Cinema
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown
Mujeres al borde de un ataque de nervios
Pedro Almodóvar · 1988
Synopsis
Madrid. Pepa, a dubbing actress, has just been left by Iván, her partner, a dubbing actor like her, who leaves a message on her answering machine telling her to pack his suitcase. She has something important to tell him and spends the day trying to reach him. Meanwhile, her penthouse apartment fills up: Carlos, Iván's son, who has come to see the apartment for rent with his fiancée Marisa, and Candela, a friend in a panic over having had an affair with a Shiite terrorist. A gazpacho laced with sleeping pills waits in the refrigerator.
Context
The author's seventh feature film and one of the first produced by his own company, the film leaves the modest apartment of the previous one for a luxurious penthouse in central Madrid, where Carmen Maura, Antonio Banderas, Julieta Serrano, María Barranco and Rossy de Palma cross paths. Presented at the Venice Film Festival and released in Spain on 25 March 1988, it was seen by nearly 1.8 million spectators in the country that year. The title speaks of an “attack of nerves”, which English rendered inaccurately as “nervous breakdown”. It was adapted as a musical on Broadway in 2010.
Who it is for
A fast, brightly coloured comedy that takes place almost entirely in one apartment; it made its director known outside Spain.
Prizes and reception
Five Goyas, including best film and best actress; screenplay prize at Venice, audience award at Toronto; nominated for the Oscar for best foreign film.