Movie: Julieta

Julieta:  a Pedro Almodovar film.  This film was submitted to the Oscar Academy as Spain’s entry in the Best Foreign Film category.  Although it did not reach the Final Five, this drama about life and death is deserving of your attention.  The film opens with a middle-aged Julieta (Emma Suarez) packing up her Madrid apartment and moving to Portugal.  We then see Julieta walking through town and happening upon a close friend of her daughter from many years ago.  We learn that Julieta hasn’t seen or heard from her daughter in a long time.  Julieta learns that her daughter has three children.  We flashback to Julieta as a 25 year old (Adriana Ugarte) traveling on a train - - - the two actresses who play Julieta look amazingly similar.  An older gentleman sits across from Julieta and tries to begin a conversation but she feels uncomfortable and abandons her seat.  She walks to the dining car where she meets Xoan (Daniel Grao), a young fisherman.  Xoan becomes Julieta’s lover and eventually her husband.  Off-screen, the older gentleman commits suicide.   Julieta and Xoan have a lovely daughter who is played by Priscilla Delgado when young and by Blanca Pares when 18 years old.  At 18, the daughter goes off to a retreat and then disappears from Julieta’s life.  During the course of this 96-minute film, the action moves between middle aged Julieta wondering what happened to her daughter and the events which resulted in the daughter’s departure from Julieta’s life.   Julieta is a complex individual whose relationships with the significant people in her life bear comparison to her profession, the teaching and the translation of Greek tragedies.  The complexities of love, life and death are all presented in a sequence with her father and arguably Julieta’s life has a  similarity to that of her father.  This film is consistent with many of Almodovar’s prior films, which feature strong and complex women.  For anyone who has admired Almodovar’s work, this film is a must see.  If you are not yet familiar with his work, Julieta is an excellent introduction.  The film is in Spanish and therefore subtitled.