Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (1988)

Original title

Mujeres al borde de un ataque de nervios

Directed by

Pedro Almodóvar

Genre

black comedy film

Country

Spain

Runtime

1h 30m

Rated

R

Rating

7.4 of 10 from 1,011 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

A Spanish actress named Pepa is dumped by her lover Iván without explanation. She tries to find out why and gets tangled up with his eccentric son, her distressed best friend who was held captive by terrorists, and other odd characters.

absurdfast-pacedcolorfulscrewballeccentriccomedicmelodramaticanxious

What happens

Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (Spanish: Mujeres al borde de un ataque de nervios) is a 1988 Spanish absurdist dark comedy film written and directed by Pedro Almodóvar, starring Carmen Maura, Antonio Banderas and Julieta Serrano. The plot follows actress Pepa, who, after her lover Iván leaves without explanation, sets out to find the reason, and comes across an array of eccentric characters, including Iván's son from a previous relationship and her best friend Candela, who has been held captive by a Shiite terrorist cell. The film brought Almodóvar to widespread international attention: it was nominated for the 1988 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, and won five Goya Awards including Best Film and Best Actress in a Leading Role for Maura. It premiered at the 45th Venice International Film Festival and was released in Spain on 25 March 1988 and in the United States on 11 November 1988. Women On The Verge Of A Nervous Breakdown received widespread acclaim from critics and audiences alike, and is often considered one of Almodóvar's best films and one of greatest Spanish movies of all time. A stage musical opened on Broadway in 2010, adapted by Jeffrey Lane with songs by David Yazbek. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

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