. We are not under any tax inspection." The week after the film's release, Pedro gave an interview in which he stated that he knew nothing about the shares as financial matters were handled by his brother, Agustín. However, he emphasised that his ignorance was not an excuse and took full responsibility. Agustín later admitted that he believed Julieta's box office earnings in Spain suffered as a result, as the film reportedly had the worst opening of an Almodóvar film at the Spanish box office in 20 years.

Artistry

"Almodóvar has consolidated his own, very recognizable universe, forged by repeating themes and stylistic features," wrote Gerard A. Cassadó in Fotogramas, Spanish film magazine, in which the writer identified nine key features which recur in Almodóvar's films: homosexuality; sexual perversion; female heroines; sacrilegious Catholicism; lipsyncing; familial cameos; excessive kitsch and camp; narrative interludes; and intertextuality. June Thomas from Slate magazine also recognised that illegal drug use, letter-writing, spying, stalking, prostitution, rape, incest, transsexuality, vomiting, movie-making, recent inmates, car accidents and women urinating on screen are frequent motifs recurring in his work. Almodóvar has also been distinguished for his use of bold colours and inventive camera angles, as well as using "cinematic references, genre touchstones, and images that serve the same function as songs in a musical, to express what cannot be said." Elaborate décor and the relevance of fashion in his films are additionally important aspects informing the design of Almodóvar's mise-en-scène. Music is also a key feature; from pop songs to boleros to original compositions by Alberto Iglesias. While some criticise Almodóvar for obsessively returning to the same themes and stylistic features, others have applauded him for having "the creativity to remake them afresh every time he comes back to them." Internationally, Almodóvar has been hailed as an auteur by film critics, who have coined the term "Almodóvariano" (which would translate as Almodóvarian) to define his unique style.

Almodóvar has taken influences from various filmmakers, including figures in North American cinema, particularly old Hollywood directors George Cukor and Billy Wilder, and the underground, transgressive cinema of John Waters and Andy Warhol. The influence of Douglas Sirk's melodramas and the stylistic appropriations of Alfred Hitchcock are also present in his work. He also takes inspiration from figures in the history of Spanish cinema, including directors Luis García Berlanga, Fernando Fernán Gómez, Edgar Neville as well as dramatists Miguel Mihura and Enrique Jardiel Poncela; many also hail Almodóvar as "the most celebrated Spanish filmmaker since Luis Buñuel." Other foreign influences include filmmakers Ingmar Bergman, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Federico Fellini and Fritz Lang.

References to film and allusions to theatre, literature, dance, painting, television and advertising "are central to the world that Almodóvar constructs on screen." Film critic Jose Arroyo noted that Almodóvar "borrows indiscriminately from film history". Almodóvar has acknowledged that "cinema is always present in my films certain films play an active part in my scripts. When I insert an extract from a film, it isn't a homage but outright theft. It's part of the story I'm telling, and becomes an active presence rather than a homage which is always something passive. I absorb the films I've seen into my own experience, which immediately becomes the experience of my characters". Almodóvar has alluded to the work of many different artists and genres in his work; sometimes works have been referenced diagetically or evoked through less direct methods. Almodóvar has additionally made self-references to films within his own oeuvre.

Working with some of Spain's best-known actresses including Carmen Maura, Victoria Abril, Marisa Paredes and Penélope Cruz, Almodóvar has become famous for his female-centric films and "sympathetic portrayals of women". He was heavily influenced by classic Hollywood films in which everything happens around a female main character, and aims to continue in that tradition. Almodóvar has frequently spoken about how he was surrounded by powerful women in his childhood: "Women were very happy, worked hard and always spoke. They handed me the first sensations and forged my character. The woman represented everything to me, the man was absent and represented authority. I never identified with the male figure: maternity inspires me more paternity." His portrayal of women in his films have been admired by most critics, but some representations have led to accusations of misogyny. A critic from Popmatters wrote that what "many of the women in Almodóvar's films do have in common, despite their characterization as victim or martyr or heroine, is that they are survivors", noting that Almodóvar is interested in depicting women overcoming tragedies and adversities and the power of close female relationships. Ryan Vlastelica from AVClub wrote, "Many of his characters track a Byzantine plot to a cathartic reunion, a meeting where all can be understood, if not forgiven. They seek redemption." Almodóvar stated that he does not usually write roles for specific actors, but after casting a film, he custom-tailors the characters to suit the actors; he believes his role as a director is a "mirror for the actors - a mirror that can't lie".

