Julieta (2016)

Based on three short stories written by the Canadian author and 2013 Nobel laureate, Alice Munro, I'd say 'Julieta' is about a woman who struggles with the absence of those she'd like to have closest to her, because she foremost lacks a healthy relationship with her own self. It's an interesting premise, but I feel it wasn't developed enough. The movie didn't quite gel for me. I'm a big fan of Almodovar and love the vast majority of his work. However, this is one of perhaps only two films of his that I haven't liked so much. I didn't get into any of the acting nor the dialogue. There's an elegance in the photography that is typical of the director's later work; his bold, Spanish palette is there; the music is suspenseful and keeps building up... But building up to what? I couldn't see where any of this was leading to, so I lost interest. I was also bothered by Julieta's terrible wardrobe and hairdos. At some point, her tangled, blonde hair reminded me of Steven Adler, the drummer of Guns N' Roses. I tell myself this may have been done on purpose to suggest that she's unsophisticated or that something deep inside of her isn't quite right. Certainly, someone like Almodovar, who can be so playful with style, must have had a good reason to give the protagonist that sort of bad taste. But again, I seemed unable to connect the dots.

The director said in an interview that 'Julieta' may represent the beginning of a new stage for him, in which he replaces the extravagance that he's best known for with a drier, more austere tone. You can definitely see it here and I'm open to this change, if that's where his heart tells him to go. Whatever the case, even though I didn't really enjoy this recent film, I look forward to watching his next work in the cinema. I still think Almodovar is a master filmmaker and I trust that he has more surprises up his sleeve. After all, few people have made as many great movies as he has.