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Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown

Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (Spanish: Mujeres al borde de un ataque de nervios) is a 1988 Spanish black comedy film written and directed by Pedro Almodóvar, starring Carmen Maura and Antonio Banderas. The plot follows actress Pepa, who, after her lover Iván leaves without explanation, sets out to find the reason, and comes across an array of eccentric characters, including Iván's son from a previous relationship and her best friend Candela, who has been held captive by a Shiite terrorist cell.

Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown
Theatrical release poster
SpanishMujeres al borde de un ataque de nervios
Directed byPedro Almodóvar
Written byPedro Almodóvar
Produced byAgustín Almodóvar
Starring
CinematographyJosé Luis Alcaine
Edited byJosé Salcedo
Production
companies
Distributed byLauren Films
Release date
  • 25 March 1988 (1988-03-25) (Spain)
Running time
89 minutes[1]
CountrySpain
LanguageSpanish
Budget$700,000
Box office
  • P1.1 billion ($8 million[2]) (Spain)[3]
  • $7.2 million (US and Canada)[4]

The film brought Almodóvar to widespread international attention: it was nominated for the 1988 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film,[5] and won five Goya Awards including Best Film and Best Actress in a Leading Role for Maura. It debuted at the 45th International Venice Film Festival and was released on 11 November 1988 in the United States.

Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown received acclaim from critics and audiences alike, and is often considered one of Almodóvar's best films. A stage musical opened on Broadway in 2010, adapted by Jeffrey Lane with songs by David Yazbek.

Title Edit

The actual Spanish title refers to an ataque de nervios (attack of the nerves), which is not actually well translated as "nervous breakdown" (crisis nerviosa). Ataques de nervios are culture-bound psychological phenomena during which the individual, most often female, displays dramatic outpouring of negative emotions, bodily gestures, occasional falling to the ground, and fainting, often in response to receiving disturbing news or witnessing or participating in an upsetting event. Historically, this condition has been associated with hysteria and more recently in the scientific literature with post-traumatic stress and panic attacks.[6]

Plot Edit

Television actress Pepa Marcos is depressed because her boyfriend Iván has left her. They are voice actors who dub foreign films, notably Johnny Guitar with Joan Crawford and Sterling Hayden. Iván's sweet-talking voice is the same one he uses in his work. About to leave on a trip, he has asked Pepa to pack his things in a suitcase he will pick up later.

Pepa returns home to find her answering machine filled with frantic messages from her friend, Candela; she rips out the phone and throws it out the window onto the balcony. Candela arrives; before she can explain her situation, Carlos (Iván's son with Lucía, his previous lover) arrives with his snobbish fiancée Marisa. They are apartment-hunting, and have chosen Pepa's penthouse to tour. Carlos and Pepa figure out each other's relationship to Iván; Pepa wants to know where Iván is, but Carlos does not know. Candela tries to kill herself by jumping off the balcony.

A bored Marisa decides to drink gazpacho from the fridge, unaware that it has been spiked with sleeping pills. Candela explains that she had an affair with an Arab who later visited her with some friends. Unbeknownst to her, they are a Shiite terrorist cell. When the terrorists leave, Candela flees to Pepa's place; she fears that the police are after her. Pepa goes to see a lawyer whom Carlos has recommended.

The lawyer, Paulina, behaves strangely, and has tickets to Stockholm. Candela tells Carlos that the Shiites plan to hijack a flight to Stockholm that evening and divert it to Beirut, where they have a friend who was arrested. Carlos fixes the phone, calls the police, hangs up before (he believes) they can trace the call, and kisses Candela. Pepa returns; Lucía calls and says that she is coming over to confront her about Iván. Carlos says that Lucía has recently been released from a mental hospital. Pepa, tired of Iván, throws his suitcase out (barely missing him); he leaves Pepa a message.

Pepa returns to her apartment and hears Carlos playing Lola Beltrán's "Soy Infeliz". She throws the record out the window, and it hits Paulina. Pepa hears Iván's message, rips out the phone and throws the answering machine out of the window. Lucía arrives with the telephone repairman and the police, who traced Carlos' call. Candela panics, but Carlos serves the spiked gazpacho. The policemen and repairman are knocked out, and Carlos and Candela fall asleep on the sofa; Lucía aims a policeman's gun at Pepa, who figures out that Iván is going to Stockholm with Paulina and their flight is the one the terrorists are planning to hijack. Lucía says that she faked being sane when she heard Iván's voice dubbed on a foreign film. She throws the gazpacho in Pepa's face, and rushes to the airport to kill Iván.

