All About My Mother
Generally speaking, the handful of foreign-language films I have seen were positive experiences. Life Is Beautiful is not only the best foreign film that I've seen, it's also one of my favorite movies of all time. Amelie was also enjoyable during every minute. The latest foreign-language masterpiece that I had the privilege of seeing is All About My Mother, the winner of the 1999 Academy Award for Best Foreign Film.
Cecilia Roth stars as Manuela, a single mother working as a nurse in Madrid, Spain. She has a strong connection with her son Esteban, who wants to be a writer. They both enjoy films and plays and can converse frankly with each other. On the night of Esteban's birthday, the boy and his mother attend a live performance of "A Streetcar Named Desire." Esteban wants the star's autograph after the show ends, but the actress' taxi just drives away. Esteban chases the taxi, but he is run over by another car as Manuela witnesses the loss of her only family.
After her only son's death, Manuela reads the notebook that Esteban was writing in all of the time. One passage is of great significance to Manuela. Esteban reports that every old photograph of his mother is missing half of the image. Presuming that the other half of the photo showed his father, Esteban writes that he too is missing from Esteban's life. Manuela vows to return to Barcelona to find the husband she left and was too ashamed to talk about, tell him that he had a son he never knew about, and then tell him that their son recently died. During her journey, Manuela continues her role as a caregiver to a transvestite prostitute and a pregnant nun (oops!).
Roth's performance is outstanding, to say the least. Only a person with a hard heart could not feel Manuela's pain as she runs to her dying son in the street. Later, when Manuela is telling the story of Esteban's death to the actress who denied him an autograph, it's difficult to believe that Roth is merely acting. Her emotion-saturated face looks too genuine to be anything short of authentic.
The screenwriters do a great job of setting up foreshadowing events and repeated themes. The opening scene, taking place in Manuela's hospital, focuses on a nurse making arrangements for a deceased patient's organs to be donated. A short while later, it is revealed that Manuela participates in simulations to educate the public about the organ-donation process. Very soon afterwards, Manuela has to make that decision with her son's organs. Also interesting, "A Streetcar Named Desire" is a key element in Manuela's life. When she was in her early 20s, Manuela was in an amateur acting company that performed Tennessee Williams' famous play. She played the part of Stella, and her future husband played Stanley Kowalski. My point is that "A Streetcar Named Desire" led to the birth and the death of Esteban. That's just one of many examples like this in the movie.
All About My Mother is touching and sad, but there is still a decent amount of humor. The makers of this film use a wide palette of human emotion to create this work of art.
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Alcohol plays a very minor role in this foreign film.
Ladies are often attracted to men with cultural interests.
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2) Life Is Beautiful
3) Amelie
