Film Season: Almodóvar at Showroom, Sheffield

Is the British summer getting you down? Sheffield’s Showroom have lined up the perfect antidote to a drizzly August with a taste of Spain in the form of a mini-retrospective of the films of director Pedro Almodóvar. Those already acquainted with the cinema of Spain’s premier auteur will know to expect lavishly conceived tales full of sex, colour and gleeful transgression which both subvert and embrace traditional old-Hollywood genres such as the thriller, screwball comedy and woman’s picture.

…expect lavishly conceived tales full of sex, colour and gleeful transgression…

The season is timed to include Almodóvar’s new film, Julieta, which is released on the 26th August. Arriving fresh from its competition spot at Cannes earlier this year, the Madrid-set melodrama is adapted from three Alice Munro short stories and earned warm reviews for its intoxicating take on guilt and motherhood.

There’s also the opportunity to catch an early Spanish language performance from Antonio Banderas in one of his most striking roles. Banderas plays a psychopath who kidnaps a porn star and former junkie – with whom he once had sex – with the intention of making her his wife in the irreverent and controversial Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!

Meanwhile, a young Javier Bardem shows up in 1998’s lively and politically-minded Live Flesh; a film following five lives that are inextricably intertwined following a police shooting. The season is rounded out by Talk To Her, Almodóvar’s sensual exploration of obsession, loneliness, comas and bullfighting…