Mujeres al borde de un ataque de “nervios” [Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown] (1988)

(In French, On TV, May 2020) I will eventually see all of Pedro Almodóvar’s filmography, good and bad movies alike. I seldom completely agree with his films—there’s a crucial difference in age, context, language and all—but they’re interesting even when they don’t quite achieve what they’re going for. Almodóvar can combine a quirky premise with sure-footed execution and the result is worth a look even if the screaming is all in Spanish. Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, considered one of his top-tier films, is a good illustration of this—it has an interesting hook (a dubbing actress sets out to understand why she was dumped) and then things get complicated with spiked gazpacho, Shiite terrorists, things thrown out of windows, gunpoint motorcycle hijacking, and a climax set at an airport (plus a priceless coda set at the protagonist’s apartment). It’s a farce but also an empathic examination of women under pressure, a cinephile’s homage to the form, a feminist statement and everything in between. It’s quite likable both at the film level and the character level—or the actor level, even: Rossy De Palma is mesmerizing here. The steady revelation of secrets helps keep this interesting, and the look at how dubbing professionals worked in the 1980s is evocative. Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown may not be constantly hilarious, but it is consistently amusing. It’s a very strong piece of motivation for those seeking out the rest of Almodóvar’s filmography.