A comprehensive, historically informed study of the art and politics of Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar, showing how Almodóvar's films draw on various national cinemas and film genres, including Spanish cinema of the dictatorship, European art cinema, Hollywood melodrama and film noir.

Ana María Sánchez-Arce is Reader in English at Sheffield Hallam University

Introduction
1 The early films: Pepi, Luci, Bom y otras chicas del montón and Laberinto de pasiones
2 Kicking the habit: Entre tinieblas
3 High windows and ugly aesthetics: ¿Qué he hecho yo para merecer esto?
4 Faking Spain: Matador
5 Other voices, other stories: La ley del deseo
6 Pure theatre: Mujeres al borde de un ataque de nervios
7 On the verge of a genre breakdown: ¡Átame!, Tacones lejanos and Kika
8 The end of romance: La flor de mi secreto
9 Circle lines and memory work: Carne trémula
10 Remembering children: Todo sobre mi madre
11 Still lives: Hable con ella
12 Faking memory: La mala educación
13 Motherlands: Volver
14 Archaeology in the dark: Los abrazos rotos
15 Visual seduction: La piel que habito
16 'Crisis cinema': Los amantes pasajeros and Julieta
Afterword: Dolor y gloria
Filmography
References
Index