Not only is she relegated to the job of taking care of the home and family, but she also works as a cleaning lady to supplement her husband’s meager salary as a taxi driver-a point for which Antonio is spiteful. Whenever I ask this question, the response is usually, “But what about ¿Qué he hecho yo para merecer esto!! (1984, What did I do to Deserve This)? Four years before Mujeres al borde de un ataque de nervios, Almodóvar directed a film about an unhappy housewife, Gloria (Carmen Maura) who finally kills her demanding and mentally abusive husband, Antonio (Ángel de Andrés López). Yet, his reputation as a queer director with a penchant for creating strong, female protagonists has led us astray of the real question: “Is Almodóvar really a feminist?”
That year, it was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Film and won Best Film at the Spanish Goya Awards.
In 1988, his film Mujeres al borde de un ataque de nervios ( Women on the Edge of a Nervous Breakdown) propelled him into international acclaim, bringing actor Antonio Banderas with him. They had never experienced the protests of 1968 like much of the world, and Almodóvar offered colorful, alternative discourse to Spanish film and the society at large. He was part of the post-Franco countercultural revolution in Madrid, La Movida-after decades of a repressive dictatorship imposed on Spain by Francisco Franco, the 80s were a time for the country to catch up. Yet, I didn’t want to give up on the Spanish director. Is Pedro Almodóvar really a “women’s director” as he is so often dubbed? I’ve been doubtful for a while. Pedro Almodóvar's "What Did I Do to Deserve?"
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