Marvin DLugo offers a concise, informed, and insightful commentary on a preeminent force in modern cinema. DLugo follows Almod?vars career chronologically, tracing the directors works and their increasing complexity in terms of theme and the Spanish film tradition. Drawing on a wide range of critical sources, DLugo explores Almod?vars use of melodrama and Hollywood genre film, his self-invention as a filmmaker, and his on-screen sexual politics. DLugo also discusses what he calls geocultural positioning, that is, Almod?vars paradoxical ability to use his marginal positions—in terms of his class, geographical origin, and identity—to develop an expressive language that is emotionally recognizable by audiences worldwide. Two fascinating interviews with the director round out the volume.
An exciting consideration of an arthouse giant, Pedro Almod?var mixes original interpretations into an analysis sure to reward film students and specialists alike.
