Film discussion: Julieta

February 21, 2017
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And if you want one personal bit of evidence of the power of the Oscars, here’s one. Eleven years ago, when I was hired for my current job, the one perk I successfully bargained for wasn’t higher salary or more vacation. It was that I would be allowed to come to work late on the Monday morning after the Oscars!

The Music Hall is the perfect venue for my deep and abiding love of film, including last weekend’s showing of all the nominees in the three short-film Oscar categories: Animated Shorts, Live Action Shorts and Documentary Shorts. Plus, in March, TMH will give us a chance to discuss Lion (on March 7) and Fences (on March 21), two Best Picture nominees. (Yeah, I know that’s after the Oscar ceremony, but sometimes being a film buff requires a little make-up work.)

But enough about the Oscars! We have a real treat Tuesday night in a chance to see and discuss Julieta, the latest from acclaimed Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar. With 19 films to his credit, Almodóvar has an international reputation, a cult following and crowds of moviegoers who wait impatiently for his next film. His obsessive attention to the beautiful surface of his films combined with the sometimes perverse subject matter often yields shocking and delightful surprises. He has dipped into melodrama, horror, comedy, thrillers, and a couple who genre is indescribably.

Julieta is the story of a woman who long ago lost touch with her daughter and sees a chance to reconnect after a friend’s chance encounter with the daughter in another town. Told in flashback and the present, Julieta is a personal mystery story and another chapter in Almodóvar’s “cinema of women.” It has been glowingly received by critics.

I’m a big fan of Almodóvar because of his ability to surprise me with his style, which can run from kitschy/campy/flamboyant to somber, almost noirish darkness. When his name is on the marquee, I know I’ll be seeing the work of a master stylist and storyteller.

I also know that Almodóvar is a great filmmaker to talk about. I hope you’ll join us at Tuesday’s showing and stay for the discussion immediately following. (The film will show at 7:00 in The Historic Theater

I’ll see you there.