THE FLOWER OF MY SECRET Movie Review

La Flor de My Secreto

An unexpected and refreshingly welcome surprise, particularly after the (unintentionally, I hope) misogynistic misfire of Kika, Pedro Almodóvar's The Flower of My Secret is a sparklingly witty, genuinely moving portrait of a middle-aged writer (Marisa Paredes in a fabulous performance) who tries desperately to find a meaningful shred of something to hang on to when every aspect of her life comes apart at the seams. Leo (Paredes) is a fabulously successful author of pulp romances, which she churns out under a nom de plume. Yet when it comes to her disastrous, real-life marriage, she exists in an even sadder state of denial and self-delusion than her fictional heroines. Just as Leo keeps her other literary identity a secret from the world, she also keeps her own sexual identity compartmentalized and hidden from herself. Yet when her carefully arranged double life reaches critical mass, thanks to an explosive and unexpected series of mishaps, Leo must redefine herself, deciding, perhaps for the first time, which of her identities is the “real” one. Though it's dramatically different in tone from the manic farce of his equally wonderful Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, Flower demonstrates—as did Women—the heights that Almodóvar can reach when his comic talents and his love for his female characters are kept in balance. It's a gem.

NEXT STOP … What Have I Done to Deserve This?, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, A Self-Made Hero

1995 (R) 107m/C SP FR Marisa Paredes, Juan Echanove, Imanol Arias, Carmen Elias, Rossy de Palma, Chus Lampreave, Joaquin Cortes, Manuela Vargas; D: Pedro Almodovar; W: Pedro Almodovar; C: Alfonso Beato; M: Alberto Iglesias. VHS, LV, Closed Caption COL