PAIN & GLORY (15) Spanish with subtitles
THE ravages of time on body and mind are a central theme in Spanish writer-director Pedro Almodovar’s script, which stitches together key moments from a film director’s life as he prepares to go under a surgeon’s scalpel.
Antonio Banderas delivers one of the most compelling performances of his illustrious career, peeling back layers of regret and despair from a man in physical agony, who has temporarily forgotten the unabashed love of art and humanity instilled in him by his spirited mother.
Pacing is gentle as Almodovar draws on personal experience (pivotal scenes were shot in his real-life apartment).
The best days of filmmaker Salvador Mallo (Banderas) are behind him as he stumbles through middle age with crippling back pain.
When a local cinema hosts a screening of a newly restored print of one of his most celebrated films, Salvador extends the hand of friendship to its handsome star, Alberto Crespo (Asier Etxeandia).
It has been 30 years since the two men spoke after a stark difference of opinion about Alberto’s drug use.
Their awkward reunion, eased by deep inhalations of heroin fumes, sparks vivid memories of a bucolic childhood in Paterna – where nine-year-old Salvador (Asier Flores) orbited his mother Jacinta (Penelope Cruz). She hired a hunky labourer whose presence kindled Salvador’s sexual awakening.
Pain & Glory is galvanised by Banderas’s understated yet powerful performance.