Pedro Almodovar's Julieta is an evocation of grief, regret, and the psychological effect which such burden can have on the human psyche, detailing the exploits of Julieta, a middle-aged woman who continues to be haunted by the absence of her daughter, Antía, who willfully vanished from Julieta's life over 12 years ago. Told from the perspective of this grief-stricken mother, Pedro Almodovar's Julieta is an engaging and revelatory study of woman who is soul-searching, deconstructing her memories through reflection in an effort to pinpoint the exact moment in which things went so wrong. Julieta thoughts, memories, regrets, and second-guesses are all documented through a memoir she begins to write for her daughter, with the film using this narrative structure to explore the psychological effect which regret has on the human psyche, connecting the pieces in a way that perfectly captures the great beauty and struggle that is the human experience. Almodovar's film is transfixing thanks to its skillfull direction and wonderful lead performance, with the film baring the soul of its main protagonist, exhibiting how interconnected life truly is, with every tough decision, every action made, having outcomes and consequences that effect our lives long after the initial impact is experienced. While the film does lack nuance from a narrative perspective when it comes to the details of Julieta's broken relationship with her daughter, Antia, the film's deconstruction of guilt is quite profound, exhibiting the inherent self-centered state of the human psyche. Told completely from the perspective of Julieta, Almodovar's film showcases how grief is inherently selfish in nature, detailing how Julieta as a character views nearly every outcome as a direct response to her own inherent flaws. From the tragic suicide of a stranger on a train, to the the death of Antia's father, Julieta perceives all of her trials and tribulations as constructs of her own failings as a mother, wife, and person, with her grief creating a dark-seeded burden that weighs this character down. The world is centered around her in this world of pain-stricken grief and regret, with Julieta perceiving her own intrinsic shortfalls as a living, breathing human-being as the primary reason for all of life's sorrow. This is perhaps best reflected in her relationship with her daughter, after the death of Xoan, with the film detailing how Julieta's expected state of depression and sorrow inadvertently affected her relationship with her Antia, becoming a passive character in her young daughter's life, who herself was in the middle of growing up, moving on, and could have used her mother for more emotional support. Nothing is cut and dry in Almodovar's Julieta, and it becomes apparent as the film progresses that Julieta's trials and tribulations are due to a variety of factors, some of which are out of her control, as Almodovar crafts a film that feels bigger than life itself, deconstructing how our emotions, such as grief and sorrow, can create a limited perspective of the world, and distract from solutions and personal connection itself. Julieta's perspective and pain is front and center, the heart and soul of Almodovar's film, yet the film triumphs in the end for its ability to touch on universal truths of humanity, documenting the interconnected nature of life itself. Throughout Almodovar's film there are parallels drawn between Julieta's personal struggles, those of her parents, and even those of her own daughter, as the film uses three generations of family to truly exhibit the human experience and the emotions which that entails, detailing how no one can escape the pain and joy associated with life. Julieta is a character stuck in a state of perpetual grief, fixated on her failing as a mother, and yet it's grief and sorrow that ends up reconnecting Julieta with her daughter in the end, as Almodovar's film exhibits how our shared connections of pain, sorrow, and joy is what truly makes life itself worth living. Featuring an engaging narrative full of personal revelation, Pedro Almodovar's Julieta is a poweful study of grief, detailing not only the psychological effect of sorrow and the burden it can create, but also the important rule it plays in memory and life itself.
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June 2023
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