Pedro Almodóvar, Gender and All About My Mother (1999)

1. How are women presented in All About My Mother?

What roles do the women (Manuela, Rosa, Agrado, Huma, Nina) occupy?

How does Almodóvar challenge stereotypical ideas of what women are/should be like?

How do these representations differ from those of Hollywood cinema?

2. How does All About My Mother foreground the construction of gender? How does Aragdo’s monologue draw attention to the construction of femininity? How does the character Lola challenge ideas of masculinity vs. femininity? Does Almodóvar also draw attention to the construction of gender through the

other characters?

3. How does Almodóvar explore broader ideas of performance in the film? What is the significance of ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’ and the theatre?

4. How (and why) does Almodóvar’s film engage with classical Hollywood women’s cinema?

Compare this with Fassbinder’s use of Sirk last week.

What other genres/films does Almodóvar refer to in All About My Mother?

5. How radical is Almodóvar’s privileging of transgendered subjects given his international status as Spain’s most prominent and celebrated auteur?

How does this practice contrast with Hollywood cinema’s presentations of gender and identity?