All About My Mother

Pedro Almodovar directed this story of a woman and her circle of friends who find themselves suffering a variety of emotional crises. Manuela ( Cecilia Roth ) is a single mother who has raised her son Esteban ( Eloy Azorin ) to adulthood on her own and has come to emotionally depend on him. One night, Manuela and Esteban take in a production of A Streetcar Named Desire ; after the show, Esteban is struck and killed by a passing motorist as he dashes into the street to get an autograph from Huma Rojo ( Marisa Paredes ), who played Blanche. Emotionally devastated, Manuela relocates to Barcelona in hopes of finding her ex-husband (and Esteban's father), who is now working as a female impersonator. Manuela becomes reacquainted with old friend La Agrado ( Antonia San Juan ), a transexual, and is introduced to Sister Rosa ( Penelope Cruz ), a good-hearted nun who has to contend with her considerably more cynical mother ( Rosa Maria Sarda ). While looking for work, Manuela becomes acquainted with Huma Rojo. Huma, on the other hand, has troubles of her own, most involving her drug-addicted significant other, Nina ( Candela Pena ). Displaying Almodovar's trademark visual style and a unusually strong sense of character-driven drama, Todo Sobre Mi Madre / All About My Mother received a highly anticipated theatrical run in Spain before winning the Best Director award at the 1999 Cannes Film Festival; in 2000, Almodovar would recieve the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. — Mark Deming