Pedro Almodovar has been making great films for such a long time that he is starting to be taken for granted by critics and moviegoers. The shock now would be if he made a dud.
For more than two decades, the Spanish director has put out one memorable movie after another, and his new picture, “Broken Embraces,” maintains his consistently high level of achievement.
The 60-year-old native of La Mancha made his first feature film in 1980 (“Pepi, Luci, Born y otras chicas del monton”), but he didn’t really break through internationally until “Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown” opened in 1988.
The success of that movie at the New York Film Festival and in art houses across the country led to the U.S. re-release of two very strong earlier Almodovar movies — “Law of Desire” (1987) and “Matador” (1986).
Since the late 1980s, Almodovar has won two Academy Awards — an original screenplay prize for “Talk to Her” (2002) and the best foreign language film Oscar for “All About My Mother” (1999) — and delivered such modern masterpieces as “Volver” (2006) and “Bad Education” (2004).
Almodovar has also advanced the international careers of the Spanish actors Antonio Banderas and Javier Bardem — who received early career boosts from the filmmaker— and, of course, Penelope Cruz, who has been the director’s muse in recent years. Cruz was a rare recipient of a best actress Oscar nomination for a foreign language performance for her work in “Volver” and she stars in “Broken Embraces.”
Almodovar has resisted the temptation to make movies in the United States (Jane Fonda tried and failed to lure him here for an English version of “Women on the Verge” 20 years ago). The director’s dedication to his work and his ability to explore new and personal material in each movie sets him apart from American peers like Martin Scorsese and Brian DePalma who have been spinning their wheels since they moved into the Hollywood mainstream.
“Broken Embraces” digs into some of the same themes as earlier Almodovar pictures — the difference between moviemaking and “real life,” the dangers of obsessive romantic love — but the gay filmmaker examines heterosexual relationships with a new depth and seriousness.
In an age when global corporations have absorbed much of the international filmmaking scene — stripping a lot of “foreign” films of their regional identity — Almodovar has managed to continue making films his way in his country for more than two decades. His persistence is as impressive as his artistry.
(“Broken Embraces” is playing at the Sunshine Cinemas and the Lincoln Plaza in Manhattan. The film is set to open in Connecticut later this month.)