Critics believe Almodóvar has redefined perceptions of Spanish cinema and Spain. Many typical images and symbols of Spain, such as bullfighting, gazpacho and flamenco, have been featured in his films; the majority of his films have also been shot in Madrid. Spanish people have been divided in their opinion of Almodóvar's work: while some believe that "Almodóvar has renegotiated what it means to be Spanish and reappropriated its ideals" in a post-Franco Spain, others are concerned with how their essence might be dismissed as "another quirky image from a somewhat exotic and colorful culture" to a casual foreigner. Almodóvar has however acknowledged: "y films are very Spanish, but on the other hand they are capriciously personal. You cannot measure Spain by my films." Almodóvar is generally better received by critics outside of Spain, particularly in France and the US.

Asked to explain the success of his films, Almodóvar says that they are very entertaining: "It's important not to forget that films are made to entertain. That's the key." He has also been noted for his tendency to shock audiences in his films by featuring outrageous situations or characters, which have served a political or commercial purpose to "tell viewers that if the people on the screen could endure these terrible travails and still communicate, so could they." Almodóvar believes all his films to be political, "even the most frivolous movie", but claimed that he had never attempted to pursue outright political causes or fight social injustice in his films; merely wanting to entertain and generate emotion. "I'm not a political director. As a filmmaker, my commitment was to want to create free people, completely autonomous from a moral point of view. They are free regardless of their social class or their profession", remarked Almodóvar. However, he admitted that in his earlier films, which were released just after Franco's death, he wanted to create a world on film in which Franco and his repression did not exist, thereby "providing a voice for Spain's marginalized groups".

Almodóvar has incorporated elements of underground and LGBT culture into mainstream forms with wide crossover appeal; academics have recognised the director's significance in queer cinema. Almodóvar dislikes being pigeonholed as a gay filmmaker, but Courtney Young from Pop Matters claimed that he has pushed boundaries by playing with the expectations of gender and sexuality, which places his work in the queer cinematic canon. Young also commented on Almodóvar's fluid idea of sexuality; within his films, LGBT characters do not need to come out as they are already sexually liberated, "enlivening the narrative with complex figures that move beyond trite depictions of the LGBTQI experience." She also wrote about the importance of the relationships between gay men and straight women in Almodóvar's films. In conclusion, Young stated, "Almodóvar is an auteur that designates the queer experience as he sees it the dignity, respect, attention, and recognition it so deserves."

Frequent collaborators

Almodóvar often casts certain actors in many of his films. Actors who have performed in his films 3 or more times in either lead, supporting or cameo roles include Chus Lampreave (8), Antonio Banderas (7), Carmen Maura (7), Cecilia Roth (7), Rossy de Palma (7), Penélope Cruz (5), Kiti Manver (5), Fabio MacNamara (5), Marisa Paredes (5), Julieta Serrano (5), Eva Siva (5), Lola Dueñas (4), Lupe Barrado (4), Victoria Abril (3) and Javier Cámara (3). Almodóvar is particularly noted for his work with Spanish actresses and they have become affectionately known as "chicas Almodóvar" (Almodóvar women).

After setting up El Deseo in 1986, Agustín Almodóvar, Pedro's brother, has produced all of his films since Law of Desire (1986). Esther García has also been involved in the production of Almodóvar films since 1986. Both of them regularly appear in cameo roles in their films. His mother, Francisca Caballero, made cameos in 4 films before she died.

Film editor José Salcedo has been responsible for editing all of Almodóvar's films since 1980 and cinematographer José Luis Alcaine has collaborated on a total of 6 films with Almodóvar, particularly his most recent films. Their earliest collaboration was on Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (1988); their most recent on I'm So Excited (2013). Angel Luis Fernández was responsible for cinematography in 5 of Almodóvar's earlier films in the 1980s, from Labyrinth of Passion (1982) until Law of Desire (1987). In the 1990s, Almodóvar collaborated with Alfredo Mayo on two films and Affonso Beato on three films.

