Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown | |
|---|---|
 Film poster |
|
| Directed by | Pedro Almodóvar |
| Produced by | Pedro Almodóvar |
| Written by | Pedro Almodóvar Jean Cocteau |
| Starring | Carmen Maura Antonio Banderas Julieta Serrano Rossy de Palma María Barranco |
| Music by | Bernardo Bonezzi |
| Cinematography | José Luis Alcaine |
| Editing by | José Salcedo |
| Distributed by | Laurenfilm S.A. |
| Release date(s) | March 23, 1988 |
| Running time | 90 min. |
| Country |  Spain |
| Language | Spanish |
| Budget | $700,000 |
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (Spanish: Mujeres al borde de un ataque de nervios) is a 1988 Spanish comedy film written and directed by Pedro Almodóvar, starring Carmen Maura and Antonio Banderas. The film that brought Almodóvar to widespread international attention, it was nominated for the 1989 Academy Award for Best Foreign-language film, and won five Goya Awards including Best Film and Best Actress in a Leading Role for Maura.
[edit] Plot
 |
This plot summary may be too long or overly detailed. Please help improve it by removing unnecessary details and making it more concise. (November 2009) |
"Soy Infeliz," a melodramatic heartbreak song plays over the opening credits, representing Pepa's state at the start of the story.
TV actress Pepa Marcos (Carmen Maura) lives in a penthouse apartment with cages of chickens, bunnies, and other animals that she's collected. Her boyfriend Iván (Fernando Guillén) has just left her and she is depressed and taking sleeping pills. Both she and Iván work as voice-over actors who dub foreign films, notably Johnny Guitar with Joan Crawford and Sterling Hayden. The voice he uses to sweet-talk her (and many other women) is the same one he uses in his work. He is about to leave on a trip and has asked Pepa to pack his things in a suitcase that he will pick up later.
Pepa visits the doctor and receives important news and so she does everything she can to speak with Iván before he leaves. Pepa even calls his ex-wife Lucía (Julieta Serrano), who appears to be mentally unstable. In anger, Pepa prepares gazpacho, Iván's favorite soup, and spikes it with about 30 sleeping pills. Pepa then accidentally sets her bed on fire while spitefully lighting a cigarette, even though the doctor told her not to smoke. She leaves a note for Iván, but then sees Lucía throwing it out, so she gets into a cab and follows her. The cab driver (Guillermo Montesinos) turns out to be an eccentric Mambo-lover with tiger-skin seats, and is a huge fan of Pepa's work. They follow Lucía and discover her address. That night on the news, the main story is that a group of Shiite terrorists has been caught, which freaks out Candela, Pepa's best friend, who now starts frantically calling Pepa, worried about whether she could be unwittingly involved. Pepa spends the whole night staking out Lucía's apartment, hoping to find Iván. Although he doesn't come, she learns something she never knew: Iván and Lucía have a son, meek and stuttering Carlos (Antonio Banderas).
Pepa returns home at dawn to find her answering machine filled with frantic messages from Candela (María Barranco). In anger she rips out the phone and throws it through the window onto the balcony. Candela finally arrives, still overwhelmed, but before she can explain her situation, Carlos arrives with his snobby fiancée Marissa (Rossy de Palma) -- it turns out both of them are apartment-hunting, and by coincidence have chosen Pepa's penthouse to look at. Just as Pepa and Carlos figure out who one another are, Candela attempts suicide by jumping off the balcony. Shortly thereafter Marisa accidentally drinks the spiked gazpacho and is knocked out cold. Candela finally gets to explain her situation: a while back she fell in love with a man who later on came to visit her wih some friends and all stayed with her, but it turned out they are the Shiite terrorists who've been caught and effectively kidnapping Candela in her own house, and now the police might come for her. Pepa sets out to see a lawyer (recommended by Carlos) to help Candela, and ends up getting the same cab with the same Mambo-loving driver. However, something seems strange about Paulina (Kiti Manver), the lawyer she visits. She is about to leave for Stockholm, Iván calls the office at one point, and Paulina seems to know Pepa and is very rude to her. Meanwhile, Candela reveals to Carlos that the Shiites plan to hijack a flight to Stockholm that evening (turning it to Beirut, where the Shiite terrorists have a friend who was captured by the authorities), and so he, having fixed the broken phone, quickly calls the police, hanging up before (he believes) they can trace the call, then surprisingly kisses Candela.
