Review 640: Paralell Mothers

  

Parallel Mothers is a gripping Drama film, a showcase for some of Pedro Almodovar's  and a moving performance from Penelope Cruz.

Two single mothers, Janis Martinez Moreno (Penelope Cruz) and Ana Manso Ferreras (Milena Smit), meet in a hospital room where they're about to give birth. Janis is a middle aged woman who doesn't regret it, while Ana is a scared adolescent. The two women form a strong bond with each other as they both confront motherhood.

As the title suggests, Motherhood is at the centre of Paralell Mothers. It's a very touching tale of two women with a shared plight and their intertwinded lives, but it's also a story about Spain's troubled history

A sub-plot throughout the film is how Janis is looking to excumed the remains of her Great-Grandfather after he was shot in a mass grave which is echoed in how Ana's mother Teresa is busy acting in a play by Garcia Lorca who himself was dumped in a unamed grave.

As with most Almodovar movies, designwise, the movie looks fantastic: The colours are very bright and exageratted; there are loads of gorgeously designed interiors with bold  the score by Alberto Iglesias is beautiful, the cinematography is luminous and captures the

Ana's family background is troubled