Bitter Christmas Review: Almodóvar's Meta-Drama Explores the Cost of Creativity
By
David Ehrlich
Master baker tier. Every paragraph earns its place on the tray.
Summary
Pedro Almodóvar's "Bitter Christmas" is a self-referential meta-drama about a tortured filmmaker writing a screenplay about a tortured filmmaker. The film explores Almodóvar's lifelong ethos that cinema is everything, while also serving as a self-flagellating examination of how his creative compulsion has impacted his personal relationships. Described as a satisfying late-career gem, the movie is fun, twisty, and unapologetically introspective from the Spanish auteur.
Key quotes
· 3 pulledSo far as Pedro Almodóvar is concerned, cinema is everything, and everything is cinema.
Almodóvar's vampiric compulsion to feed his creativity with the people around him has come at a heavy cost, both for himself and his loved ones.
Self-flagellating to the extreme but never the least bit apologetic.
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