Looking back over my picks since 2015, I have used Metropolis 3 times!! My apologies for this, I had no idea.
This weeks' picks were Suggested by Wendell! I thought this week I would be bowled over for choice but all I had trouble with was which Pedro Almodóvar film to pick. I thought I should have varied choices so it’s just the one from Pedro and a couple of others that stood out for me. Don't forget to check out what
Wandering Through the Shelves picked, the blog that started Thursday Movie Picks
Spanish Affair
I loved this film, even if it was, dare I say, more relevant to the Spanish. I saw this at the BFI Film Festival in 2014 (if you fancy it, you can read my post
here) and it was then never released in the UK. Luckily it had been the second biggest box office hit in Spain so of course I found it on Amazon, complete with English subtitles. A comedy about an Andalusian (Southern Spain) guy who falls for and follows a Basque country girl home. After a few mishaps, he has to pretend he is also Basque in order not to enrage her father who happens to hate Andalusians. Its very Spanish but I loved it. It was so popular in Spain that there is even a sequel which I have put on my wish list on Amazon.
Bad Education
This is my Pedro pick. How could I resist Gael Garcia Bernal? It's actually a brilliant, complicated and tragic plot. Two school friends and lovers are reunited after years apart and decide to work together on a film, written by one, director by the other. But there are other mysteries left hanging in the air. With a story that involves a murder mystery, sexual abuse by Catholic priests, drag shows, drug abuse and wonderfully played out metafiction, this film, I'd say is one of Pedro's best. But it always seems to be over looked.
Jamon Jamon
Ham. Ham and a metaphor Spain, apparently, that's what this film is about. For me, its about lust, desire, infidelity, lies and ham, of course. Wealthy Jose is in love with factory worker Silvia, who is pregnant with his child. Conchita, Jose's mum, isn't happy about this union so she hires model, Raul to break the couple up. But after failing to get Silvia's attention, he genuinely falls in love with her. By this point Conchita, lusts after Raul and persuades him to have an affair with her. Jose is taking too long to decide whether he really does want to marry Silvia so she responds to Raul's advances, finally. This doesn't please Conchita. So you can see its a big mess resulting a duel with legs of lamb.
