Marvin D'Lugo offers a concise, informed, and insightful commentary on a preeminent force in modern cinema. D'Lugo follows Almodóvar's career chronologically, tracing the director's works and their increasing complexity in terms of theme and the Spanish film tradition. Drawing on a wide range of critical sources, D'Lugo explores Almodóvar's use of melodrama and Hollywood genre film, his self-invention as a filmmaker, and his on-screen sexual politics. D'Lugo also discusses what he calls "geocultural positioning," that is, Almodóvar's paradoxical ability to use his marginal positions—in terms of his class, geographical origin, and identity—to develop an expressive language that is emotionally recognizable by audiences worldwide. Two fascinating interviews with the director round out the volume.

An exciting consideration of an arthouse giant, Pedro Almodóvar mixes original interpretations into an analysis sure to reward film students and specialists alike.

Acknowledgments ix
PEDRO ALMÓDOVAR AND HIS CINEMA 1
Low-Level Melodrama 1
Pepi, Luci, Bom, and Other Friends of Pedro 16
Migration and Melodrama 29
Thrillers 45
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown59
Transnational Repositioning after Women on the Verge 67
The Flower of My Secret 85
Live Flesh 93
All about My Mother 99
Talk to Her and Bad Education 105
INTERVIEW WITH PEDRO ALMODÓVAR 131
SELF-INTERVIEW 145
Filmography 153
Bibliography 159
Index 165