Amarga navidad (Bitteres Fest)

“One always returns to the places where one has loved life,” as the saying goes – and Pedro Almodóvar, too, returns with his new film to the place he loves most: the cinema itself. The story of a screenwriter who, after a few years’ break, sits down at his laptop once more to craft his next masterpiece forms the starting point for a stimulating, complex meta-fusion of reality and fiction, in which his protagonist suffers a panic attack in the run-up to Christmas. Characters, motifs and narrative strands begin to mirror one another and influence each other on both levels. The film concludes with the realisation that great art also requires great authenticity. And the Spanish director proves this once again with consummate skill.
(Florian Widegger)