Parallel Mothers (15) 
Directed by Pedro Almodovar

THERE is always a lot more depth and subtext to renowned Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodovar’s work than meets the eye, and Parallel Mothers is no exception.

Through the complexities of motherhood he addresses a painful part of Spain’s history yet to be resolved: the thousands of missing victims snatched and executed by Franco’s Falangists and buried in unmarked mass graves, whose families who are desperate to find and inter them properly. 

The film follows photographer Janis (Penelope Cruz) as she enlists the help of forensic anthropologist Arturo (Israel Elejalde), over three years, to exhume the grave outside her family’s village, where her great-grandfather and other local men lie, having been taken by Franco’s forces in the first days of the Spanish civil war. 

As the pair become involved, Janis accidentally falls pregnant and embraces the idea of becoming a new mother in her forties. In the hospital maternity room she meets and bonds with teenage single-mum-to-be Ana (impressive newcomer Milena Smit), who is terrified at the prospect of having a baby.

As they become firm friends and their lives intertwine, Janis harbours a dark secret which has devastating ramifications for both of them. 

In a poignant scene when Ana accuses Janis of being obsessed with unearthing her great-grandfather’s grave, saying they must look to the future rather than open up old wounds, Janis hits the roof and puts Ana straight about Spain’s history, and how she needs to decide what side she is on rather than regurgitate her father’s right-wing views.

Angrily, Janis informs her of the 100,000 disappeared, buried on roadsides, whose relatives just want to give them a dignified burial. Until that happens, the war won’t be over. 

This runs like an undercurrent throughout the film as Almodovar also examines motherhood in all its guises. At times it feels like two parallel dramas in the one, with a fresh twist, but is brought home by Cruz’s powerhouse performance in this her seventh collaboration with the Spanish maestro and the revelation that is Smit. 

As the film ultimately points out, until Spain confronts and rights this wrong, there can never be closure. 

Maria Duarte
In cinemas January 28