On March 22nd, the film director Pedro Almodovar released his latest and most personal film: “Dolor y Gloria” [Pain and Glory]. A story in which he makes very clear that cinema saved his life and that he cannot live without Madrid.
Besides the references to his native region, Castilla-La Mancha, one of the permanent elements of Almodovar since he started filming about the “Movida Madrileña” is the city of Madrid. Every film in all his filmography has perfectly recognisable locations (some of them already disappeared) for the inhabitants of Madrid. This allows us to make a magnificent historical review from the 80s to the present day.
Like other renowned film directors such as Woody Allen (fascinated by New York) or Fellini (one of the best ambassadors of the city of Rome), for Almodovar Madrid is not just a setting, but a complementary element to tell his stories where nothing happens by accident.
For example, in his new film “Dolor y Gloria” the director from La Mancha travels around city places with a special meaning for him: the theatre Sala Mirador, where Penelope Cruz began his acting studies with Cristina Rota, or the Cine Dore, where “La Ley del Deseo” (The Law of Desire) was screened again in 2017. “La ley del deseo” is a film with many parallel elements to those of the fiction “Sabor” (Taste), in which the problems that Almodovar had with the protagonist are displayed.
The Plaza Mayor, the Bailen street viaduct, the Gran Via, the Rastro, the Plaza de Chueca, the Paseo del Pintor Rosales, the neighbourhoods of Vallecas, Lavapies or the Austrias, the Kio Towers in the Plaza de Castilla, the outskirts of the Conde Duque barracks where a sweeper waters Carmen Maura… There are many places in Madrid, (some of them traditional and others more cosmopolitan) that we can see in Pedro Almodovar’s films.
Discovering the Madrid of Almodovar while learning Spanish
Are you an Almodovar’s films lover? Do you want to make the most out of your stay in Madrid and learn Spanish while knowing more about his films and the places in which they have been filmed?
In TANDEM Madrid we have the perfect course for you: the Spanish Course and Passion for Almodovar.
A program for adults, minimum of one week long, with four 45-minutes morning Spanish classes each day (20 per week) and cultural activities in the afternoons, which include:
- A tour around some of the Almodovar’s film settings in Madrid
- A film class and a film night in Almodovar’s Madrid and the “Movida Madrileña”.
One of the main advantages of this Spanish program is that it can be done any time of the year by international students with any level of Spanish, although complete beginners can start their classes on more limited dates.
Do you want to discover the city of Madrid through the eyes of Almodovar?
“Do you want to study Spanish and learn more about Almodovar and his films?” h4=”At TANDEM Madrid we have the perfect formula, a course combining Spanish classes with activities about Almodovar’s Madrid and his films.”
SPANISH COURSE AND PASSION FOR ALMODOVAR
This article is also available in Spanish.
