Pedro Almodovar’s ‘Parallel Mothers’: Digging up uncomfortable truths

Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodovar’s Parallel Mothers makes a political statement and explores uncomfortable truths from his country's past

A still from Parallel Mothers

Limitless power drives people to do unimaginable things, rewrite the past, bury the present and control the future. Yet, more often than not, the tide changes, and all that was hidden beneath somehow comes up to the surface.

Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodovar's Parallel Mothers is, on the surface, about the complicated relationship between two mothers who give birth on the same day in the same hospital. But, Almodovar uses this rather melodramatic story to explore uncomfortable truths from his country's past, specifically the repression under the close-to-four decades of dictatorial rule under Francisco Franco from the 1930s onwards, and especially during the Spanish Civil War.

The film was screened under the World Cinema category at the ongoing 26th edition of the International Film Festival of Kerala.

Janis (Penelope Cruz), a photographer, is obsessed with finding the unmarked grave of her great-grandfather who was one of the victims of Franco's repression. She seeks the help of Arturo (Israel Elejalde), an anthropologist, to dig up the truth. The Historical Memory Law enacted in Spain in 2007 recognises the rights of the Civil War victims and their descendants and also condemns the Franco regime's repressions. As part of a foundation constituted under the law, Arturo could be of help to Janis. But, before that, she gets accidentally pregnant by him.

At the hospital for delivery, Janis strikes up a friendship with teenager Ana (Milena Smit), who, unlike Janis, is not keen to have a baby. A rape victim, she also faces neglect from her parents who are lost in their own worlds. Both the single mothers become a support system for each other. At this point, Almodovar brings in an angle regarding the parentage and identity of Janis's child, which ties in with the larger theme, which is not explored until the closing portions of the film.

Clear stand

The filmmaker, who has not been overtly political in his films, comes out all guns blazing at neutrality and makes a political statement that leaves no doubt as to where he stands. In one sequence, Ana's mother, a theatre actor, proudly claims that she is an apolitical person, who "pleases everyone". This is a precursor to the digging up of the country's uncomfortable history.

Uruguayan writer Eduardo Galeano's powerful words – “No history is mute. No matter how much they own it, break it, and lie about it, human history refuses to shut its mouth. Despite deafness and ignorance, the time that was continues to tick inside the time that is” – mentioned in the film shines a light on the true import of these findings.

Almodovar seems to be sending a message of hope for justice for all across the world living under repressive regimes.