Again and again he: Pedro Almodóvar Caballero. A trademark for a DOC product of European cinematography. This time he engages with all the global social news, with all the major issues affecting our Western societies. Parallel Mothers tells the story of two women, which he defines as "imperfect and contemporary", of their difficult motherhood, of the history of their country, Spain (which was and is also the history of Europe), of diseases, of the use and l abuse of social networks, science, relationships between men and women, parents, friends, feelings and passions. The director proposes a fluid and dynamic mosaic of situations and characters, full of unforeseen events and twists, as much as the events that take place in the daily life of each of us can be with a political background of themes and problems (abortion) towards which accounts, not only in Spain, they always seem to be open.
The central theme of the story refers to the fatal combination occurred at the time of the birth of their daughters, in the same place, on the same day and daughters of uncertain fathers. On this confusion, fate crosses their parallel stories which are then destined to meet. In their development, the traits of a story unravel that envelops the viewer to such an extent that he has to constantly wait for the next moment. Perhaps because we are used to and spoiled by so much television series, all digital and non-linear, fragmented and dislocated in discontinuous places and spaces, while the film was running, we wondered what the differences were with this kind of purely analogical, sequential narration. The TV series impose their own and arbitrary rhythm: it can be interrupted at any moment and resumed at will in another space, with another means and in another place. Almodóvar's story, this story, is instead one and indissoluble body that only in its entirety, in its continuity and completeness can it provide the complete picture of what the director intends to propose. And it is precisely on the big screen that such a product finds all its beauty and richness. The director's inexhaustible productive vein, his cinematic history has taken us for a walk for many years far and wide in the innermost depths of feelings private and intimate. This time, however, it opens up and focuses more on themes external to the family, to the small circle of people who all gravitate to a small world bordering on self-referential.
As they say: "the director with the camera has a polite hand" and rarely as in this case can the statement be confirmed. First of all for how he directs the whole "cinematographic machine" starting from the actresses (since very few men are seen, apart from a discreet and unknown protagonist Israel Elejalde) with Penelope Cruz in a state of grace: beyond beauty she is able to express an over the top acting ability, in good company of Rossy de Palma, often present in the Spanish director's films since his first work of international standing Women on the verge of a nervous breakdown from 1988. Then follow the shots, the lights, the sets, the costumes and the colors, almost a distinctive trait of Almodóvar's narrative "painting". Each image is a complete and evocative picture, where the chromatic gradations and shades fill the scene sometimes more than the characters appearing in it.
Parallel mothers, which has already been released in theaters for a few days, continues to enjoy moderate success at the box office: it's a good sign for cinema as a whole, it means that the public always appreciates quality and commitment.
