Viva Pedro Part One: Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown

Viva Pedro: Part One
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown ***1/2

Sony Pictures Classics is releasing eight films by the great Mexican director, Pedro Almodovar, the director of countless great films. Now, with this eight week retrospective of eight of his films, I can slowly begin to unravel myself to the strange and unusual mind of Pedro Almodovar. At the end of the series, the release of his newest film "Volver" will hit the United States, and will slowly be released throughout the country during the holiday season. This eight part series begins with "Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown," originally released in 1988.

"Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown" is a wacky, zany, offbeat, and very dark comedy, set in the world of love affairs, voice dubbings, and real estate. We begin with Pepa, an actress whose plays the mother of a serial criminal on a television show. Her lover, Ivan, has left her, and now she wants to find out why he did it. He calls her to speak with her for the last time, but a dose of sleeping pills left her out of it, until the very end of the telephone call. By the time she picks up, his receptionist informs her that he is gone. Pepa goes to his apartment to leave him a note, but the note is found by Ivan's wife, who always suspects her husband of cheating. Pepa's friend, Candela, comes into town for a visit, at the worst of possible times, because she is scared that the police are chasing her down for her housing potential terrorists in her home. Pepa goes to see a lawyer about what Candela should do in her situation, only to find that the lawyer is Ivan's newest lover. And then, Ivan's son, Carlos, comes to Pepa's apartment to try and find a house to rent. Paths cross, leading up to final car chase worthy of one of the funniest scenes put on film.

"Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown" is very dark comedy, and a perfect screwball romance: the type that could have been made back in the 50's, even though a little cleaner, and would have been a huge hit. I can see Spencer Tracy as Ivan and Katherine Hepburn as Pepa. But it won't have the visual stint that makes it so memorable. Almodovar uses splashy colors and bright visuals to tell his tale. In a way, this makes it even darker, begins the entire setting looks so happy and carefree, that the violence, jealousy, and cat fights inside are exactly the opposite. It's never dull, and it's set a certain standard for dark humor. It's also alot of fun seeing Antonio Banderas, sporting an Eraserhead like haircut, and thick glasses. He looks like a nerd, which is the exact opposite of any character that he plays from here on end. And as every female character is introduced, a new problem is presented, and they are all thrown closer and closer into the deep end. And sooner or later, every single one of them pops. I loved every single minute of this tale, and could have enjoyed another half hour of these women, plotting and scheming, and being led from place to place, all ending up in a full circle, if they are sane or not being the main question.

"Viva Pedro" continues in two weeks with "All About My Mother."