Tracker Pixel for Entry

​Almodovar: Eternally Maternal in ‘Parallel Mothers’

Cinema | January 31st, 2022

By Greg Carlson

gregcarlson1@gmail.com

In “Parallel Mothers,” the excellent melodrama from master filmmaker Pedro Almodovar, Penelope Cruz’s Janis Martinez wears a Dior shirt emblazoned with the hopeful thought that “We should all be feminists.” Grouches might say the touch is too on-the-nose, but fans know it’s on-brand and heartfelt. The director, now in his early 70s, has built one of the great bodies of work over the past decades by making so many films that take a deep and curious interest in the lives of women.

When Taschen first published the Paul Duncan and Barbara Peiro-edited Almodovar addition to their massive Archives series, I thought, “Too soon!” This is an artist who still has some of his finest movies ahead of him. The volume has already been updated once. Taschen better prepare to do it again.

Cruz has forged a lasting partnership with Almodovar, and “Parallel Mothers” – their seventh movie together – is arguably the most satisfying collaboration. Janis is a successful photographer who lives in a signature Almodovar flat in Madrid: a perfectly-appointed dwelling adorned with vibrant objets d’art, bold splashes of color, and a gorgeous collection of glass vases, all situated within the mid-century modern aesthetic favored by the filmmaker.

But as attuned as he is to style, Almodovar appreciates and respects substance. While jaw-dropping twists of fate and unbelievable coincidences have provided highlights in many Almodovar movies, thematic expressions of powerful ideas keep us returning to the Pedroverse.

Almodovar makes it look easy. The opening of “Parallel Mothers” – without ever feeling truncated or rushed – rockets through weeks of backstory and exposition in minutes, explaining how Janis meets Arturo (Israel Elejalde), a forensic archeologist whose work for the Association for the Recovery of Historical Memory links him to Janis’s desire to exhume remains that could belong to her great-grandfather, who was killed by Franco loyalists. After a brief affair, Janis becomes pregnant. Making a decision that lays out one of the central motifs of the film, Janis informs the married Arturo that she will be raising the child on her own.

We meet Ana (Milena Smit) in the maternity unit of the hospital where Janis prepares for delivery. Ana is also pregnant, although her own circumstances are not as comfortable as the ones in which Janis operates. Ana’s pregnancy is the result of a sexual assault and her father has more or less disowned her.

As you may expect in a narrative of absent men, our protagonists become parallel mothers to newborn daughters. Ana will eventually go to work for Janis as a live-in nanny and their relationship will be intertwined in several surprising, even shocking, ways. Almodovar delights in exploring the generational gap between Ana and Janis, who is old enough to be Ana’s mom.

The strings of the partially Bernard Herrmann-influenced score by Almodovar regular Alberto Iglesias conjure up Hitchcockian intrigue and supply another element that invites the viewer to connect with “Parallel Mothers.” Almodovar frequently scrutinizes the ways in which the past interacts with and intrudes upon the present. His keen sense of pacing and timing can take on the contours favored by the Master of Suspense.

Underneath the mayhem, Hitchcock – like Almodovar – also understood that human reactions to extraordinary circumstances would be the point of intersection allowing audience members to identify with the characters in his films. 

Recently in:

By Alicia Underlee Nelsonalicia@hpr1.com Ten North Dakota communities will participate in the nationwide No Kings Day of Peaceful Action on October 18. The grassroots movement is a nonviolent protest against President Trump’s…

By Michael M. Millermichael.miller@ndsu.edu I would like to recognize some of the scholarly Germans from Russia from Canada and USA shared on the GRHC website. There are additional names not included here. If you have suggestions…

Friday, October 31, doors 8 p.m. show starts at 8:30 p.m.The Aquarium above Dempey’s, 226 N. Broadway, FargoThe annual Aquarium Halloween Cover Show is back and it is stacked. And this time there are a limited amount of presale…

By Sabrina Hornungsabrina@hpr1.com At the end of September, downtown Fargo said goodbye to another old friend; the Spirit Room closed its doors, marking the end of an era. The Spirit Room room has been a fixture downtown for the…

By Ed Raymondfargogadfly@gmail.comAnother public health crisis besides guns: lack of empathyThe Sisters of Charity have finally had enough of their Trumper boss, Roman Catholic Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York. One of the most…

By Rick Gionrickgion@gmail.com Holiday wine shopping shouldn’t have to be complicated. But unfortunately it can cause unneeded anxiety due to an overabundance of choices. Don’t fret my friends, we once again have you covered…

By Rick Gion and Nichole Hensenrickgion@gmail.com The wait is finally over. Those who have visited Nichole’s Fine Pastry & Cafe lately know about the recent major additions and renovations that have taken place over the past…

By Sabrina Hornungsabrina@hpr1.com Dakotah Faye is a hip-hop artist from Minot, North Dakota, and he’s had a busy year. He’s released two albums. This summer he opened for Tech N9ne in Sturgis and will be opening for Bone…

By Greg Carlsongregcarlson1@gmail.comNoémie Merlant, working from a script she wrote with Pauline Munier and her “Portrait of a Lady on Fire” collaborator Celine Sciamma, directs herself in “The Balconettes” (the…

By Sabrina Hornungsabrina@hpr1.com Gallery 4 downtown recently celebrated its 50 year anniversary, making it one of the longest consecutively running galleries in the country. With different membership tiers, there are 17 primary…

Press release“Shakespeare with a sharpened edge.” To launch its 2025 – 2026 season, Theatre NDSU is thrilled to team up with Moorhead-based organization Theatre B to perform a co-production of Shakespeare’s “Romeo and…

By Annie Prafckeannieprafcke@gmail.com AUSTIN, Texas – As a Chinese-American, connecting to my culture through food is essential, and no dish brings me back to my mother’s kitchen quite like hotdish. Yes, you heard me right –…

By Sabrina Hornungsabrina@hpr1.comNew Jamestown Brewery Serves up Local FlavorThere’s something delicious brewing out here on the prairie and it just so happens to be the newest brewery west of the Red River and east of the…

By Ellie Liveranieli.liverani.ra@gmail.com When we are sick, all we want is a cure. You go to the doctor, they give you a pill, you take it for a bit, then you are cured. It happens. But unfortunately, it is not always the case. …

By Alicia Underlee NelsonProtests against President Trump’s policies and the cuts made by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) are planned across North Dakota and western Minnesota Friday, April 4 and…

By Vern Thompsonvern.thompson@rocketmail.comMoral accountability and the crisis of leadership  As a recovering person living one day at a time for the last 35 years, I have learned not to judge others because I have not walked in…