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Abstract

Spanish film director Pedro Almodóvar has been detected early on by film critics as a Baroque filmmaker, a qualification to which he has agreed in interviews. This promotion of his style is certainly questionable as the word ‘Baroque’ is often used outside of its artistic and historical contexts. It is undeniable, however, that there are many Baroque features in his tragicomedy. One of the key aspects that ties Almodóvar’s early films to Baroque art is their exaggerated and melodramatic storytelling. Like Baroque art, which often featured grandiose and emotionally charged narratives, Almodóvar’s films are filled with intense emotions, complex relationships, and larger-than-life characters. This exaggerated portrayal of human emotions and experiences is a hallmark of Baroque aesthetics, which sought to evoke strong emotional responses from the audience. This paper seeks to focus exclusively on the rise of the director’s style in the last two decades of the 20th century that corresponds to Spain’s problematic and somewhat tragic transition from dictatorship to democracy and explore the ‘Baroque transitions’ that led Almodóvar to national, European and international recognition prior to the obtention of the Academy Awards he received for “All about my mother” in 2000. After defining the Baroqueness of his early filmography, this article will take a closer look at the ricochet trajectory he designed for actors such as Carmen Maura, Victoria Abril, and Antonio Banderas, who will all act in several corresponding roles and embody characters in transition, before becoming emblematic for the public. In the tradition of the Spanish Baroque, Almodóvar will develop his tragic outlook on his ever-changing culture around these iconic actors who will, in turn, unfold the complexity of the transition years for Spanish women and men.

Details

1009240
Location
Title
Almodóvar’s Baroque Transitions in the Early Films (1980–1995)
Publication title
Humanities; Basel
Volume
14
Issue
1
First page
1
Publication year
2025
Publication date
2025
Publisher
MDPI AG
Place of publication
Basel
Country of publication
Switzerland
e-ISSN
20760787
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
Document type
Journal Article
Publication history
 
 
Online publication date
2024-12-26
Milestone dates
2024-11-28 (Received); 2024-12-24 (Accepted)
Publication history
 
 
   First posting date
26 Dec 2024
ProQuest document ID
3159500141
Document URL
https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/almodóvar-s-baroque-transitions-early-films-1980/docview/3159500141/se-2?accountid=208611
Copyright
© 2024 by the author. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.
Last updated
2025-01-25
Database
ProQuest One Academic