Film Review: Pain and Glory

Originally published January 27, 2020

Pain and Glory is one of several 2019 films by directors ruminating on their lives and crafts. The Irishman, Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood, Honey Boy, Little Women and The Farewell are deeply introspective in one way or another. Glory’s metatext sits firmly between Hollywood and Little Women. It’s about the movies and the power they hold, but it’s also about the way our past and present are in constant dialogue with one another.

Glory is directed and written by Oscar winner Pedro Almodovar and stars Antonio Banderas as struggling middle-aged director Salvador Mallo. When one of his films is restored and exhibited, it gives him the opportunity to reconnect with that film’s star whom he hadn’t talked with since the film’s making 30 years prior. Mallo is an obvious insert for Almodovar himself and his relationship with Alberto Crespo, the star of the newly restored film, parallels Almodovar’s relationship with Banderas; after making a string of films together in the 1980s, the pair didn’t reconnect until 2011.

The audience also sees flashbacks to Mallo’s childhood in the 1960s and his time making films in Madrid in the 1980s. The issue with these flashbacks (and the issue with the film as a whole) is that they seem disconnected from the present for a majority of the film. It’s obvious that these flashbacks are supposed to display how Salvador got from here to there, but for most of the film it feels like there is a missing element to his story.

When the pieces DO finally come together, the result is stunning. The final 30 minutes make the waiting worth it, even if the urge to walk out is very, very strong beforehand. The film meanders and takes its time, but you have to trust it. The wait is worth it.

Final score: 7.8/10