There are certain filmmakers working today that almost need no introduction or no hype whatsoever. If a new film is coming from one of these legends, then it’s an event, no matter what the subject matter is. And that’s the case for Pedro Almodóvar. But with his upcoming film “Pain and Glory,” it’s hard to differentiate between the subject matter and the filmmaker.
As seen in the trailer for the film, which is set to play at the upcoming New York Film Festival, we see that the story about a Spanish filmmaker that dives into his experiences with his mother, past loves, and health problems, is almost autobiographical. Though not a strict retelling of his life story, Almodóvar picks and chooses things that he lived through to put on screen for “Pain and Glory,” creating what might be his most personal feature to date.
In our review coming out of this year’s Cannes Film Festival, we praised the film and said, “Laced with autobiographical details, his new film is a beautiful, full-hearted celebration of the craft of filmmaking, as well as queer and maternal love.”
The film stars Antonio Banderas, Penelope Cruz, Asier Etxeandia, and Nora Navas.
“Pain and Glory” will arrive in theaters on October 4.
Here’s the NYFF synopsis for the film:
Pedro Almodóvar cuts straight to the heart with his intensely personal latest, which finds the great Spanish filmmaker tapping into new reservoirs of introspection and emotional warmth. Antonio Banderas deservedly won the Best Actor award at this year’s Cannes Film Festival for his miraculous, internalized portrayal of Salvador Mallo, a director not too subtly modeled on Almodóvar himself, whose growing health problems—including tinnitus, migraines, and spinal pain—and creative block have initiated a midlife reckoning. Moving in and out of time, evoking Salvador’s childhood in the sixties (featuring Penélope Cruz as his doting mother); his years of triumph in the eighties; and present-day Madrid, where he navigates new artistic challenges, Pain and Glory is both a moving summative statement on a career and an indication of more brilliant things to come.