One of the best films of 2019 was Pedro Almodóvar‘s Pain and Glory, one of the acclaimed director’s most personal films. Antonio Banderas plays a filmmaker very much inspired by Almodóvar himself, who finds himself looking back at his past while reconnecting with people he hasn’t seen in years. It’s a beautiful, poetic film, and it’s hitting Blu-ray today, January 21. In honor of the Blu-ray release, we’re debuting an exclusive Pain and Glory clip featuring an interview with Almodóvar.
Pain and Glory Clip
Pain and Glory “tells of a series of re-encounters experienced by Salvador Mallo (Antonio Banderas), a film director in his physical decline. Some of them in the flesh, others remembered: his childhood in the 60s, when he emigrated with his parents to a village in Valencia in search of prosperity, the first desire, his first adult love in the Madrid of the 80s, the pain of the breakup of that love while it was still alive and intense, writing as the only therapy to forget the unforgettable, the early discovery of cinema, and the void, the infinite void that creates the incapacity to keep on making films.”
I caught the film at TIFF last year, and it was one of my favorite films of the fest. As I wrote in my review:
All of these elements blend together to conjure up an experience that feels lived-in and inviting; lush, gorgeous, and altogether enchanting. Almodovar pulls this all together in one closing scene that plays out not just like a magic trick, but rather a magic trick that’s being explained to us by a master magician. “You were stunned and awed by this,” Almodovar is saying, “now let me show you how I did it.”
The clip above is part of the special features included on the Pain and Glory Blu-ray. A full description of the special features is below.
- Q&A with Director Pedro Almodóvar & Antonio Banderas – Antonio Banderas, Director Pedro Almodóvar, Composer Alberto Iglesias, and Producer Agustín Almodóvar discuss the creative process and genesis of PAIN AND GLORY.
- Pedro Almodóvar: In His Own Words – Pedro Almodóvar on La Movida Madrileña, his visual style, early inspirations, and his lengthy collaborations with Antonio Banderas and Penélope Cruz.
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