Viva Pedro: The Almodóvar Collection

American viewers unfamiliar with the fine work done by Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar, a towering figure over the last two decades in international cinema, will receive a first-rate introduction in this excellent boxed set, which collects eight of his highly praised movies. Almodóvar specializes in relatively small-scale works dealing with love, lust, and sex, topics he explores with imagination and ebullience, often with a touch of outlandish soap opera. The director maintains a stock company of sorts, but occasionally his stars have “crossed over” to success in English-language movies, such as Penelope Cruz (nominated for Best Actress in Almodóvar's latest, Volver, slated for a late April DVD release) and Antonio Banderas. As a rule, the filmmaker approaches his subjects in a totally uncompromising fashion—there are no sacred cows in the world of Almodóvar. Bad Education (2004), for example, juxtaposes strict religiosity with sexual abuse, while Matador (1986, new to DVD) revolves around death (the little death of orgasm and the bigger death of murder). Although Almodóvar infuses some of his films with daft humor, he has a sober side as well, as witnessed in All About My Mother (1999), one of his very best, which stars Cecilia Roth as a woman who, while trying to make sense out of her son's tragic death, embarks on a journey that ultimately alters her perception of the meaning of life, and Talk to Her (2002), an especially intimate and powerful film told from the perspective of two men who meet and bond in a hospital where their girlfriends both lay in comas. This boxed set also includes the remarkable Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (1988, the Oscar-nominated film that first brought the director international acclaim), Law of Desire (1987, new to DVD), The Flower of My Secret (1995) and Live Flesh (1997)—fine films, all. DVD extras spread across the collection include audio commentaries by Almodóvar, featurettes (including three on a bonus disc specific to this collection), and a set of postcards from the films' original posters. Highly recommended. (E. Hulse)