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| Plot Synopsis Filmmaker Pedro Almod�var, the Luis Bu�uel of the 1980s, cooks up another perversely funny descent into urban hell in What Have I Done to Deserve This? Carmen Maura plays a middle-class housewife hemmed in by her wildly eccentric relatives. Her principal purpose in life is a balancing act: to keep her head fastened on securely while all others are losing theirs. Film buffs will have a field day toting up Almod�var's visual and verbal allusions to the works of Bu�uel, Brian De Palma, Billy Wilder, John Waters, and even Andy Warhol. What Have I Done to Deserve This? was originally titled �Que He Hecho Yo Para Merecer Esto? - Hal Erickson Reviews WHEELER WINSTON DIXON All Movie Guide What Have I Done to Deserve This? is a hilarious Pedro Almod�var film about a spectacularly dysfunctional family living in Madrid. As is typical with early Almod�var, the plot twists come thick and fast, and the entire film cheerfully teeters on the edge of insanity; indeed, this film is far more accessible and humane than many of the director's later works. Clearly, Almod�var is drawing in this film to some degree on his own chaotic past. Born in the small town of Calzada de Calatrava, Almod�var made his way to Madrid in 1968 and initially supported himself by selling used items in a flea market. Unable to attend film school, he took a job with the phone company, saved his salary, and eventually purchased a Super-8 camera. Almod�var made a series of bizarre and entirely unconventional short films with his friends until he shot his first feature, Pepi, Luci, Bom y Otras Chicas del Mont�n (1980, aka Pepi, Luci, Bom and Other Girls Like Mom). Shot in 16 mm, the film was then blown up to 35 mm and became an underground hit, something like John Waters' breakthrough film, Pink Flamingos (1972). In What Have I Done to Deserve This?, Almod�var chronicles the intersecting lives of speed-addicted domestic Gloria (Carmen Maura) and her husband, Antonio (�ngel de Andr�s L�pez), whose sons are prostitutes and drug dealers. Grandmother is mentally incompetent, Antonio is a Nazi sympathizer involved a plot of forge Hitler's nonexistent diaries, and the next-door neighbor is call girl Cristal (Ver�nica Forqu�), who does little to ease Gloria's plight. All of this is played entirely for laughs, and somehow, it all works, making the characters in the film at once sympathetic, hilarious, and buffoonish, with the end result that the film resembles nothing so much as a live-action cartoon. Almod�var's comic pacing never flags, unlike some of his later films, and he seems cheerfully at home in these lunatic surroundings, delivering one of the most satisfying and outrageous comedies of his long career. As he began to take his work more seriously, he lost much of his comic assurance; here, as a near-punk filmmaker, he creates a world of decadent exuberance that brims with contagious goodwill and absurdity. One of Almod�var's best films, What Have I Done to Deserve This? is an excellent introduction to Almod�var's work as a whole, and a reminder of a time when he did not take his work as seriously (often with unfortunate results) as he now does. Channel 4 Film Madrid plays host to the world's most dysfunctional family is this slice of histrionic comedy-drama from Pedro Almodovar One of Almodovar's deliciously cheeky early films, What Have I Done to Deserve This? follows housewife Gloria (Almodovar favourite Maura) as she struggles to cope with with a chaotic life that would put the plots of most Brazilian soaps to shame. Her sons deal drugs, her husband can't get it up, and as for her neighbours... Some may prefer the mature Almodovar of Talk To Her and The Flower Of My Secret, but there is no denying that his early work is more fun, performed with an enthusiastic energy by all concerned and shot in his already inimitable style. His technical finesse is still a little too underdeveloped here to do justice to some of his ideas. Verdict A good example of Almodovar's early work, What Have I Done To Deserve This? remains one of his most entertaining pictures. |
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| WHAT HAVE I DONE TO DESERVE THIS? 1984 - Spain - 100 min. - Category - Feature Color Type - Color AKA - �Qu� He Hecho Yo Para Merecer Esto? (Original Foreign title) Director - Pedro Almod�var |
| Genre / Type - Comedy, Black Comedy, Domestic Comedy Flags - Violence, Nudity, Adult Situations, Adult Language, Profanity Keywords - drugs, prostitute/prostitution, family, havoc, homemaker, homosexual, mother, son Tones - Madcap, Quirky, Racy Key name - Superwoman Color type - Eastmancolor Produced by - Kaktus Films / Tesauro DVD Street Date - Oct 4, 2004 Languages - Spanish Subtitles - English Screen Format - Color Aspect Ratio - 16:9 (DVD) Studio - Optimum Cast Carmen Maura -- Gloria �ngel de Andr�s Lopez -- Antonio Ver�nica Forqu� -- Cristal Gonzalo Su�rez -- Miguel Chus Lampreave -- Grandmother Juan Martinez -- Toni Amparo Soler Leal -- Patricia Luis Hostalot -- Polo Kiti Manver - Juani |
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