REVIEW: ‘Pain and Glory’
Photo: Pain and Glory features Antonio Banderas as a character who struggles with isolation, loss of creativity and heroin addiction. Photo courtesy of © El Deseo / Manolo Pavón / Courtesy Sony Pictures Classics / Provided with permission.
Pain and Glory, Pedro Almodóvar’s exquisite autobiographical film, allows its star, Antonio Banderas, to offer one of the most commanding performances of his career. As Salvador Mallo, a retired filmmaker who struggles to find creativity following a debilitating surgery, Banderas is able to find both power and pathos, poetry and pause. It’s a grounding performance that anchors a superb film, a true gem in the menagerie of Almodóvar gems.
Salvador lives his days as something of a recluse. What stirs him to action is a request by an old friend to take part in a Q&A at a local film festival. One of his beloved (yet initially misunderstood) films is being screened, and the audience would love to see the director in the flesh. Leaving the apartment though presents many challenges for Salvador: his pain is unbearable, he needs to make amends with the main actor of the film (and they did not leave things well) and he’s increasingly become addicted to heroin.
[Click here to read Hollywood Soapbox’s feature on Pedro Almodóvar.]
As Salvador emotionally suffers through his decision, Almodóvar gives the audience a secondary storyline involving a young child (Asier Flores) growing up impoverished in rural Spain, living in a cave-like dwelling with only his mother (Penélope Cruz) to keep him company. This touching coming-of-age story, mirroring Salvador’s own life, works wonderfully as a contrast to the filmmaker’s current-day struggles. The innocence and curiosity of this child’s upbringing counterbalance the aging filmmaker who seems to have lost all semblance of hope and faith.
Salvador has not been in a relationship with another man for quite some time, but he is afforded the chance to reconnect with an old lover: Federico Delgado (played by Leonardo Sbaraglia). The shared scene between these two former partners is sweet and beautiful, a winning combination of romance and regret. The audience is able to see an alternative pathway for Salvador — a means by which his life could have turned out differently.
Quality supporting work is also provided by Asier Etxeandia as Alberto Crespo, the actor that Salvador must make amends with, plus Nora Navas, Julieta Serrano and César Vicente.
Almodóvar’s film has been labeled a return to form for the writer-director, but one cannot buy such a statement if they believe the filmmaker had a cold spell in his oeuvre. He doesn’t. This Spanish filmmaker — who used his own life to inform Pain and Glory — has turned out plenty of masterpieces, and no doubt this one will sit near the top. It’s a deep character study with a fine focus on the protagonist, and it characteristically balances between touching drama and offbeat humor.
Banderas comes alive with a despondency throughout the narrative. Almodóvar likes the camera to get up close to the star, and the actor never seems to miss a beat with all of the attention. He holds his head up as Salvador tries to move on with his life, and he also holds his head down, when life seems to be too much to bear. This is almost like a documentary of struggle, a personal anguish of physical pain, emotional withdrawal and the grasping for redemption and remembrance.
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Pain and Glory (2019). Written and directed by Pedro Almodóvar. Starring Antonio Banderas, Penélope Cruz, Asier Etxeandia, Asier Flores, Leonardo Sbaraglia, Nora Navas, Julieta Serrano and César Vicente. In Spanish with English subtitles. Running time: 1 hour, 53 minutes. Rating: 
