Movie of the Week
Pain and Glory drama — streaming on Showmax
The Oscar-nominated Spanish-Drama follows an ageing director as he reflects back on his life.
Written and directed by Oscar-winning auteur Pedro Almodóvar (Talk to Her), Pain and Glory centres on an ageing director, Salvador, as he reflects on the choices he has made in life as the past and present come crashing down around him. It’s inspired by Almodóvar’s own life.
Memories of Salvador’s past include his childhood in the 60s, when he emigrated with his parents to Valencia in search of a better life, his first desire, his first adult love in Madrid of the 80s, the pain of the breakup of an intense and passionate love, writing as his therapy of unforgettable events and, the early discovery of cinema.
At the 2020 Oscars, Pain and Glory was nominated for Best International Feature Film and Best Actor, a first for Antonio Banderas (Desperado, The Skin I Live In). The Spanish drama also won over 60 international awards, including Best Actor for Banderas and Best Soundtrack at Cannes.
Pain and Glory holds a 96% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with Time Out saying it’s “Almodóvar at the peak of his powers”, New York Magazine stating it as “at once the gentlest and most emotionally naked movie Pedro Almodóvar has ever made,” and Rolling Stone claiming, “Antonio Banderas gives the performance of his career… Pain and Glory, suffused with memory and regret, is one of Almodovar’s greatest films.”
The cast includes:
- Antonio Banderas as Salvador Mallo
- Leonardo Sbaraglia as Federico Delgado
- Asier Etxeandia as Alberto Crespo
- Cecilia Roth as Zulema
- Pedro Casablanc as Doctor Galindo
- Nora Navas as Mercedes
- Penélope Cruz as Jacinta (as a young woman)
- Julieta Serrano as Jacinta (elderly)
- Susi Sánchez as Beata
- Julián López as the Presenter
- Paqui Horcajo as Mercedes, the washer woman
- Rosalía as Rosita, the washer woman
- Marisol Muriel as Mari, the washer woman
- César Vicente as Eduardo, the carpenter-painter
- Asier Flores as Salvador Mallo (child)
- Agustín Almodóvar as the priest
- Luis Calero as brother José Maria
- Sara Sierra as Conchita, the daily help
The movie is available to watch on Showmax.
