Pain and Glory Analysis

Pain and Glory

Written & Directed by: Pedro Almodovar

Starring: Antonio Banderas

Nominated for Palme d'Or at Cannes 2019, Won Best Actor and Best Soundtrack at Cannes, Nominated for Best International Feature at Oscars 2020.

This film is about a film maker who introspects his past and the choices he made, the log line reminded me of Woody Allen's Stardust Memories. It was clear that it comes from a very personal space. Films like these, which are semi auto-biographical can be intimate and interesting. The film makers can either write how they'd have wanted their life to be, or they can write some alternate realities of their life if they'd have made different choices or they can write about their regrets and the deep pain to just let it out. It felt like Pain and Glory was all of the above. You can take films like Pelli Choopulu and Arjun Reddy, they also feel like they come from a personal space. With these films, I'm not sure if self indulgence can help to enhance authenticity as the film maker has already felt what he/she is writing or if it makes the film maker turn a blind eye to the relevance of the film to the audience.

The film has a non-linear narrative, he uses it to create emotional coherence. In the main plot, we see a film maker who is in pain, both mental and physical. His physical pain is demonstrated through digital graphics and voice over, explaining his ailments and his mental pain is explored throughout the film. The core conflict of the film is, Salvador played by an intense Antonio Banderas, not finding a purpose in life if he isn't able to make films. He doesn't want to write, if he can't film. I was reminded of the Iranian film maker Jafar Panahi who was banned by the Iranian government to write screenplays, direct films or to travel anywhere else in the world. It is practically death to a film maker. There are a lot of subplots, themes and characters explored in this film, through the reminiscence of Salvador's life. We can gauge how normal drug usage is in this world when we see that the characters know the difference between cocaine and heroin. Salvador tries heroin and whenever he snorts they cut to a scene from his past. The cut points feel so natural that it doesn't feel like a complex narrative, where you have to establish through text saying Salvador's childhood. This is also done well in both, Pelli Choopulu and Arjun Reddy.

The cinematographer Jose Luis Alcaine, is 81 and he was the first to use fluorescent tube as a source of key lighting. He's also been a long time collaborator with Pedro Almodovar. This film is visually aesthetic, they use strong colors in scenes either in the sets or props or costumes. The white in his childhood in the background, there was red in a lot of scenes and the visuals have a dream like quality to them. It is done in a recognizable way, it has the signature. I can recall of All About My Mother (1999) which also had these sensibilities in the visuals. The visuals are so strong that, the editor has a lot of freedom. The editor need not find a proper way to cut a close to a mid or a wide, the editor can cut a close on a close because the visuals are so vibrant and strong, the audience can easily subconsciously decipher the change in location and setting. Scenes with conversations are mostly shot on close ups/wide angle shots of each actor edited in a shot, reverse shot style; a technique used frequently by the Coen Brothers. They use it to create a sense of pacing and to make the characters look funny, even if they are in trouble or if they are bad people. They use it as a tool of creating black comedy. Here, they use it to enhance drama in the conversations and it can only be done if the actors are brilliant because even a slight movement gets captured.

I was curious about Antonio Banderas' performance after the Cannes Best Actor Award and the Academy Award nomination. The performance in solidarity didn't as much strike me, I think performances can be more appreciated if you watch the other works of an actor to see how they can play different people. I've seen some films where an actor was excellent in a film but in other films, the actor struggled to fit in. Some actors desperately try to show contrast by either over performing some parts or by doing films in entirely different settings. One actor whose performance struck me in two films was Shadab Hosseini's in A Separation and The Salesman; because he brought that contrast in characters through subtle nuances in his performance.