Almodóvar: A Critical Take

This seminar interrogates the cinema of the internationally acclaimed Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar. We will address Almodóvar as a global brand and auteur who compulsively cites, recycles, and reenacts the most prestigious names and works of film history. The seminar will discuss the politics and aesthetics of Almodóvar, with special consideration of intermediality, spectatorship, gender and sexuality, and the ways the brand positions itself in a dramatically changing industry. We will review the entire Almodóvar universe, including its production company; its revision of the star system; and relationship to Spain's memory politics.