Sunday, February 17, 2013

Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown


I started a cleanse that forbids consumption of meat, fish, dairy, caffeine and sugar.

Not only has my food gotten more colorful as a result of my new eating regimen, but so have the images in my mind after watching Pedro Almodovar’s “Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown.” During my Fellini craze, I fantasized in vain about having a part in one of Fellini’s movies, but realizing the impossibility of this, I’ve progressed to wanting to be in a living director’s movies, namely Almodovar. I like the strong female characters in his films, the vibrant colors, the humanity and the humor. Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown is vastly different from Talk to Her, Bad Education and Volver, the other films of his that I’ve seen. I suppose all of them have his signature splashes of color, but “Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown” is a comedy both clever and slapstick. I think I laughed the hardest at the scenes involving the gregarious taxi driver who equipped his taxi to meet his passengers’ every need.

I could see some influence from Fellini and Hitchcock, but “Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown” was still like nothing I have ever seen. My guy friend who watched it with me also loved it. I may be depriving myself of coffee and chocolate these days, but good movies should always be in ample supply.

After watching the movie, I played with my camera and asked my guy friend if he ever felt like filming anything. He said all the time, but most people don’t like to be filmed. I told him that I like to be filmed, but I can’t act. My friend informed me that the best directors can get a good performance out of anyone. Hmmmmmm. If that’s true, maybe a part in an Almodovar film isn’t entirely implausible.

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