Composer Bernardo Bonezzi wrote the music for 6 of his earlier films from Labyrinth of Passion (1982) until Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (1988). Since The Flower of My Secret (1995), Alberto Iglesias has composed the music for all of Almodóvar's films.

Art design on Almodóvar's films has invariably been the responsibility of Antxón Gomez in recent years, though other collaborators include Román Arango, Javier Fernández and Pin Morales. Almodóvar's frequent collaborators for costume design include José María de Cossío, Sonia Grande and Paco Delgado. Almodóvar has also worked with designers Jean Paul Gaultier and Gianni Versace on a few films.

Personal life

Almodóvar is gay and has been together with his boyfriend, actor and photographer Fernando Iglesias, since 2002. Almodóvar often casts him in small roles in his films. The pair live in separate houses in neighbouring districts of Madrid; Almodóvar in Argüelles and Iglesias in Malasaña. Almodóvar used to live on Calle O'Donnell on the eastern side of the city but moved to his €3 million apartment on El Paseo del Pintor Rosales in the west in 2007.

Filmography

Year	English title	Original title	Awards
1980	Pepi, Luci, Bom	Pepi, Luci, Bom y Otras Chicas del Montón
1982	Labyrinth of Passion	Laberinto de Pasiones
1983	Dark Habits	Entre Tinieblas
1984	What Have I Done to Deserve This?	Que he hecho yo para merecer esto
1986	Matador	Matador
1987	Law of Desire	La Ley del Deseo	Berlin International Film Festival—Teddy Award
1988	Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown	Mujeres al Borde de un Ataque de Nervios	David di Donatello for Best Foreign Director European Film Award for Best Young Film Goya Award for Best Film Goya Award for Best Original Screenplay National Board of Review Award for Best Foreign Language Film New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Foreign Language Film Venice Film Festival—Golden Osella Nominated—Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film Nominated—BAFTA Award for Best Film not in the English Language Nominated—David di Donatello for Best Foreign Film Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film
1990	Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!	¡Átame!	Nominated—Berlin International Film Festival—Golden Bear Nominated—César Award for Best Foreign Film Nominated—Goya Award for Best Film Nominated—Goya Award for Best Director Nominated—Goya Award for Best Original Screenplay
1991	High Heels	Tacones Lejanos	César Award for Best Foreign Film Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film
1993	Kika	Kika
1995	The Flower of My Secret	La Flor de Mi Secreto	Nominated—Goya Award for Best Director
1997	Live Flesh	Carne Trémula	Nominated—BAFTA Award for Best Film not in the English Language Nominated—British Independent Film Award for Best International Independent Film Award Nominated—Satellite Award for Best Foreign Language Film
1999	All About My Mother	Todo Sobre Mi Madre	Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film BAFTA Award for Best Film not in the English Language Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Foreign Film British Independent Film Award for Best International Independent Film Award Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Foreign Language Film Cannes Film Festival—Prix de la mise en scène Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Foreign Language Film César Award for Best Foreign Film David di Donatello for Best Foreign Film European Film Award for Best Film Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film Goya Award for Best Film Goya Award for Best Director Guldbagge Award for Best Foreign Film London Film Critics Circle Award for Foreign Language Film of the Year Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Foreign Language Film National Board of Review Award for Best Foreign Language Film New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Foreign Language Film Satellite Award for Best Foreign Language Film Nominated—BAFTA Award for Best Original Screenplay Nominated—Cannes Film Festival—Palme d'Or Nominated—Goya Award for Best Original Screenplay Nominated—Independent Spirit Award for Best Foreign Film Nominated—Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Film Not in the English Language
2002	Talk to Her	Hable Con Ella	Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay BAFTA Award for Best Film not in the English Language BAFTA Award for Best Original Screenplay Bangkok International Film Festival Award for Best Film César Award for Best Film from the European Union European Film Award for Best Film European Film Award for Best Director European Film Award for Best Screenwriter Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film Goya Award for Best Film Goya Award for Best Director Goya Award for Best Original Screenplay Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Director National Board of Review Award for Best Foreign Language Film San Diego Film Critics Society Award for Best Foreign Language Film Satellite Award for Best Original Screenplay Satellite Award for Best Foreign Language Film Vancouver Film Critics Circle Award for Best Non-English Language Feature Nominated—Academy Award for Best Director Nominated—British Independent Film Award for Best International Independent Film Award Nominated—Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Foreign Language Film Nominated—Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Foreign Language Film Nominated—David di Donatello for Best Foreign Film Nominated—London Film Critics Circle Award for Director of the Year Nominated—London Film Critics Circle Award for Foreign Language Film of the Year Nominated—Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Foreign Language Film Nominated—New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Film Nominated—New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Director Nominated—New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Foreign Language Film Nominated—Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Film Not in the English Language Nominated—Satellite Award for Best Director
