The most important idea presented in the Spanish movie Pain and Glory (pain and glory) is, is the art negatively affected by the pain of the artist? A character is mocked in the movie when the question was asked of her, who is a middle-aged director. He was invited to attend the re-release ceremony of a movie that he presented 30 years ago. He was not appreciated at the time, but he won the required appreciation over the following years.
Art is one of the few professions that are not negatively affected by pain, and it is known that the best artists translated their pain through their arts, and we read a lot that filmmakers inspired their pain to make their films. Or distort it.
The film was written and directed by Pedro Almodovar, owner of "Everything About My Mom", which won the Best Foreign Film Oscar of 1999, which comes back this year to compete in the same category. The treatment style in the film suggests one fact, that only a professional filmmaker can achieve something special like this, which is a very personal film, leading his Mexican star, Antonio Banderas, in his best performance during his cinematic career, and nominates him as the best actor in many cinematic forums, the last of which Golden Globe. The decision to choose Banderas for the role of Salvador Malo, in a film about the director himself, mixes fiction with reality in a very interesting way, especially since the choice of Banderas came after the appearance of the latter in a number of director films, including «Matador» and «Tai Mi Up! Tae-Mi Down! ”, And“ The Skin I Live In ”, in other words .. nobody understands Almodovar as Banderas has worked with him for three decades.
When "pain and glory" begins in the 1960s, we see a priest in a Catholic school asking a promising student about his taste for art. The student replies: I love the Beatles and Cinema, the priest resents and says: Here we will develop your taste and direct it to non-worldly interests.
The movie goes back to the present time, and we see a famous director who is reunited with an actor who was a star made by the director himself. Seeing Banderas in the role is a clear sign that the director is referring to himself, but does the character of Alberto Crespo (Asier Achendi) refer to Banderas himself in the past? Or to someone in the life of the director? Or to pure imagination?
Mostly she is a group of people who worked with and directed the director closely, the important thing is that the film depicts a dispute between them, Malu is dissatisfied with Crespo's work in the film mentioned 30 years ago, and accuses him that his performance was the result of his heroin addiction. At the moment, they meet in an open session to answer the questions of their fans and are interested in the new release, Malo is at this time ill, and at the beginning of the film he explained the group of diseases that he suffers, but he decides to try heroin! This is the story of a person trying to get into his past to get what is present or inspires him, a movement that is not necessarily correct but many artists do it, which is very dangerous and inevitably leads to addiction and death, as happened with a number of movie stars.
It is not a story of addiction, although it begins with addiction, but it goes in unexpected directions, all intersecting Malo's memories of his childhood, the events that shaped him, and his parents' struggle to provide him with the best environment, despite the conditions of poverty in Valencia, Spain during the days of General Franco's rule. In retrospective scenes, Penelope Cruz plays Malo's mother, who is eager to raise her son and is afraid of him, who reassures him repeatedly that everything will be fine, even though they live in a cave.
The most beautiful part in retrospective scenes, teaching Salvador to read and write a worker comes to help turn the cave into a home. One of the most beautiful scenes of Salvador's relationship with his mother is the sight of her visit when she is very old (performed by Juliet Serrano), and it reflects with the scene of the mother and her child mentioned above, where she tells him while she is old: She was never a good son! A scene that carries a lot of pain, especially when the mother is not satisfied. We have to estimate that the entire film is about the relationship of an author and actor, and we have to appreciate that the trust that brings the two together made a personal film without serving the interests of either.
There is a long history of filmmakers who portray their personal experiences in life in their films, and how they come to terms with their past. "Pain and Glory" can be compared to "Eight and a half" by Frederico Fellini, and The 400 Blows by Francois Truffaut. Almodovar was never shy about telling stories in his life, especially about the women around him, but this particular film carries a great deal of sadness and pain.
This is due to the way he places himself in the middle of the movie, not as an observer or as a cinematic memory, but as a hero who lives the experience, he asks questions about the nature of life and art, questions that many filmmakers asked before him, not as sarcastic as his previous films, but he is balanced in the distribution of characters.
There is perceived and mutual trust between Almodovar and Banderas, and the close friendship between them has affected Banderas's performance exceptionally that no other actor can do, the film may be a digression of some of the many details and layers and jumping between two timelines, but the structure of the text is interesting, not difficult to understand Or follow-up, although it does not answer all questions and does not put points on all letters. Without spoiling anything on those who wanted to watch the movie, the best scene is the last one, as Malo discovers a piece of art that would not have been made for his mother and mother, and the scene ends with the unexpected and charming birth of another scene. Yes, pain may constitute art, but it also documents beauty in a way that no other external factor does.
To view this topic in full, please click on this link.
Art is one of the few professions that is not negatively affected by pain, and the best artists have translated their pain through their arts.
The entire film is about the relationship of an author and actor, and we have to appreciate that the trust that brings the two together made a personal film without serving either of their interests.