Women On The Verge Of A Nervous Breakdown [1985] [VHS]: Carmen Maura, Antonio Banderas, Julieta Serrano, Maria Barranco, Rossy De Palma, Pedro Almodovar: Amazon.co.uk: Video

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

DVD ~ Peter Coyote

3.0 out of 5 stars (1) �12.08

Pedro Almodovar Collection: Bad Education / Tie Me Up, Tie Me Down / Live Flesh / All About My Mother / Talk To Her [DVD] [2004]

DVD ~ Gael Garcia Bernal

4.2 out of 5 stars (20) �17.97

Labyrinth of Passion [2007] [DVD]

DVD ~ Cecilia Roth

4.3 out of 5 stars (3) �6.98

High Heels [DVD] [1991]

DVD ~ Feodor Atkine

�9.98

Pedro Almodovar Collection - Volver, All About My Mother, Bad Education, Talk To Her [DVD] [2009]

DVD ~ Penelope Cruz

3.6 out of 5 stars (5) �13.88

› Explore similar items

Product Description

Synopsis

Set in Madrid, two lovers who dub films for a living enjoy a long term relationship until the man abruptly pulls out, shocking the woman and sending her on a frantic search to find him.

Suggested Tags from Similar Products

(What's this?)

Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)

almodovar(10)

world cinema(5)

penelope cruz(4)

spanish(2)

region 2 spanish(2)

abril(1)

banderas(1)

pedro almodovar(2)

victoria abril(2)

film(1)

volver(1)

Customer Reviews

12 Reviews

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

Average Customer Review

4.0 out of 5 stars (12 customer reviews)

Share your thoughts with other customers:

Create your own review

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

44 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars English Subtitles, 24 Oct 2007

By	E. Vassiliou "EV" - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Almodovar Collection Vol.1 (with English subtitles) [DVD] [1989] (DVD)

After I have ordered everything from Almodovars collection, I read the customer review that there were no english subtitles for the films. I was frustrated and wrote an email to amazon to confirm it. They said that it was correct NO ENGLISH SUBTITLES. I paniced and try to buy the films from Play.com which they say they had subtitles. Fortunately :) they couldnt accept my card. When my order finally came from amazon I have checked every single film. To my surprise there were english subtitles to every single one of them. I was really really happy. I think amazon should review the dvds of Almodovar and put that there are english subtitles on the description since it is very misleading for customers. Thank God play.com didnt accept my credit card, which by the way is a terrible site with no customer support.

Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)

26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A comedy about someone U really KNOW....., 12 Jun 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Women On The Verge Of A Nervous Breakdown [DVD] [1985] (DVD)

The wildly hysterical international box office hit, Women On The Verge Of A Nervous Breakdown, introduces us to Pepa (Carmen Maura) who has just been jilted by an answering machine. The love of her life, Ivan, (Fernando Guill�n) has just ended their relationship and she is heartbroken.

But misery does love company. Her girlfriend, Candela, has fallen in love with a terrorist. Ivan's son wants to rent the love nest Pepa shared with Ivan. Ivan's crazed wife arrives with loaded guns and Ivan himself is about to fly off to Stockholm with his new girlfriend on a plane that Candela's boyfriend plans to hijack. Pedro Almodovar's films are usually twisted, zany, and a bit disconcerting. This is probably one of his best films, along with "Tie Me Up, Tie Me Down", (also starring Banderas). He uses many of the same actors in his films, but this is probably the best use of Maura in any of his films. Pepa is a strong, formidable character that evolves throughout "Women." From first meeting her in the film it appears that she is shallow and one-dimensional, but in the final scenes of the movie, particularly when she finally gets a hold of Ivan, you realize that she is indeed a decent person.

It's enough to drive any woman to a nervous breakdown - or beyond, in this madcap farce from acclaimed director Pedro Alml�dovar.

Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Universal Shennanigans, 2 Mar 2004

By	R Jess "Raymond Jess" (Limerick, Ireland.) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)

In 'Women On The Verge Of A Nervous Breakdown', Pedro Almodovar subtley overturns traditional gender stereotypes. Outside of the shennanigans she encounters from place to place, Pepa takes stock of her situation in the taxi that carries her between buildings. Its here she recognizes that the mechanics of motorcycles are much easier to fathom than those of male psychology. Ivan's first wife Lucia, remains in the 60's fashion she was wearing when he left her. It's almost as if time stopped for her the moment he left. The array of colours seem to be used as a metaphor for the full and intense emotions of the women involved, compared to the grey and black of Carlos and Ivan.

Apparently Almodovar had to film the balcony scenes in a studio because the downtown skyline of Madrid is now just a sea of office and apartment buildings. Almodovar has never made any secret of the fact that a director should "never borrow, but steal if it is justified" from another director. Witness his homage to Hitchcock's 'Rear Window' when Pepa looks across the street into Lucia's apartment building.

It's ironic that in his native Spain, Pedro Almodovar finally broke free from being described as a 'cult' director to being appreciated by a wider audience with the massive success of this film. Meanwhile in the U.S., the film was specifically marketed by Orion as a 'minority' picture aimed at an Hispanic and female audience. They must have been pleasantly surprised when the audiences for this film crossed racial and gender barriers.