Mujeres al borde de un ataque de nervios (1988)

User Rating:

7.6/10   

Director:

Pedro Almodóvar

Writers:

Pedro Almodóvar (screenplay)
Pedro Almodóvar (story)
(more)

Release Date:

11 November 1988 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Plot:

A woman's lover leaves her, and she tries to contact him to find out why he's left. She confronts his wife and son...

Plot Keywords:

Sleeping Pill | Burning Bed | Betrayal | Nervous Breakdown | Womanizer

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 19 wins & 17 nominations

Cast

Carmen Maura	...	Pepa
Antonio Banderas	...	Carlos
Julieta Serrano	...	Lucía
María Barranco	...	Candela
Rossy de Palma	...	Marisa
Kiti Manver	...	Paulina Morales
Guillermo Montesinos	...	Taxista
Chus Lampreave	...	Portera Testiga de Jehová
Eduardo Calvo	...	Padre de Lucía (as Yayo Calvo)
Loles León	...	Secretaria
Ángel de Andrés López	...	Policía I (as Angel de Andrés-López)
Fernando Guillén	...	Iván
Juan Lombardero	...	Germán
José Antonio Navarro	...	Policía II
Ana Leza	...	Ana
Ambite	...	Ambite
Mary González	...	Madre Lucía
Lupe Barrado	...	Secretaria Paulina
Joaquín Climent	...	Policía I Spot
Chema Gil	...	Policía II Spot
Gabriel Latorre	...	Cura
Francisca Caballero	...	Locutora TV
Carlos García Cambero	...	Empleado averías (as Carlos Gambero)
Agustín Almodóvar	...	Empleado Inmobiliaria
Tomás Corrales	...	Basurero
Eva González	...	Chica que baila
Carmen Espada	...	Farmacéutica
Susana Miraño	...	Clienta Enmascarada I
Paquita Fernández	...	Clienta Enmascarada II
Federico G. Cambero	...	Dependiente Farmacia (as Federico Gambero)
Gregorio Ros	...	Médico (as Gregorio Ross)
Paco Virseda	...	Mensajero
Imanol Uribe	...	Marido
José Marco	...	Padrino

Directed by
Pedro Almodóvar

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Pedro Almodóvar		screenplay
Pedro Almodóvar		story
Jean Cocteau		play "La voix humaine" (uncredited)

Produced by
Agustín Almodóvar	....	executive producer
Pedro Almodóvar	....	producer
Antonio Llorens	....	associate producer (as Antonio Lloréns)

Original Music by
Bernardo Bonezzi

Cinematography by
José Luis Alcaine

Film Editing by
José Salcedo

Set Decoration by
Emilio Cañuelo		(settings)
Félix Murcia

Costume Design by
José María De Cossío		(as José Mª. de Cossío)

Makeup Department
Jesús Moncusi	....	hair stylist
Gregorio Ros	....	makeup artist
Juan Pedro Hernández	....	makeup artist (uncredited)

Production Management
Esther García	....	production manager (as Ester García)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Julián Núñez	....	assistant director
Miguel Ángel Pérez Campos	....	assistant director

Art Department
Federico del Cerro	....	set dresser
Carlos García Cambero	....	assistant decorator (as Carlos G. Cambero)
David Jareño	....	property master
Ramón Moya	....	construction coordinator (uncredited)

Sound Department
Luis Castro	....	sound effects
Eduardo Fernández	....	sound mixer
Gilles Ortion	....	sound (as Guilles Ortión)
Antonio Rodríguez 'Mármol'	....	boom operator (as Antonio Rodríguez)

Special Effects by
Reyes Abades	....	special effects

Visual Effects by
Pablo Núñez	....	titles and opticals (as Pablo Nuñez)

Camera and Electrical Department
Paulino Alonso	....	lighting technician
Alberto Arnal	....	electrician
Enrique Bello	....	electrician
Fernando Beltrán	....	electrician
Macusa Cores	....	still photographer
Joaquín Manchado	....	assistant camera
Alfredo F. Mayo	....	second camera operator (as Alfredo Mayo)
Carlos Miguel	....	key grip
Fulgencio Rodríguez	....	chief electrician
Juan Carlos Rodríguez	....	assistant camera

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Josune Lasa	....	tailor

Editorial Department
Manolo Laguna	....	assistant editor
Rosa Ortiz	....	assistant editor (as Rosa Mª. Ortiz)

Music Department
Tino Azores	....	music engineer
Lola Beltrán	....	soloist

Transportation Department
Ángel Frutos	....	driver
Julián Hernández	....	driver
José Mancheño	....	driver
Ángel Megino	....	transportation (as Angel Megino)

Other crew
Emilio Ardura	....	tapestry
Paco Ardura	....	animal consultant (as Francisco Ardura)
Fernanda Arnal	....	production secretary
Juan Carlos Caro	....	second production assistant
Tomás Corrales	....	assistant to director
Juan Carlos Garrido	....	location manager
Alicia González	....	title assistant: Studio Gatti
Marisa Ibarra	....	script girl
Alfonso Jadraque	....	permissions
Carlos Lázaro	....	second production assistant
Alicia Moreno	....	cashier
Alejandro Vázquez	....	production assistant
Juan Gatti	....	title designer (uncredited)

