NekoHomey Purely Joyful Movie!

GetPapa Far from Perfect, Far from Terrible

Motompa Go in cold, and you're likely to emerge with your blood boiling. This has to be seen to be believed.

Paynbob It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

Salih Shakir I experienced a lot of different emotions when I viewed this film. I am aware that Almodovar's films bring a very unique insight to entertainment but this film was a very complex set of personal indifference. From one perspective the ideality of shedding the light on possible strains on the individual lives of Nuns when they are exposed to elements such as prostitutes, drugs and passion that lead them astray from their path is interesting. Yet still the idea of Nuns living secret drug addicted lives from each other and confiding in prostitutes for guidance is a bit extreme and can be very offensive to those belonging to the Catholic faith. The binding story line of the General Mother's struggle between her sexuality, religion, friendship, heroine, and economic deprivation is approached in a well stream lined format. Almodovar links the various indiscretions of the outside world to a down to Earth understanding of the psychological affects of those exposed to them. Then contrasts his ideas with the undertone of the forbidden love and lost of the General Mother. This allows the audience the experience of the social impact on religion while enhancing awareness of sacrifice and struggle representatives of the Catholic faith may face. I would recommend watching this movie with a degree of discretion in regards to balance of art and the reflection of idealism.

zetes What else do you need to know? Honestly, this isn't Almodovar's best work. In fact, it's pretty sloppy story-wise. But I enjoyed the heck out of it. Cristina Sanchez Pascual plays a heroin-addicted singer who hides out in a convent after her boyfriend overdoses. The nuns there are, shall we say, a little quirky in that they are mostly on drugs (heroin, cocaine, acid - but not pot; at one point a nun says "you know I don't do soft drugs"). Also, one's a lesbian and another writes lurid romance novels and together they have raised a pet tiger. They all have names like Sister Snake and Sister Rat, because the humiliation is sacred. There's really no compelling reason the nuns are on drugs. It's just kind of a shocking, humorous detail. I think Bunuel would have loved it, though the film itself isn't particularly blasphemous. It doesn't view the nuns or Catholicism cynically. It just exists in its own, weird Almodovar universe. The plot is not very strong, so the whole thing just kind of fizzles, but it's entertaining. Carmen Maura plays one of the nuns, but she's not an extremely important character. On the Region 1 DVD, though, she graces the cover.

Gordon-11 On the DVD box it says the film is very funny. However, I didn't find the film funny at all. It is not because of the language barrier. There is nothing I find funny. The nuns may be atypical, but they are not funny. The film is more of a thought provoking film that explores social and religious issues. Labelling it funny doesn't do it justice.

dutchtom1 This film made after Almodovar's first more upbeat outrageous films, is a film that tells of the end of the Movida Madrilenia, a movement existing in the early eighties in Madrid that was defined by a mixture of new romantic punk and pop, and the ironic use of Spanish folklore and the 'housewife' culture. When people in this subculture started to commonly use heroine, the downfall of the movement had begun. This film is about the choices that people had to make at the end of this era. some stayed junkies, others died, some went back to the small towns where they had moved from, others went on to give up on drugs and become more constructive. The convent where the nuns reside can be interpreted as the habitation of this irreverent movement, frequented by police searches, dealers, artists, and junkies. The movie has some great musical moments which indicate that Almodovar might one day take his hand to this genre. The religious element interwtined with (homo)sexuality will certainly be proliferated again in the forthcoming movie La Mala Educacion. The movie also contains a cameo of a Spanish 'Harrold Robbins' type of writer, who is featured sitting at one of the tables wiping her mouth with a handkerchief as Yolanda sings in a night club at the beginning of the movie. This authopr refers to the character of sister Rata de Callejon, who has a secret career as trashy novel writer. The film is somewhat darker than most of Almodovar's early movies, but is very gentle, provides enough comedy and the characters above all remain very human, all of them have their virtues and vices.