2004	Bad Education	La Mala Educación	National Board of Review Award for Best Foreign Language Film New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Foreign Language Film Nominated—BAFTA Award for Best Film not in the English Language Nominated—César Award for Best Film from the European Union Nominated—European Film Award for Best Film Nominated—European Film Award for Best Director Nominated—European Film Award for Best Screenwriter Nominated—Goya Award for Best Film Nominated—Goya Award for Best Director Nominated—Independent Spirit Award for Best Foreign Film Nominated—London Film Critics Circle Award for Foreign Language Film of the Year Nominated—Satellite Award for Best Foreign Language Film
2006	Volver	Volver	Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Screenplay European Film Award for Best Director Goya Award for Best Film Goya Award for Best Director London Film Critics Circle Award for Foreign Language Film of the Year National Board of Review Award for Best Foreign Language Film Satellite Award for Best Foreign Language Film Vancouver Film Critics Circle Award for Best Non-English Language Feature Nominated—BAFTA Award for Best Film not in the English Language Nominated—Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Foreign Film Nominated—British Independent Film Award for Best International Independent Film Award Nominated—Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Foreign Language Film Nominated—Cannes Film Festival—Palme d'Or Nominated—Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Foreign Language Film Nominated—César Award for Best Foreign Film Nominated—Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Award for Best Foreign Language Film Nominated—European Film Award for Best Film Nominated—European Film Award for Best Director Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film Nominated—Goya Award for Best Original Screenplay Nominated—London Film Critics Circle Award for Film of the Year Nominated—London Film Critics Circle Award for Director of the Year Nominated—Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Foreign Language Film Nominated—New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Foreign Language Film Nominated—Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Film Not in the English Language Nominated—Satellite Award for Best Director Nominated—Satellite Award for Best Original Screenplay Nominated—Toronto Film Critics Association Award for Best Foreign Language Film
2009	Broken Embraces	Los Abrazos Rotos	Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Foreign Language Film Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Foreign Language Film Satellite Award for Best Foreign Language Film Nominated—BAFTA Award for Best Film not in the English Language Nominated—Cannes Film Festival—Palme d'Or Nominated—Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Foreign Language Film Nominated—Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Award for Best Foreign Language Film Nominated—European Film Award for Best Director Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film Nominated—Goya Award for Best Original Screenplay Nominated—New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Foreign Language Film Nominated—Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Film Not in the English Language Nominated—Vancouver Film Critics Circle Award for Best Non-English Language Feature Nominated—Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Award for Best Foreign Language Film
2011	The Skin I Live In	La piel que habito	BAFTA Award for Best Film not in the English Language Florida Film Critics Circle Award for Best Foreign Language Film Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Foreign Language Film Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Award for Best Foreign Language Film Nominated—British Independent Film Award for Best International Independent Film Award Nominated—Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Foreign Language Film Nominated—Cannes Film Festival—Palme d'Or Nominated—Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Foreign Language Film Nominated—Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Award for Best Foreign Language Film Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film Nominated—Goya Award for Best Film Nominated—Goya Award for Best Director Nominated—Goya Award for Best Original Screenplay Nominated—London Film Critics Circle Award for Foreign Language Film of the Year Nominated—New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Foreign Language Film Nominated—Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Film Not in the English Language
2013	I'm So Excited	Los amantes pasajeros
2016	Julieta	Julieta	Nominated—Cannes Film Festival—Palme d'Or

[ Source: Wikipedia ]