Thanks
Mariano García	....	acknowledgment
Juan Luis Lábano	....	acknowledgment

Production Companies

• El Deseo S.A.
• Laurenfilm

Distributors

• Laurenfilm (1988) (Spain) (theatrical)
• Orion Classics (1988) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• MGM Home Entertainment (2001) (USA) (video)
• 20th Century Fox of Germany (1989) (Germany) (theatrical)
• RCA/Columbia Pictures International Video (1990) (Germany) (video)
• MGM Home Entertainment (2002) (Germany) (video)
• 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (Brazil) (DVD)
• Criterion Collection, The (1997) (USA) (laserdisc)
• Euro Space (1989) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Flashstar (Brazil) (VHS)
• Gativideo (Argentina) (video)
• MGM Home Entertainment (2001) (USA) (DVD)
• Sony Pictures Classics (2006) (USA) (theatrical)
• Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) (2007) (USA) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Camera Rent  camera equipment provided by
• Cinetel  electrical material
• Coprisa  financing
• Cornejo  wardrobe
• Decor-Moya  sets
• Exa S.A.  sound recording
• Legis Cine S.A.  management
• Perís Hermanos  wardrobe (as Peris Hnos.)
• Story Film-Pablo Núñez  titles and opticals
• Stvdio Gatti  title graphics design
• Vázquez Hermanos  props (as Vázquez Hnos.)

Also Known As:

Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (USA)

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

Spain

Language:

Spanish

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Ultra Stereo

Certification:

UK:12 (re-rating) (2005) | Iceland:L | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Canada:14A | Chile:14 | Finland:S | Peru:14 | Spain:13 | Sweden:7 | Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud) | USA:R | West Germany:12 | Singapore:PG | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Hong Kong:IIB

Filming Locations:

Estudios Barajas, Madrid, Spain

Company:

El Deseo S.A.

Trivia:

Victoria Abril turned down the role of 'Candela'

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: Pepa pushes the baggage cart at Lucia and it moves with a great deal of speed. However, in the next shot, it's obvious that the cart barely hits her, yet she falls as if it did.

Quotes:

Paulina Morales: You're weak, Ivan.
Iv·n: Yes, sweetheart.
Paulina Morales: Don't agree with me.
Iv·n: But you're right.
Paulina Morales: Sometimes I like to be wrong.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Goldfish Memory (2003)

Soundtrack:

Capricho Español

Deliciously funny farce from Almodóvar on top form

Pedro Almodóvar has made some brilliant films since "Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown", his international breakthrough hit of 1988, but for sheer delirious entertainment value, nothing else he's done has ever quite matched it. Working with a sterling cast led by the peerless Carmen Maura, Almodóvar here is at the very top of his game, directing a self-penned screenplay of sparkling wit and invention with relentless style and panache.

The genre is basically farce, the story built upon coincidences of mounting improbability which bring the various characters into unlikely but hilarious collision with one another. Actress Pepa (Maura) is desperate to save her relationship with serial womaniser Iván (Fernando Guillén), spending her nights dreaming about him and her days waiting for him to call. Tracing his movements, she stumbles upon another of his lovers, the deranged Lucia (a priceless Julieta Serrano), with whom she discovers Iván has a grown up son Carlos (Antonio Banderas). Carlos meanwhile is hoping to rent an apartment with his formidable girlfriend Marisa (Rossy de Palma), in which context they turn up at Pepa's penthouse, unaware of his connection with its owner. Meanwhile Pepa's friend Candela (Maria Barranco) has big troubles of her own: she's on the run from the police and is in hiding at the apartment. Chaos ensues, of course, but it is masterfully orchestrated. Handled badly the plot would simply be tiresome, but here nobody puts a foot wrong. Each cast member is pitch perfect, playing it straight but with just the right hint of irony and kitsch. By imitating the widescreen Technicolor look of 1950s Hollywood, Almodóvar pulls off the audacious trick of making his movie look as if it is set in an altogether earlier era while at the same time anchoring it firmly in the confident, colourful and arty world of post-Franco 1980s Madrid. Kudos to cinematographer José Luis Alcaine, Félix Murcia the set decorator, and costume designer José María De Cossío for their striking contributions to a film that is both hugely theatrical - it has been adapted for the stage - and richly cinematic. Almodóvar references Fellini, Hitchcock and Nicholas Ray, among others, revelling in the glossy, larger than life potential of cinema to be the purveyor of magic and dreams, not to mention nightmares. But here the darkness that often pervades his work is barely perceptible, which is probably why this above any other of his films (with the possible exception of his most recent, "Volver") has been embraced by a much wider audience than is customary. And justifiably so. It's a fabulous film.