On first sight Julieta, who probably is in her fifties, seems to be happy. She’s about to move from Spain to Portugal with her boyfriend. Everything has been packed, but when she meets someone from her past something changes in her. Emotions she had ignored for years come flooding back and take control of her. She decides to stop with her plans and write a letter. A letter for her daughter she hasn’t seen in years.
I haven’t seen a lot of movies by director Pedro Almodóvar. A few years ago I saw The Skin I Live In, which made a strong impression because of its weird story. Compared to that movie this one is fairly normal. As Julieta writes her letter, the viewer is taken back in time, when she was younger. She’s travelling by train and meets a man who will play an important role in her life. The events that she writes about have destroyed her, she’s been trhough a lot and through writing all that comes rushing back. She’s a woman who has been struggling with depression and who now is heading the wrong direction in life because of meeting one person.
Almodóvar makes this an intimate and realistic film, with an occasional funny moment (like the housekeeper that helps a man Julieta loves). It’s a film about relationships, big events and the influence those had on the people involved. The viewer shares Julieta’s pain and you hope that she’ll eventually will get the answers she is looking for. I especially liked the ending, which fits the story perfectly. A movie with lots of emotion and drama, which has been realised in a beautiful, moving way.
I’m eager to see this as I’m a big fan of Pedro Almodovar as the man is pretty much a master in the art of cinema. Even a minor Almodovar film like I’m So Excited! (which I do like) is still better than a lot of other people’s films.
This looks promising, I’m not sure if I’m ready for emotional movies this month though.
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