Parallel Mothers

Year:  2021

Director:  Pedro Almodóvar

Screenplay:  Pedro Almodóvar

Starring:  Penélope Cruz, Milena Smit, Israel Elejalde, Aitana Sánchez-Gijón, Rossy de Palma, Julieta Serrano

Running Time:  123 minutes

Genre:  Drama 

Madrid-based photographer Janis (Cruz) meets renowned forensic archeologist Arturo (Elejade), and asks him to help her excavate a mass grave in her home village, where her great-grandfather and others from the village were killed and buried during the Spanish Civil War.  However, her plans are put on hold when she becomes pregnant after spending the night with Arturo.  In the maternity ward Janis meets teenager Ana (Smit) and the two form a friendship based on their mutual status as single mothers.  Janis and Ana prove to be devoted mothers to their respective daughters, until Janis discovers that due to a mix-up at the hospital, she is not her daughter's biological mother.

This is the 22nd feature film from Spanish writer/director Pedro Almodóvar, and reunites him with frequent collaborator Penélope Cruz.  Here Almodóvar still shows some of his flair for melodrama, it's of a more muted tone.  There are two key plot lines here: the main story is that of 40 year old Janis and teenager Ana,  their experiences of motherhood and their growing connection with each other.  The other story is Janis' attempts to excavate the mass grave outside her village.  Of course, the film is about family, both biological and the family we make for ourselves.  Janis' mother died at the age of 27 and named her after Janis Joplin (who Ana has never heard of).  Ana's parents are separated, her mother cares about her but is more preoccupied with her own acting career, but she still care more than Ana's father who isn't interested in his daughter or his granddaughter, and sent Ana away to avoid scandal.  Janis and Ana form something of a surrogate family, despite their differences.  Ana can't understand Janis' preoccupation with her great-grandfather and the mass grave, and Janis is angered when Ana tells her to move on and leave the past behind.  Janis knows that there are less and less people alive who remember these atrocities, and that people, particularly young people, don't know or care enough about their past.  There are many unidentified mass graves in Spain following the Spanish Civil War and part of the reason for making this film, for Almodóvar, was to bring this to people's attention.  This issue bookends the film, and the final fifteen minutes are almost a very moving drama-documentary.  However, this isn't a somber, bleak issue film, while it is more serious than much of Almodóvar's previous work, it is still a hugely enjoyable movie.  As always with Almodóvar, everything looks great, the colours are vivid and every frame is perfectly composed, there are also some of his traditional campy flourishes, and the performances are fantastic, particularly Penélope Cruz and Milena Smit.  It's worth mentioning that there are barely any men in the film, the only principal male character is Arturo, and even he is not in the film that much, Ana's father never appears on screen we just here him on the film, and, of course Ana and Janis' both have daughters.  This is a powerful and emotional film, but it is also entertaining and there are a few good laughs.  

Milena Smit and Penélope Cruz are Parallel Mothers