Amarga Navidad
Spanish master filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar (All About My Mother, Talk To Her) takes a personal turn once again in this playful tragicomedy about how life and art intertwine.
Elsa gave up art-house filmmaking for gainful employment as an advertising director long ago, but the urge to craft something personal and creative comes creeping back. Together with a friend, she goes to the island of Lanzarote with its beaches of black sand and endless windy plains. There she begins writing a new screenplay, drawing upon the misfortunes of her friends for material. Parallel to Elsa’s endeavour, revered auteur Raúl – clearly an alter ego of Aldomóvar himself – is also using the personal hardships of his inner circle to devise character developments for his new project. Both artists seek to rejuvenate their respective practices through autofictional devices that threaten to dismantle their most cherished relationships.
Amarga Navidad invites us into an entrancing house of mirrors as only Almodóvar can construct. Alter egos, seductions, and betrayals abound, as do memorable characters and sequences that fuse the director’s characteristically splendid use of colour and intense music with evocative locations. With noirish hues and telenovela twists, it’s a captivating exploration of grief, love, and the perils of unchecked artistic licence. (source: www.tiff.net)