Film
Pain and Glory
- Director
- Pedro Almodovar
- Certificate
- 15
- Running Time
- 113 mins
The great Pedro Almodovar reunites with Antonio Banderas and Penélope Cruz for this much-acclaimed, unusually meditative and semi-autobiographical drama – his 21st film, fact fans – which bagged the former the Best Actor gong at Cannes.
Banderas plays an ailing, past-his-prime, sixtysomething Madrid filmmaker whose big 1980s arthouse hit is being revived for a celebratory screening, at which he’s due to participate in a Q&A alongside the film’s star (Asier Etxeandia). Trouble is, they had a massive falling out while shooting the masterpiece and haven’t spoken since. Cue: a series of Proustian recollections in this moving, beautifully crafted love letter to cinema itself, which has been described as Almodovar’s Cinema Paradiso. Incidentally, in case you’re wondering how Penélope Cruz (45) could play the mother of Antonio Banderas (58), it’s because she only appears in the filmmaker’s memories.
Our newsletters emailed directly to you
