This is a part of my Pedro Almodovar Marathon.
Is this where I see cracks, or for a better phrasing, variations in the mind of Pedro Almodovar? This film is the first of the series where it never quite feels as important as all the other films. A narrative of a writer who writes trashy romance novels under a pseudonym, unbeknownst to the world, and hates it while at the same time dealing with a failing marraige and a general lack of existence in the world carries a weird sense of humour and drama while at the same time not really mattering as much as his other films.
While this is not the earliest film I’ve discusses thusfar, being five years younger than Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!. In that film it was obvious that Almodovar was utilizing humour to create a tone that helped make it’s drama more powerful. Here the comedy never quite ties into the character’s pathos and the drama feels operatic (in a bad way).
Where the film shows it’s interesting side is where it refers to Almodovar himself. The film shows the world of the transplant hospital that we begin in for his 1999 film, All About My Mother, and during an off the cuff moment we hear Leo (Marisa Paredes) talk about the idea for another story which is the plot of Almodovar’s 2006 feature, Volver. Obviously with The Flower of My Secret being released in 1995 these films being referenced were not yet released, or probably even considered to be possible to be made, but the fact that we’re able to look at it from this future point of view and know it happened almost hints at Almodovar’s ambitions. When you base that against how this movie plays I almost get the feeling of him hoping to change the kind of movie he makes as opposed to just throwing in off-handed hopes to stories he’s interested in.
The next level that this film treats itself is that of a critique and eventual subsiding to the trashy romance story. We spend all this time with Leo, the (affable would be kind) woman who everyone puts up with for one reason or another. She’s the anti of romance however, ironically she’s the beloved novelist who writes love and cliches all the while only to be having somewhat writer’s block in the realm of romanticism. However, in the midst of having trouble with her writing she’s unable to reconcile her marriage and is falling into shambles. Add to this that she ends up taking a job at a newspaper as a literature columnist, where her first job is to write a scathing piece of herself (i.e. the author who’s romance novels she writes) and at the same time begins this relationship with the editor of the paper who actually enjoys the trashy romance tales. The film chides these stories but ends up becoming that story as we watch Angel (Juan Echanove) woo Leo and charm us.
This isn’t Almodovar’s best, or even his worst, but it’s somewhere inbetween and attempting to place it seems difficult as there’s a lot to appreciate while at the same time comparatively it falls short of a lot of the craft that sets Almodovar’s work apart from the rest.