September
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JULIETA (15)
JULIETA (15)
Director: Pedro Almodóvar
Run time 96 minutes
Cast:Emma Suárez, Adriana Ugarte, Daniel Grao,Inma Cuesta,Michelle Jenner,Darío Grandinetti,Rossy de Palma
Synopsis: Julieta lives in Madrid and is about to move to Portugal with Lorenzo. In a chance encounter on the street with her daughter Antía’s childhood friend Beatriz, she learns that Antía, from whom she has long been estranged, is living in Switzerland and has three children. Overcome by her need to re-establish contact with Antía, she abandons her plans to leave Spain and instead leases an apartment in the building elsewhere in Madrid where she raised Antía, knowing that address is Antía’s only means of contacting her.
URL: http://julietafilm.com/showtimes
For his twentieth feature the brilliant Spanish director has transposed to Spain three short stories-“Chance”, “Soon” and “Silence”, from the book Runaway (2004) by Alice Munro.
Cultured academic Julieta (Emma Suárez) lives in Madrid and is about to move to Portugal with Lorenzo (Darío Grandinetti). In a chance encounter on the street with her daughter Antía’s childhood friend Beatriz, she learns that Antía, from whom she has long been estranged, is living in Switzerland and has three children. Overcome by her need to re-establish contact with Antía, she abandons her plans to leave Spain and instead leases an apartment in the building elsewhere in Madrid where she raised Antía.
Anticipating word from Antía, and aware that she owes her daughter an explanation of the events that led to their separation, Julieta fills a journal with an account of her life as mother, wife, and daughter. She begins with the story of two pivotal incidents on a train when she meets Xoan (Daniel Grao), who will become her husband and Antía’s father.
An extended flashback to the 1980’s, to the life of the younger Julieta (Adriana Ugarte) proceeds from the night Antía is conceived through childhood friendships and family crises to her emancipation at the age of 18, followed by Julieta’s years alone and her relationship with Lorenzo. In the present once more, her journal completed, her story finds an ending.
A ravishing study of love and loss from one of contemporary cinema’s great auteurs, Almodovar presents an exquisite study of a mother-daughter relationship tested through trying times.
Returning to the more sombre tone of early films like the 1995 The Flower of My Secret and with echoes of Hitchcock and Patricia Highsmith, Amodovar once again celebrates his particular theme with powerful emotional insights and empathy into the interior lives of women.
The talented ensemble of actors features many Almodovar favourites including Rossy de Palma.
Almodovar’s trademark brilliant and bold visuals reflect the themes of guilt, grief, loss and separation which are also echoed in a wonderful score from Alberto Iglesias. Filming locations in Madrid, Galicia, Andalucia are ravishingly depicted in cinematography from Jean-Claude Larrieu.
Julieta is an elegant and in every way memorable film.
Images courtesy of Pathe UK
