A Spanish Labyrinth

Almodovar is Spain's most successful and controversial director, a unique blend of art-house auteur and popular film-maker. His films, with their mix of Hollywood and European styles and of popular melodrama and comedy, have been attracting growing international audiences since the success of Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown. His most recent films are the critically acclaimed Live Flesh, based on a Ruth Rendell story, and All About My Mother, the runaway winner of the 1999 Cannes Film Festival. This comprehensive introduction to the films of Almodovar investigates cultural and national contexts for his work, issues of gender, sexuality, stars, genre, visual style, music and much more.