A Madrid housewife (Carmen Maura) is struggling to make ends meet and holding her family together. An attempt by Pedro Almodóvar to honor the legacy of Italian Neorealism, depicting a working-class family where dad is a cab driver barely able to support his kids… but realism is not really the director’s thing. Packed with wildly provocative ideas and elements, including a 14-year-old drug dealer and a 12-year-old boy who’s sleeping around with men; a scene with a pedophile dentist is comically absurd. Expect tragedy, laced with black humor; Maura is very good in the lead.
1984-Spain. 100 min. Color. Written and directed by Pedro Almodóvar. Cast: Carmen Maura (Gloria), Ángel de Andrés López (Antonio), Chus Lampreave (Grandmother), Juan Martínez, Miguel Ángel Herranz, Verónica Forque.
Trivia: Original title: ¿Qué he hecho yo para merecer esto!.
