MovieChat Forums > Todo sobre mi madre (2000) Discussion > Can someone explain it to me?

Can someone explain it to me?

posted 11 years ago by IMDB_Vits
12 replies | jump to latest

I just saw it. And before that, I had seen a bunch of Almodóvar movies. Some made before this one, and some made after. I've given different ratings to his movies, but I always think they're very creative, whether it's a new point of view about a subject we know, or shocking plot twists. So I wanted to see this movie because people say it's his best, and also, one of the best of all times. I don't get it.

Now, this is by no means a bad movie. The acting is great, to the point where I cried in one scene. And I laughed once or twice. But I didn't feel there was anything special about the plot. I know Almodóvar uses melodrama in a self-aware way, so that's not what bothered me. I just didn't see a single scene that made me say "Wow!". And I know that it isn't the first movie to defend the transgenders.

If anything, I felt the story meandered a lot. A lot of turns that didn't feel necessary, specially when we reached the conclusion. And the whole "Mothers are great" theme? This wasn't the 1950s when people NEEDED a female empowerement movie. On the contrary, in this modern era (which includes 1999), the worshiping of mothers have caused more troubles than people are aware of. And even if I'm wrong about that, did we need characters saying how important mothers are every couple of minutes? By the way, when MANUELA returns at the end, she says something about ROSA's mother being more open. Really? We have to believe she didn't call the cops when she kidnapped the baby? And we have to forgive what she did just because her mother instinct kicked in?

[–] daftspunk 11 years ago

why should Rosa's mother call the police??
on return Manuela said that Rosa's mother feared that she would contract AIDS from the child who is suspected to have infected?so she took off with the child..
but why did she disappeared without saying a proper goodbye is beyond me..
maybe for the dramatic effect..

[–] IMDB_Vits 11 years ago

Sorry, I forgot that she had adopted the baby.

but why did she disappeared without saying a proper goodbye is beyond me..
maybe for the dramatic effect..

And because she felt the need to protect the baby. Specially because he was named liked her son.

Anyway, back to my main question...

[–] daftspunk 11 years ago

Sorry..I didnt get your question..

[–] IMDB_Vits 11 years ago

If you can explain to me why it's considered a classic.

[–] daftspunk 11 years ago

I think you should ask that to someone who actually liked this film.
Personally i found this movie a pretty average one because of that i rated it a 7/10.
What you have written above is exactly what i felt watching this film.
A couple of scenes stood out as brilliant..but i did not find out the rest of the movie not that interesting.
The acting ,as you said,was good and i thought that the plot was dealing with too many themes which could have done better if the film was a bit too longer..the film,i think,was too rushed to make its point.
The movie seemed to forget about the mother-son relationship that shown in the beginning as it shifted its focus to Manuela's friends in Barcelona.
Also another thing which bugged me was Rosa's pregnancy by Lola,the same 'guy' who was Manuela's 'husband' once..It was too contrived for me.
For all others who consider this as a masterpiece,i respect your opinion..

[–] lubin-freddy 10 years ago

One of my favorite Almodóvar films. I love the characters, the sense of place (Barcelona here, mostly, instead of the usual Madrid), the film aesthetics, the way the basic themes of gender-bending are worked into what's formally a telenovela. And the film moved me.

Listen to the river sing sweet songs
to rock my soul

[–] bradleybaldwinbradley-ba 10 years ago

I agree with you. I didn't find it boring, I actually found it interesting. The transsexual and lesbian characters didn't actually bother me, Victor/Victor was filled with gay characters, but it was funny and beautiful.
This movie was good, I get the perspective, the director wants to spread a delicate image of transsexuals and gays. I get it. So did Philadelphia (1993).
But I still didn't get the movie, it's too fast, and there are some scenes that I didn't even found important for the plot's going. Why this won an Oscar and called a masterpiece, is beyond me ...

[–] Bob Pr. 10 years ago

We saw this yesterday in the monthly Foreign Film series of a retired university faculty group to which I belong. I found it interesting, with very impressive acting by some and with very touching scenes -- but its repeated homage to Tennessee Williams ("A Streetcar Named Desire") and Bette Davis, et al. ("All About Eve"), for me, sometimes disturbed the smooth flow. (As we filed out, I heard several women in our group saying how interesting and touching they found the movie -- certainly more so than I heard from any males.)

I'm a retired, male PhD psychologist & psychotherapist (I taught in an evening college off & on for 25 years). In my clinical practice, while the bulk of it was with "straights," I saw a few (10? 16?) transgender males for therapy (because of depression or anxiety, etc.), & maybe a dozen for evaluation/ permission to have gender change operations. BUT none of these would have ever had sexual relations with women (IMO). And a few lesbian singles and couples saw me for relationship issues or other concerns.

Just as none of the transgender males I saw would have ever considered a sexual relationship with a woman (IMO), not one of the many hundreds of women I saw in therapy over 40 years (which includes former nuns) ever voiced the slightest inclination for sex with a transgender male -- straight sex, yes, sometimes kinky sex, but never with a transgender male.

I briefly considered that maybe European women -- or Spanish women in particular? -- have different sexual tastes than American women do. But I think sexual desire is certainly more biological than cultural.

So I decided Almovodar's inclusion of several of these female~transgender male relationships falls in the fantasy category rather than reality. And because of my experience, I found that aspect also a bit jarring at first but attribute it to Almovodar's desire to weave a different spell.

[–] mathilde_bull 7 years ago

"So I decided Almovodar's inclusion of several of these female~transgender male relationships falls in the fantasy category rather than reality"

well, that's just ignorant. you couldn't understand something you have little to no experience with/knowledge of, so you decided it's just not real? that sounds like a person who believes depression isn't really a thing, cause they've never experienced it or witnessed at first hand close family/friends going through it.

and the characters were not "transgender males", jesus! they were transgender women. i don't think neither manuela or rosa were lesbians, more likely pansexual or bisexual. i myself am a bisexual woman and have felt attraction to both transgender guys and girls, even though i'm most often attracted to women. and people need to learn that sexuality and gender identity are two separate concepts.

"BUT none of these would have ever had sexual relations with women (IMO)."

what on earth does this mean? are you capable of reading the minds of long lost patients you have little recollection of? in your opinion, really?

so much of your comment reflects how ignorant you are towards these issues. i'm not saying you're a bad person with ill intent, but your resolution to being faced with scenarios you don't understand is to dismiss them as non-legitimate. that is not good. i would hope and expect that you as a doctor would want to gain more information and knowledge when faced with new interesting topics (you obviously spent time thinking about this) instead.

[–] Bob Pr. 7 years ago

Thank you for you informative experience.

[–] fede_4488 7 years ago

The acting is great, to the point where I cried in one scene

I just didn't see a single scene that made me say "Wow!"

Ok, hun.

[–] IMDB_Vits 7 years ago

By "Wow!" I meant something I hadn't seen before in a movie or that changed my perspective on something. I cried with that other scene because it was touching.