Women On The Verge Of A Nervous Breakdown (DVD)

'Women On The Verge of a Nervous Breakdown', or 'Mujeres al Borde de un Ataque de Nervios' in the original Spanish, is a 1988 film directed by the world famous Pedro Almodovar, who has made popular films such as 'Volver', which was made in 2006, and 'Bad Education' in 2004. The general story of this film is that Pepa's lover Ivan has just left her, leaving her devastated and unsure as to what to do. She receives some important news, and tries to track down Ivan to tell him, as it 'concerns them both'. Meanwhile, Pepa's friend Candela is in trouble and keeps calling her for help, but Pepa is too busy with her own troubles to care, and Ivan's mentally disturbed ...  Read the complete review

Pepa is devastated when Ivan leaves her, even more so because she thinks he has returned to his wife and she has some important news to tell him. However, when she tries to confront his wife, Lucia, she claims to know nothing of Ivan's whereabouts. By some quirk of nature, Lucia's son, Carlos is looking to rent an apartment with his girlfriend, and turns up at Pepa's flat which she is planning to rent out, not realising that Pepa was his mother's rival. Throw into the mix a girlfriend of Pepa's, who is on the run from her criminal boyfriend and is suicidal to boot, another of Ivan's lovers, a biker neighbour and the police, and Pepa's life becomes a total whirl of ...  Read the complete review

The film that confirmed Pedro as a force to be reckoned with starred his long time collaborator - Carmen Maura in the lead role as Pepa - a voice over actress who is having an affair with a married family man and is - you guessed it - on the verge of a nervous breakdown. When I first saw this film i didn't actually like it that much, I found the script long winded and couldn't relate to any of the characters. As my cinema going and film tastes improved I rewatched this film and enjoyed it immensely. The film centres around Pepa and the various people (mostly women) who careen in and out of her life in a short space of time. All the characters are ...  Read the complete review