Pepa chases her in a cab with her neighbour, Ana. At the airport, Lucía sees Iván and Paulina at security and aims her gun at them. Pepa thwarts the murder attempt by rolling a luggage cart at Lucía, before fainting. Iván rushes to Pepa's aid and apologises for the way he has been treating her, offering to talk things out with her. Pepa, however, declares it is now too late and leaves. She returns to her home, which is a mess. Pepa sits on her balcony, where Marisa has just awakened. The women chat, sharing a moment of tranquility, and Pepa finally reveals what she wanted to tell Iván: she is pregnant.

Cast Edit

Reception Edit

Box office Edit

The film was the highest-grossing Spanish film of all-time in Spain with a gross of 1.1 billion pesetas, surpassing La vaquilla (1985),[3] equivalent to US$8 million.[2] It was also the most successful Spanish movie in the United States at the time, with a gross of $7.2 million.[7][4]

Critical response Edit

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 92% based on 36 reviews, with an average rating of 7.8/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown finds writer-director Pedro Almodóvar working in a distinctly feminist vein, with richly rewarding results."[8] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 85 out of 100, based on 12 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[9]

The film was ranked number 78 on Empire magazine's "The 100 Best Films of World Cinema" list in 2010.[10]

Nils Gollersrud comments that "Almodóvar's signature formula of gaudy, ironic, genre-bending storytelling had achieved a symbiosis of sorts, presenting a more confident and satisfying version of his unique cinematic vision that his earlier, rougher films had not yet achieved".[11]

Awards and nominations Edit

United States Edit

United Kingdom Edit

  • BAFTA Awards (UK)
    • Nominated: Best Film not in the English Language

Europe Edit

Stage adaptation Edit

Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown has been adapted into a musical by Jeffrey Lane (book) and David Yazbek (music and lyrics). The production opened on Broadway in previews on 5 October 2010, and officially on 4 November 2010, at the Belasco Theatre. The cast included Patti LuPone, Sherie Rene Scott, Laura Benanti, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Danny Burstein, Mary Beth Peil, Justin Guarini, de'Adre Aziza, and Nikka Graff Lanzarone, with direction by Bartlett Sher.[12]

The production was a limited engagement that was scheduled to end 23 January 2011, but due to low grosses and ticket sales, closed early on 2 January 2011. At the time of closing, the show had played 30 previews and 69 regular performances.[13]

The show later ran in London's West End at the Playhouse Theatre, with television star Tamsin Greig in the leading role.[citation needed]

Future Edit

Television adaptation Edit

In January 2022, it was reported that Apple TV+ will be adapting the film into a television series with Gina Rodriguez set to star and executive produce.[14]

See also Edit

References Edit

  1. ^ "Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (15)". British Board of Film Classification. 17 November 1988. Retrieved 12 July 2013.
  2. ^ a b "All-time top grossers in Spain". Variety. 2 May 1990. p. 208.
  3. ^ a b "Las mujeres de Almodóvar primer puesto de recaudación de la historia" (PDF). Diario ABC (in Spanish). 5 May 1991. p. 102. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
  4. ^ a b Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 12 July 2013.
  5. ^ "The 61st Academy Awards (1989) Nominees and Winners". oscars.org. Retrieved 20 August 2015.
  6. ^ Schechter DS, Marshall RD, Salman E, Goetz D, Davies SO, Liebowitz MR (2000). Ataque de nervios and childhood trauma history: An association? Journal of Traumatic Stress, 13:3, 529–534.
  7. ^ "Pix from afar: National bests in the U.S.". Variety. 7 January 1991. p. 86.
  8. ^ "Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
  9. ^ "Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 12 July 2013.
  10. ^ . Empire. Archived from the original on 7 February 2012.
  11. ^ Gollersrud, Nils (25 August 2021). "Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown: Quintessential Almodóvar". Loud and Clear Reviews. Retrieved 3 January 2022.
  12. ^ Hetrick, Adam (26 July 2010). . playbill.com. Archived from the original on 5 November 2013.
  13. ^ Hetrick, Adam (28 December 2010). . playbill.com. Archived from the original on 29 June 2011.
  14. ^ Petski, Denise (19 January 2022). "'Women On The Verge Of A Nervous Breakdown' TV Series Adaptation In Works At Apple With Gina Rodriguez To Star & EP". Deadline.

