A lavishly illustrated retrospective of Pedro Almodóvar, Spain’s foremost filmmaker, published to coincide with his 75th birthday

Pedro Almodóvar is a master of contemporary cinema. An auteur with an infinite imagination, the creator of unforgettable characters, and promoter of a challenging and captivating cinema, his list of accolades is virtually unmatched.

Almodóvar came to prominence during La Movida Madrileña, a cultural renaissance that followed after the end of Francoist Spain. His first few films characterized the sense of sexual and political freedom of the period. In 1986, he established his own film production company, El Deseo, with his younger brother Agustín Almodóvar, who has been responsible for producing all of his films since Law of Desire. Almodóvar achieved international recognition for his black comedy-drama film Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, and went on to further success with the dark romantic comedy Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!, the melodrama High Heels and the thriller Live Flesh. His subsequent two films, All About My Mother and Talk to Her, each earned him an Academy Award, for Best Foreign Film and Best Original Screenplay respectively. His subsequent films Volver, The Skin I Live In, Julieta and Pain and Glory were all in contention for the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival. His most recent film, The Room Next Door, won the Golden Lion at the 2024 Venice film festival.

Pau Gómez provides unique insight on every one of Almodóvar’s twenty-two major films. Profusely illustrated with unseen archive and behind-the-scenes stills, and featuring many first-person observations, this is an insider’s perspective on Almodóvar’s legendary achievements.

Contents List:

Foreword by Antonio Banderas • Introduction: The Long and Painful Road to Glory • Pepi, Luci, Bom and Other Girls Like Mom • Labyrinth of Passion • Dark Habits • What Have I Done to Deserve This? • Matador • Law of Desire • Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown • Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! • High Heels • Kika • The Flower of My Secret • Live Flesh • All About My Mother • Talk To Her • Bad Education • Volver • Broken Embraces • The Skin I Live In • I’m So Excited! • Julieta • Pain and Glory • Parallel Mothers • Epilogue: An Artist for the World • Afterword by Cecilia Roth • Filmography • Bibliography

About the Authors:

Pau Gómez has a degree in Journalism and a PhD in Film. He has spent most of his career at Ràdio 9, where he directed and presented specialized cinema programmes. He is the author of ten books on film.

We’re so excited! Pedro Almodóvar gives a unique insider's tour through his mysterious, sexy world

An updated edition of The Pedro Almodóvar Archives, offering inside access to the cult Spanish director who beguiles audiences worldwide with his thrilling dissertations on desire, passion, and identity. With behind-the-scenes pictures and personal reminiscences, Almodóvar himself guides the reader through his singular journey from its early days through to I’m So Excited (2013) and Julieta (2016)

One of the most prolific and influential auteurs at work over the past 40 years, cult Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar has beguiled audiences worldwide with his thrilling dissertations on desire, passion, and identity. Cast an eye over his long list of productions and you’re confronted with intoxicating tales of psychological melodrama, black comedy, familial feud, and violent lust.

This edition of The Pedro Almodóvar Archives offers unique inside access to behind-the-scenes pictures and personal reminiscences as the director guides us through his journey, from his early days right through to I’m So Excited (2013) and Julieta (2016). Based on and expanded from the original TASCHEN XL volume produced in collaboration with Almodóvar himself, the book offers a fascinating insight into the creative process behind such cinematic tours de force as Women On The Verge Of A Nervous Breakdown and the Academy Award-winning All About My Mother and Talk To Her.

Each film is featured with its original poster, full cast and crew listings, as well as an essay by a leading Spanish author. Almodóvar personally supplements the vivid photographic material, captioning each image with his own reflections and comments. As an overview of a true original’s creativity and a luminous era of cinema, this is an indispensable companion to the mighty Almodóvar canon created by the master himself.

The editor:

Paul Duncan is a film historian whose TASCHEN books include The James Bond Archives, The Charlie Chaplin Archives, The Godfather Family Album, Taxi Driver, Film Noir, and Horror Cinema, as well as publications on film directors, film genres, movie stars, and film posters.
 

The Man from La Mancha

An in-depth exploration of Almodóvar’s complete works

Un film de Almodóvar: whether appearing in his stylish opening credits or on the suggestive poster that invariably accompanies each of his films, this announcement triggers a range of expectations. Sexy and subversive, colorful and controversial, passionate and provocative, Pedro Almodóvar’s world is unlike any other director’s. Thanks to his remarkably cohesive and consistent œuvre, the Manchegan maverick has become a reliable brand, his name a byword for the visual opulence, experimentation and eroticism of post-Franco Spanish cinema.
Almodóvar found fame with self-penned, gender-bending plots depicting the often comic misfortunes of junkies, nuns, housewives, whores, transvestites and transsexuals. Praised by critics, championed by fellow film-makers, adored by actors and adorned with international awards, he is the most successful Spanish film-maker since Luis Buñuel, with films such as Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, All About My Mother, Talk to Her, and Volver.

A self-taught auteur, Almodóvar draws on influences as diverse as Douglas Sirk, Frank Tashlin, Andy Warhol and John Waters. His feature films borrow liberally from, and frequently invert, traditional genres of classic American cinema - including film noir, melodrama and screwball comedy. Yet they remain unmistakably Iberian, rooted predominantly in the director’s beloved Madrid, exploring Spanish myths and modernity to the rhythms of bolero-laden soundtracks. Most recently, the enfant terrible of the 1980s arthouse scene has matured into the Academy Award-winning director of All About My Mother, a film universally acknowledged for its emotional resonance, sophistication and craftsmanship. Almodóvar’s distinctive, once marginalized world has finally entered the mainstream.

For this unprecedented monograph, Pedro Almodóvar has given TASCHEN complete access to his archives, including never-before-published images, such as personal photos he took during filming. In addition to writing captions for the photos, Almodóvar invited prominent Spanish authors to write introductions to each of his films, and selected many of his own texts to accompany this visual odyssey through his complete works.

• Over 600 images, including many previously unpublished.
• Includes images from his new film, The Skin I Live In (2011), which will be released worldwide at the same time as the book.
• Book includes a film strip from Volver (2006), taken from Almodóvar’s archive.