The Flower of My Secret (La Flor de mi Secreto)

Pedro Almodóvar, Spain, France, 1995, 103 minutes

A romantic novelist finds that her life is heading in the opposite direction to her sweetly sick stories. Leo Macias (Marisa Paredes), writing under the pseudonym of Amanda Gris, is in a failing marriage and her mood is so gloomy that she is unable to tap out more saccharine prose. Verging on alcoholism, she seeks advice from her friend Betty (Carmen Elias). Betty suggests that she take up journalism, and keeping her other identity secret, Leo starts working for Angel (Juan Echanove). After a small hitch, where Leo is asked to review the latest Amanda Gris novel, she settles down enough to visit her sister and mother. This fragile balance is disrupted by a phone call which brings a new twist to Leo's various relationships; but who knows about her secret?

The Flower of my Secret represents a turning point in writer/director Pedro Almodóvar’s career. Earlier films, culminating in Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! and Kika, presented a manic, emotional style full of bright colours and with strong female characters. In this film, there is a change towards a more reflective,mature Almodóvar and away from the outrageous storylines. This does not mean that the visual flair is gone - it is simply reined in and put to better use. The colour schemes are still very evident in the Madrid locations, and there is a wonderful use of glass and mirrors to “frame” the feel of particular scenes.

What has not changed is Almodóvar's fascination with the female universe,and his desire to explore the flaws which make up a person. Paredes, now a semi-regular in Almodóvar's films, puts in an accomplished performance as a woman on the brink of collapse. But it is the ability of Almodóvar to present an intricate view of entangled emotional relationships which make this film so satisfying.

Review by Neil Chue Hong
Written for EUFS Programme Autumn 2002