La flor de mi secreto

a film by Pedro Almodóvar

The Flower of My Secret was the first film of Almodóvar I’ve ever seen, some 30 years ago, in the Hyde Park Picture House of Leeds^*. Yesterday, we re-watched it thanks to Spanish Television^†.

Turned out that I remembered this movie pretty well. The difference is, now I don’t need English subtitles to understand the dialogue. The great late Marisa Paredes is as elegant as she is in the role of Leo. The comic relief is provided by Chus Lampreave and Rossy de Palma as Leo’s mother and sister, respectively.

*	I’ve found the issue of Leeds Student with screening times for this film. To my surprise, the first page of the newspaper sports a photo of “the rare cloud phenomenon that ... is unlikely to be repeated during our lifetime” which I had a pleasure to observe with my own eyes on 16 February 1996.
†	It was shown as part of the cycle Historia de nuestro cine, to mark the anniversary of the death of Marisa Paredes.

Madres paralelas

a film by Pedro Almodóvar

Pedro Almodóvar set such a high standard of filmmaking that now and then his own creations fall short of it. This is certainly the case with his latest offering: an improvement over Dolor y gloria, not quite at the level of The Human Voice, and longer than both of these films. Milena Smit shines as Ana while Penélope Cruz’s character, Janis, is not particularly convincing. And it’s always a joy to see Rossy de Palma.

The two storylines, viz. that of “parallel mothers” and the mass grave excavations, could have been connected in a more subtle manner. The latter one seems to be added as an afterthought, and not a very well thought-through one. Which is a shame: it’s admirable that Almodóvar at last confronts Spain’s not-so-distant past. But that story is worthy of a film on its own. As it is, Madres paralelas is both disjointed and predictable, with too many bits scattered in Stanislavski’s “I don’t believe it” territory.

The Human Voice

a film by Pedro Almodóvar

Today I went to Monopol, to pay my respects to this iconic picturehouse. For it’s closing down, and probably for good. One can (and one does) blame the ongoing pandemic for death of culture but I think the problem runs deeper. The theatre never did particularly well, which is understandable given that it specialises in “non-commercial” cinema. Even so, it could have been managed better — as its potentially last day demonstrated.

I arrived well in advance, only to join an enormous slowly-moving queue. The box office was closed; instead, the tickets were sold by the popcorn girl. My plan was to see the 17:00 screening; when my turn came, it was already 17:08. So I bought the ticket for 18:00 and went for a stroll around Triana, fuming to myself indignantly. And was the theatre full, in the end? It didn’t look it. Come to think of it, I don’t remember Monopol ever being full.

But how symbolic it was to see today The Human Voice, the ultimate goodbye exquisitely delivered by Tilda Swinton — and Dash the dog. (I didn’t realise until today that Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown was also inspired by Cocteau’s play.)

This is both the first English-language film and the first short by Almodóvar, and I hope it’s not the last one. How much better Dolor y gloria could have been if it lasted 30 minutes instead of two hours!

Dolor y gloria

a film by Pedro Almodóvar

Definitely more Almodóvarey than his previous offering, Julieta, this one seems to be more a work in progress than a finished film: some parts too long, some too short, a few loose ends or stories that could have been continued to everybody’s (or at least mine) satisfaction... The famous but declining film director Pedro Almodóvar Salvador Mallo (portrayed, naturally, by Antonio Banderas), for all his pains and even less glory, left me largely indifferent. The best moments are Mallo’s childhood flashbacks featuring his mum (Penélope Cruz, of course), with cameo appearance of Rosalía. And some of the finest dialogues since Volver.

— Si tú ves algo raro, me llamas.
— Aquí todo es raro.

Pure Almodóvar.

Free live music in Las Palmas, March 2019

Of course, March is the month of Carnival, but there was so much more to see and to hear in Las Palmas for free!

• 3 March: Olga Cerpa & Mestisay @ Gabinete Literario, Plaza de Cairasco, 1, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
  This is the first time ever that I went to the Gabinete Literario which occupies the beautiful building of former Teatro Cairasco, bang in the centre of the island’s capital. Olga Cerpa & Mestisay played a daytime concert on Sunday and the hall was full. I found myself in the middle of a queue just outside of the entrance which didn’t move anywhere: “Ta lleno.” A group of people left the queue and went around the corner. In a few minutes, I spied them within, so I followed their example and embarked on search of an alternative entrance. It presented itself as a locked door. I rang the bell (twice). Finally, a lady opened it from inside, telling me once again that it is “a tope” but still, she let me in. I found a place behind the scene and enjoyed the concert thoroughly.
• 5 March: Carlinhos Brown @ Parque Santa Catalina
  Mr Brown and his fantastic band brought the house down — well, there was no house but the main stage of the Carnival, and everybody was dancing!

  

  Carlinhos Brown in Parque Santa Catalina

  

  More photos of Carlinhos Brown @ depositphotos

• 7 March: Berta Moreno @ Teatro Guiniguada, Plaza F. Mesa de León, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
  At last! Berta Moreno’s session (once again, thanks to Mousikê La Laguna) was what a masterclass should be. “Are you musicians? What do you play? Who brought an instrument?” she asked. (I didn’t bring anything.) Fortunately, there were two saxophonists and one clarinetist who joined Berta on the stage for a jam.

