Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown [Criterion Collection] [Blu-ray]

Director: Pedro Almodóvar Pedro Almodóvar

Overview

Though the kinky characters and aberrant social behavior common to the works of Spanish director Pedro Almodovar are very evident in his Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, the film is at heart a door-slamming farce in the grand tradition. The tiny apartment of pregnant actress Carmen Maura is the "Grand Central Station" setpiece for this dizzying tale. Distraught over her recent breakup with her lover, Carmen prepares to overdose on sleeping pills, which she blends into a gazpacho so they'll go down easier. She is diverted from her suicide by her best friend Maria Barranco, a fugitive from justice (her boy friend is a Shi'Ite terrorist) who needs a place to stay. Later, when Carmen's apartment is empty, her ex-lover's grown son (Antonio Banderas) comes to the apartment with his fiance (Rossy de Palma) in answer to Carmen's "room to let" newspaper ad. The wife inadvertently ingests Carmen's "pill sauce," and as she blissfully snoozes, the husband inaugurates an affair with Carmen's friend Barranco.

Product Details

Release Date:	02/21/2017
UPC:	0715515192514
Original Release:	1988
Rating:	R
Source:	Criterion Collection
Region Code:	A
Language:	English
Time:	1:29:00
Sales rank:	9,254

Special Features

New 2k digital restoration, supervised by Director Pedro Almodovar and Executive Producer Agustin Almodovar, with 2.0 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack; Alternate 5.1 surround soundtrack, presented in DTS-HD Master Audio; New interviews with Pedro Almodovar, Agustin Almodovar, and actor Carmen Maura; New discussion by film scholar Richard Pena of the film's impact in Spain and abroad; Trailer; New English Subtitle translation; Plus: An essay by novelist and critic Elvira Lindo

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Carmen Maura	Pepa Marcos
Antonio Banderas	Carlos
Julieta Serrano	Lucía
María Barranco	Candela,Actor
Fernando Guillen	Ivan
Rossy de Palma	Marisa
Kiti Manver	Paulina
Chus Lampreave	Actor
Yayo Calvo	Actor
Loles León	Actor
Ángel de Andrés López	Actor
Guillermo Montesinos	Actor
Juan Lombardero	Actor
José Antonio Navarro	Actor
Ana Leza	Actor
Kiti Mánver	Actor
Loles Leon	Actor
Lupe Barrado	Secretaria Paulina
Gabriel Latorre	Cura
Agustín Almodóvar	Empleado Inmobiliaria
Imanol Uribe	Marido
José Marco	Padrino
Bernardo Bonezzi	Composer

Technical Credits

Pedro Almodóvar

Jean Cocteau

Pedro Almodóvar	Producer,Screenwriter,Director
Agustin Almodovar	Executive Producer
Jean Cocteau	Screenwriter
Reyes Abades	Special Effects
Gilles Ortion	Sound/Sound Designer

Editorial Reviews

Pedro Almodóvar at his outrageous best, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown is the most delightful of farces: charming and kinetic, it envelops a message of strange lucidity in a package of vibrant absurdity. Everything in the film's parallel universe abides by its own bizarre but oddly rational logic, from the premise that a forgotten pitcher of sleeping pill-spiked gazpacho meant for one person's suicide will of course be consumed by someone else, to the idea that no matter how much of a lout your ex-lover may be, he's no match for the Shiite terrorist your best friend happens to be dating. Throw in the ex-lover's gun-toting, bewigged wife; a tangle of friends, lovers, and their previously unheard-of relations who all show up at the same place; and a bed set afire by a stray cigarette, and you have the unique reality of Pedro Almodóvar. Almodóvar had previously directed a number of films that found success (and, more often than not, controversy) in his native Spain, such as Matador, Law of Desire, and What Have I Done to Deserve This?, but none reached the level of international acclaim achieved by Women. A stylish, sophisticated farce, it was a perfect blend of the director's candy-colored vision and his offbeat, devilishly witty brand of humor. In addition to establishing him as a master of farce, the film enhanced Almodóvar's reputation as a woman's director and solidified his standing as an important figure in world cinema, with many critics hailing him as the most significant Spanish director since Luis Buñuel.

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