Sadly, Almodovar fails to convince in this colourful depiction of a version of his own life. He knows his own story. We know some of his story. We know who he has worked with. We know, and can guess what things interest him. However, in this venture he has forgotten that there is an audience who wants to be drawn into a story, to be entertained, to be mesmerized into embodying a character that appeals etc. We learn too late in this film that the scenes depicting the film director's ( the character Salvador Mallo), early life as a child with Cruz playing his idealized mother are, in fact, the filmed within film sequences showing the output of the aforementioned Mallo. The clunky dialogue and slightly off scripting may have been intended to demonstrate Mallo's declining skills but, they instead convey poor story development by Almodovar. Whilst portraying elements of his own childhood and the icons and memories important to himself (Almodovar), he puts the filmic point of view inside the non-feeling camera. This is an error. The camera has an operator, after all, and the film a director and an editor. We see none of these performing their functions relative to the scenes of filming incorporated into the whole. Other than for Almodovar fans and film buffs determined to winkle out fine details, a casual viewer will come from watching this completely nonplussed as to what they have just seen.
Review of Pain and Glory