Pepa returns and Lucía calls, announcing she is coming over to confront her about Iván. Carlos reveals that she was in a mental hospital after Iván left her and has only now been released. Pepa, now sick of Iván and no longer wanting to see him, heads back down and throws out Iván's suitcase, just barely missing him, who has arrived with Paulina on his way to the airport. He leaves Pepa a message while Carlos plays a record of "Soy Infeliz" (the song from the opening credits). In an angry rage, Pepa yanks off the record and throws it out the window, where it ends up hitting Paulina. She then hears Iván's message and once again rips out the phone and throws the answering machine back out the window, where it ends up landing on Paulina's car. Back in the apartment, Lucía arrives, along with the phone repairman and the police who've traced Carlos' call from earlier. Candela starts flipping out, but Carlos comes up with an idea to serve everyone the spiked gazpacho. The cops and repairman are knocked out, Carlos and Candela make out on the sofa and also fall asleep, and crazy Lucía grabs the cops's guns and aims them at Pepa. Pepa figures out that Paulina is the other woman Iván is going to Stockholm with, and that their flight is the one that the terrorists are planning to hijack. Lucía reveals that she is still insane and only faked sanity when she heard Iván's voice dubbed on a foreign movie. She throws the gazpacho at Pepa's face and runs off for the airport, holding a motorcyclist hostage as her driver.
Pepa chases her and is joined by Ana (Ana Leza), the motorcyclist's angry girlfriend. They quickly hail a cab (it turns out that it is the Mambo taxi again) and a mad chase ensues to the airport, with Lucía firing the gun at them. Lucía arrives at the airport, sees that Iván and Paulina are about to pass security, and aims her gun at them. Pepa arrives just in time and thwarts the murder attempt by rolling a luggage cart at Lucía. Iván runs over to Pepa, who is now mentally and physically exhausted after two days of trying to chase down her lover. Iván offers to finally speak with her about whatever she has been trying to speak to him about, and for a moment, it seems he might even leave Paulina to take her back. But Pepa refuses, saying, "There was still time last night, this morning, even today at noon. But now it's too late". Having saved his life, she leaves the airport, and Iván, for good.
Her home is a mess with a burnt bedroom, broken windows, a telephone ripped off the wall, spillt gazpacho on the floor, her collection of animals running around loose, and several unconscious visitors all overdosed on sleeping pills. Pepa sits on her balcony where Marisa has just woken up. The two women share a moment of tranquility at the end of a crazy 48 hours, and Pepa finally reveals what her big news for Iván was: she's pregnant.
[edit] Awards and nominations
- Academy Awards (USA)
- Nominated: Best Foreign Language Film
- BAFTA Awards (UK)
- Nominated: Best Film not in the English Language
- David di Donatello Awards (Italy)
- Won: Best Foreign Direction (Pedro Almodóvar)
- European Film Awards
- Won: Best Actress – Leading Role (Carmen Maura)
- Won: Best Young Film (Pedro Almodóvar)
- Nominated: Best Art Direction (Félix Murcia)
- Golden Globe Awards (USA)
- Nominated: Best Foreign Language Film
- Goya Awards (Spain)
- Won: Best Actress – Leading Role (Carmen Maura)
- Won: Best Actress – Supporting Role (María Barranco)
- Won: Best Editing (José Salcedo)
- Won: Best Film
- Won: Best Screenplay - Original (Pedro Almodóvar)
- Nominated: Best Actor – Supporting Role (Guillermo Montesinos)
- Nominated: Best Actress – Supporting Role (Julieta Serrano)
- Nominated: Best Cinematography (José Luis Alcaine)
- Nominated: Best Costume Design (José María Cossío)
- Nominated: Best Director (Pedro Almodóvar)
- Nominated: Best Makeup and Hairstyles (Jesús Moncusi and Gregorio Ros)
- Nominated: Best Original Score (Bernardo Bonezzi)
- Nominated: Best Production Design (Félix Murcia)
- Nominated: Best Production Supervision (Esther García)
- Nominated: Best Sound (Gilles Ortion)
- Nominated: Best Special Effects (Reyes Abades)
- National Board of Review (USA)
- Won: Best Foreign Language Film
- New York Film Critics (USA)
- Won: Best Foreign Language Film
- Venice Film Festival (Italy)
- Won: Golden Osella – Best Screenplay (Pedro Almodóvar)
[edit] External links
- Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown at the Internet Movie Database
- Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown at Rotten Tomatoes
- Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown at Metacritic
- Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown at Box Office Mojo
| Awards | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by El bosque animado |
Goya Award for Best Picture 1989 |
Succeeded by El sueño del mono loco |
|
|||||||||||
|
|||||||||||
