Synopsis: Although the kinky characters and
the abnormal social behavior that has become a common feature in
the work of Pedro Almodóvar are evident in his 'Women on the
Verge of a Nervous Breakdown', the film is a mocking of the grand
tradition. The setting for this tale is a miniature apartment of a
pregnant actress Carmen Maura. Distressed over her fresh breakup
with her lover, she prepares to overdose herself on sleeping
pills. She blends them into a gazpacho so she would be able to
swallow them more easily. When Carmen's apartment is empty, her
ex-lover's son, Antonio Banderas, comes to the apartment with his
fiancé who eats the gazpacho and the problems begin.
This film is particularly
important because it was set among the post-Franco bourgeoisies.
Spain was no longer under Franco's control and Pedro made his
movie everything Franco would have hated- feminist, sexual and
teasing. "It is painless sexual politics, a fiendish comedy
full of prickles and pain and the bright shiny pinks of a
matador's cape." The Washington Post "Good production
values, crisp lensing, fine editing and mock-heroic music all
add up to a thoroughly enjoyable film." Variety
"Gorging on the bad, bad world of TV soap operas, tabloid
news and those Roy Lichtenstein cartoons where anguished women
lament their lives with "Brad," Spanish director Pedro
Almodóvar gets a wonderful rise out of life's lows in Women on
the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown." The Washington Post
"In this glossy delight, it's as if Doris Day had been
brought forward in time and confronted with the consequences of
living in sin." The Washington Post