External links Edit

women, verge, nervous, breakdown, musical, musical, spanish, mujeres, borde, ataque, nervios, 1988, spanish, black, comedy, film, written, directed, pedro, almodóvar, starring, carmen, maura, antonio, banderas, plot, follows, actress, pepa, after, lover, iván,. For the musical see Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown musical Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown Spanish Mujeres al borde de un ataque de nervios is a 1988 Spanish black comedy film written and directed by Pedro Almodovar starring Carmen Maura and Antonio Banderas The plot follows actress Pepa who after her lover Ivan leaves without explanation sets out to find the reason and comes across an array of eccentric characters including Ivan s son from a previous relationship and her best friend Candela who has been held captive by a Shiite terrorist cell Women on the Verge of a Nervous BreakdownTheatrical release posterSpanishMujeres al borde de un ataque de nerviosDirected byPedro AlmodovarWritten byPedro AlmodovarProduced byAgustin AlmodovarStarringCarmen Maura Antonio Banderas Julieta SerranoCinematographyJose Luis AlcaineEdited byJose SalcedoProductioncompaniesEl Deseo LaurenfilmDistributed byLauren FilmsRelease date25 March 1988 1988 03 25 Spain Running time89 minutes 1 CountrySpainLanguageSpanishBudget 700 000Box officeP1 1 billion 8 million 2 Spain 3 7 2 million US and Canada 4 The film brought Almodovar to widespread international attention it was nominated for the 1988 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film 5 and won five Goya Awards including Best Film and Best Actress in a Leading Role for Maura It debuted at the 45th International Venice Film Festival and was released on 11 November 1988 in the United States Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown received acclaim from critics and audiences alike and is often considered one of Almodovar s best films A stage musical opened on Broadway in 2010 adapted by Jeffrey Lane with songs by David Yazbek Contents 1 Title 2 Plot 3 Cast 4 Reception 4 1 Box office 4 2 Critical response 4 3 Awards and nominations 4 3 1 United States 4 3 2 United Kingdom 4 3 3 Europe 5 Stage adaptation 6 Future 6 1 Television adaptation 7 See also 8 References 9 External linksTitle EditThe actual Spanish title refers to an ataque de nervios attack of the nerves which is not actually well translated as nervous breakdown crisis nerviosa Ataques de nervios are culture bound psychological phenomena during which the individual most often female displays dramatic outpouring of negative emotions bodily gestures occasional falling to the ground and fainting often in response to receiving disturbing news or witnessing or participating in an upsetting event Historically this condition has been associated with hysteria and more recently in the scientific literature with post traumatic stress and panic attacks 6 Plot EditTelevision actress Pepa Marcos is depressed because her boyfriend Ivan has left her They are voice actors who dub foreign films notably Johnny Guitar with Joan Crawford and Sterling Hayden Ivan s sweet talking voice is the same one he uses in his work About to leave on a trip he has asked Pepa to pack his things in a suitcase he will pick up later Pepa returns home to find her answering machine filled with frantic messages from her friend Candela she rips out the phone and throws it out the window onto the balcony Candela arrives before she can explain her situation Carlos Ivan s son with Lucia his previous lover arrives with his snobbish fiancee Marisa They are apartment hunting and have chosen Pepa s penthouse to tour Carlos and Pepa figure out each other s relationship to Ivan Pepa wants to know where Ivan is but Carlos does not know Candela tries to kill herself by jumping off the balcony A bored Marisa decides to drink gazpacho from the fridge unaware that it has been spiked with sleeping pills Candela explains that she had an affair with an Arab who later visited her with some friends Unbeknownst to her they are a Shiite terrorist cell When the terrorists leave Candela flees to Pepa s place she fears that the police are after her Pepa goes to see a lawyer whom Carlos has recommended The lawyer Paulina behaves strangely and has tickets to Stockholm Candela tells Carlos that the Shiites plan to hijack a flight to Stockholm that evening and divert it to Beirut where they have a friend who was arrested Carlos fixes the phone calls the police hangs up before he believes they can trace the call and kisses Candela Pepa returns Lucia calls and says that she is coming over to confront her about Ivan Carlos says that Lucia has recently been released from a mental hospital Pepa tired of Ivan throws his suitcase out barely missing him he leaves Pepa a message Pepa returns to her apartment and hears Carlos playing Lola Beltran s Soy Infeliz She throws the record out the window and it hits Paulina Pepa hears Ivan s message rips out the phone and throws the answering machine out of the window Lucia arrives with the telephone repairman and the police who traced Carlos call Candela panics but Carlos serves the spiked gazpacho The policemen and repairman are knocked out and Carlos and Candela fall asleep on the sofa Lucia aims a policeman s gun at Pepa who figures out that Ivan is going to Stockholm with Paulina and their flight is the one the terrorists are planning to hijack Lucia says that she faked being sane when she heard Ivan s voice dubbed on a foreign film She throws the gazpacho in Pepa s face and rushes to the airport to kill Ivan Pepa chases her in a cab with her neighbour Ana At the airport Lucia sees Ivan and Paulina