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Pedro Almodóvar aged 17.
Pedro Almodóvar while he served his Military Service in 1969
Pedro reads a script with his mother.
Almodóvar was one of the main figures of "La Movida" in the 80s.
Pedro Almodóvar in the Streets of Madrid, his adoptive city.
Pedro Almodóvar is the most internationally acclaimed Spanish filmmaker since Luis Buñuel.
Pedro Almodóvar was born in 1951 in Calzada de Calatraba, a small town in La Mancha, Spain. His father, a muleteer sold wine and oil in Sierra Morena until he died, before Pedro premiered his first feature film. Calzada de Calatraba, without any industry until the arrival of the Imedio glue factory was described by Almodóvar as: "a land so hard where there was no understanding of colour. Maybe that is why I use so many colours in my films. It must have been a reaction that must have started when I was in my mother's womb. My mother, who spent 20 years mourning dressed in black".
A town so old and bleak which has nothing to do with Almodóvar's films, or a lot, it depends. Pedro's aunt, Cecilia, still lives in Calatrava and she looks like the living portrait of Chus Lampreave's character in Que he Hecho Yo Para Merecer Esto? (What have I done to deserve this?)
The Almodóvar family moved to Madrigalejo (Caceres) when Pedro was 8 years old. Pedro went to an all boys boarding school and his mother, Doña Paquita, was scared that he might want to become a priest as a result of this. Pedro remembers those days: "In school the priests tried to shape my spirit, deforming it with religious tenacity. Luckily, a bit further up the street, there was a cinema where I reconciliated myself with the world, my world".
Doña Paquita bought a house in Madrid for Pedro and she went back to live in Calzada, where the neighbours complained to her every time Pedro made a film, which was seen as controversial amongst the Calatrava neighbours. Doña Paquita, who has not seen any of Pedro's films but has appeared in many of them and still lives in Calzada is now proud of her son, who even has a park dedicated to himself, inaugurated by himself and his actors, Carmen Maura, Bibi Andersen and Antonio Banderas who ate roasted garbanzo beans on the day while many neigbours protested: " ... all he does is renounce the place where he was born."
Pedro arrived in Madrid in 1968, and survived by selling used items in the flea-market called El Rastro. Almodóvar couldn't study film making because he didn't have the money to afford it. Besides, the film making schools were closed in early 70s by Franco's government. Instead, he found a job in the Spanish phone company and saved his salary to buy a Super 8 camera.
From 1972 to 1978, he devoted himself to making short films with the help of of his friends. The "premieres" of those early films were famous in the rapidly growing world of the Spanish counter-culture. In a few years, Almodóvar became a star of "La Movida", the pop cultural movement of late 70s early 80s Madrid. His first feature film, Pepi, Luci, Bom y Otras Chicas del Montón (1980), was made in 16 mm and blown-up to 35 mm for public release.
In 1987, he and his brother Agustín Almodóvar established their own production company: El Deseo, S. A. The "Almodóvar phenomenon" has reached all over the world, making his films very popular all over the world.
If you want to read more information on Almodóvar check ibercine's recommended books on ibercine's resources page.
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Visit Pedro Almodóvar's official website here |
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