• 16 March: Caracoles @ Parque Doramas
  From Tenerife with rumba and love, Caracoles were presenting their new album Flores. A colourful touch: in the middle of the show, a guy with a big bag went around the audience to distribute the “flowers” of bougainvillea. The singer encouraged everybody to grab handfuls (or armfuls) of them, and then on her signal, as she sang the first word of Flores (which, incidentally, is Flores), to throw them into the air. Featuring Nuria Hernández (lead vocals), Fabián Rosquete (percussion), Pedro García (bass guitar), Germán Cuesto (Spanish guitar), Luis Pérez (drums), David González (keyboards), Nuria Herrero (backing vocals), Aborá Cel (backing vocals), Rubén Quintana (trumpet), Alejandro Cabrera (trombone) and Ricardo Melchior (sax).

• 22 March: Concierto feminista “La igualdad marca el ritmo” @ The Paper Club, Calle Remedios, 10
  I went primarily to see Flor de Canela and they didn’t disappoint! But I am also glad I’ve got to know the other artists, because they play sort of music I don’t listen that much to, and even less so live. Cintia Lund sings very stylish 1980s-feel electro-pop (for want of a better term) and has awesome and also very stylish, stage presence. She was accompanied by Yanara Espinoza (Papaya) on drums and Ricardo on guitar. By the time the last act took the stage, The Paper Club was pretty full. Tremenda Jauría (Madrid), consisting of Mc Chucho, Mc Machete, Mc Larrata and Ganga Dj, is a live testament to the fact that reggaeton, contrary to the stereotype, can be progressive and feminist. The band cleverly mixes it with sounds of cumbia and punk rock. Still, not my favourite music style, and it is a real shame that, when you really want to hear the lyrics, you can’t, thanks to the venue’s dismal acoustics. The show went from more or less 10:30 pm to 2 am.
• 23 March: Esther Ovejero “Todo sobre Almodóvar” @ Parque Doramas
  What do Cucurrucucú paloma, Ne me quitte pas and I’m So Excited have in common? Why, they all appeared in films by Pedro Almodóvar! They were presented by Esther Ovejero in her spectacular programme “Todo sobre Almodóvar”, together with songs such as En el último trago, Luz de luna, Tonada de luna llena, Puro Teatro and, of course, Volver. The singer from Tenerife was accompanied by Roberto Amor (drums), Patricio José de León (guitar), José Carlos Perdomo (double bass) and David Quevedo (piano).

• 30 March: Happy Piano Day in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, various locations (12:00—19:00)
  The Piano Day, takes place on the 88^th day of the year (due to the standard number of keys on piano), was created by Nils Frahm in 2015. This year it was celebrated on the 29 March worldwide except Las Palmas de Gran Canaria where they did it one day later... or could it be that Canarian pianos have an extra key?
  
  The instruments — thankfully, under the tents — appeared in nine locations around the city. I went for a walk to the centre and saw three of them: one in Parque de San Telmo, another on the corner of c/Triana and c/San Pedro and one more on the corner of c/Triana and c/Travieso. On this last spot they installed two upright pianos back-to-back, and Jose Alberto Medina Quintana, one of the organisers of this event, was sitting there playing a duet with Juan Espino. A great idea, I think they should put the pianos around the place more often.

• 30—31 March: Monopol Music Festival, Plaza de Santa Ana (20:00—01:00)
  The MMF was going from 22 to 31 March, but Timur and I only went to check out the closing concert on the Plaza de Santa Ana. We caught the last song of Lajalada and the first two songs of the Amsterdam-based EUT — then Timur left. I stayed to hear the first song of Mucho and went home, leaving Delafé till another occasion. Of what I heard, it was all right if not great, but the sound left much to be desired: the low frequencies made my guts vibrate way beyond comfortability.
• 31 March: Julie Fowlis @ Parque Doramas
  What a great way to finish the month: the open-air concert of Julie Fowlis and her band! Mostly Scottish and Irish tunes but also The Beatles’ Blackbird (in Gaelic) and one song in Galician. Apart from singing, Julie was playing tin whistles and Shruti box; also, telling us stories behind the songs (I guess there were not that many Gaelic speakers in the audience). “Do you want some more?” — “Yes!!!” — “We don’t know any more!” But of course they played one more, and while they were playing, Julie said her goodbyes and left the scene... only to reappear a few minutes later with a bagpipe to provide the perfectly Scottish coda to the show.

  

  More photos of Julie Fowlis @ Shutterstock

Tacones lejanos

a film by Pedro Almodóvar

Last week, La Sexta was treating us to Universo Almodóvar. By some reason, this film was shown even without Spanish subtitles, so there are, um, gaps in my understanding of the dialogue. So what. Bold colours, Miles Davis’s Sketches of Spain, great actors. The further highlights include one of the most funny lovemaking scenes I’ve ever seen; Rebeca’s confession live on TV (with sign language interpretation); and a totally unexpected prison-yard dance.

Lady prisoners dance the merengue: Pecadora by Los Hermanos Rosario.

Los abrazos rotos

a film by Pedro Almodóvar

The latest film of Almodóvar features his dream team of fabulous women from Volver, including (of course) Pene Cruz, Blanca Portillo, and Lola Dueñas. It is all top quality stuff, even though by the second half of the movie I wished it was a bit shorter. The scenes of “revelations” did not reveal anything that I haven’t figured out already. The (writing of) vampire sequence it hilarious, and final scenes make you want to watch director’s cut of fictitional movie Chicas y Maletas (a ruder version of Mujeres al borde de un ataque de nervios?), starring Cruz and Carmen Machi as Chon, “una concejala de asuntos sociales”.