Saturday 16 February 2013

Day 47: All About My Mother



Mother and son, Manuela (Cecilia Roth) and Esteban (Eloy Azorín), have quite a close relationship. Manuela raised him alone, and for his 17th birthday they go to see ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’, which is how she met Esteban’s father. He is excited about getting the autograph of one of the actresses but when he chases her he is hit by a car and dies, leaving Manuela heartbroken. She goes off in search of Esteban’s father, Lola (Toni Cantó), and in her search she develops great friendships and has a chance with another son.

To start with I was a tad uncomfortable with the relationship between Mother and son. It  just seemed a little off to me. She gave him a photo of her when she was younger and he was stroking it. Which made sense after watching the rest of the film (he was stroking the side because she had ripped his Father out of the photo) but I wasn’t to know that at the time. And he’s always staring at her in a strange way. I obviously read too much into it because nothing happened with that potential storyline. Not important!

Manuela and Rosa (Penélope Cruz) seem to become instant friends. I’m not really sure how it happened quite so fast but I loved it all the same. Manuela helps Rosa with her difficult pregnancy and Rosa helps Manuela with her grief as she has something to focus on besides her absent son. My favourite scene might be the one where Manuela, Rosa, Agrado (Antonia San Juan) and Huma (Marisa Paredes) are drinking and joking together. It’s as if they can all forget about their own separate problems for a little while and can just enjoy being with each other (dingdingding, this is definitely my favourite thing, pretty sure I mention it in every blog).

Manuela seems so strong despite her grief and the difficulty she must’ve had raising Esteban alone. She is there for Rosa when her Mother cannot be, she helps Huma through her difficult relationship, and she helps Agrado find work outside of prostitution. Although Manuela is clearly a champ, I think Agrado is my favourite (if I’m forced to choose). The first we see of her is when she’s being beaten up but she rallies and is happy to see her friend again. She is so honest and funny and I just love that.

“You are more authentic the more you resemble what you’ve dreamed of being.”

8/10

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