at security and aims her gun at them Pepa thwarts the murder attempt by rolling a luggage cart at Lucia before fainting Ivan rushes to Pepa s aid and apologises for the way he has been treating her offering to talk things out with her Pepa however declares it is now too late and leaves She returns to her home which is a mess Pepa sits on her balcony where Marisa has just awakened The women chat sharing a moment of tranquility and Pepa finally reveals what she wanted to tell Ivan she is pregnant Cast EditCarmen Maura as Pepa Marcos Antonio Banderas as Carlos Julieta Serrano as Lucia Maria Barranco as Candela Rossy de Palma as Marisa Kiti Manver as Paulina Morales Guillermo Montesinos as Taxi driver Chus Lampreave as Portera Testiga de Jehova Loles Leon as The secretary Fernando Guillen as IvanReception EditBox office Edit The film was the highest grossing Spanish film of all time in Spain with a gross of 1 1 billion pesetas surpassing La vaquilla 1985 3 equivalent to US 8 million 2 It was also the most successful Spanish movie in the United States at the time with a gross of 7 2 million 7 4 Critical response Edit On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes the film holds an approval rating of 92 based on 36 reviews with an average rating of 7 8 10 The website s critics consensus reads Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown finds writer director Pedro Almodovar working in a distinctly feminist vein with richly rewarding results 8 Metacritic which uses a weighted average assigned the film a score of 85 out of 100 based on 12 critics indicating universal acclaim 9 The film was ranked number 78 on Empire magazine s The 100 Best Films of World Cinema list in 2010 10 Nils Gollersrud comments that Almodovar s signature formula of gaudy ironic genre bending storytelling had achieved a symbiosis of sorts presenting a more confident and satisfying version of his unique cinematic vision that his earlier rougher films had not yet achieved 11 Awards and nominations Edit United States Edit Academy Awards Nominated Best Foreign Language Film Golden Globe Awards Nominated Best Foreign Language Film National Board of Review Won Best Foreign Language Film New York Film Critics Won Best Foreign Language Film Runner up Best Actress Carmen Maura United Kingdom Edit BAFTA Awards UK Nominated Best Film not in the English LanguageEurope Edit David di Donatello Awards Italy Won Best Foreign Direction Pedro Almodovar European Film Awards Won Best Actress Leading Role Carmen Maura Won Best Young Film Pedro Almodovar Nominated Best Art Direction Felix Murcia Goya Awards Spain Won Best Actress Leading Role Carmen Maura Won Best Actress Supporting Role Maria Barranco Won Best Editing Jose Salcedo Won Best Film Won Best Screenplay Original Pedro Almodovar Nominated Best Actor Supporting Role Guillermo Montesinos Nominated Best Actress Supporting Role Julieta Serrano Nominated Best Cinematography Jose Luis Alcaine Nominated Best Costume Design Jose Maria Cossio Nominated Best Director Pedro Almodovar Nominated Best Makeup and Hairstyles Jesus Moncusi and Gregorio Ros Nominated Best Original Score Bernardo Bonezzi Nominated Best Production Design Felix Murcia Nominated Best Production Supervision Esther Garcia Nominated Best Sound Gilles Ortion Nominated Best Special Effects Reyes Abades Venice Film Festival Italy Won Golden Osella Best Screenplay Pedro Almodovar Stage adaptation EditMain article Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown musical Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown has been adapted into a musical by Jeffrey Lane book and David Yazbek music and lyrics The production opened on Broadway in previews on 5 October 2010 and officially on 4 November 2010 at the Belasco Theatre The cast included Patti LuPone Sherie Rene Scott Laura Benanti Brian Stokes Mitchell Danny Burstein Mary Beth Peil Justin Guarini de Adre Aziza and Nikka Graff Lanzarone with direction by Bartlett Sher 12 The production was a limited engagement that was scheduled to end 23 January 2011 but due to low grosses and ticket sales closed early on 2 January 2011 At the time of closing the show had played 30 previews and 69 regular performances 13 The show later ran in London s West End at the Playhouse Theatre with television star Tamsin Greig in the leading role citation needed Future EditTelevision adaptation Edit In January 2022 it was reported that Apple TV will be adapting the film into a television series with Gina Rodriguez set to star and executive produce 14 See also EditList of submissions to the 61st Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film List of Spanish submissions for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language FilmReferences Edit Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown 15 British Board of Film Classification 17 November 1988 Retrieved 12 July 2013 a b All time top grossers in Spain Variety 2 May 1990 p 208 a b Las mujeres de Almodovar primer puesto de recaudacion de la historia PDF Diario ABC in Spanish 5 May 1991 p 102 Retrieved 5 January 2020 a b Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown Box Office Mojo Retrieved 12 July 2013 The 61st Academy Awards 1989 Nominees and Winners oscars org Retrieved 20 August 2015 Schechter DS Marshall RD Salman E Goetz D Davies SO Liebowitz MR 2000 Ataque de nervios and childhood trauma history An association Journal of Traumatic Stress 13 3 529 534 Pix from afar National bests in the U S Variety 7 January 1991 p 86 Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown Rotten Tomatoes Retrieved 23 April 2023 Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown Reviews Metacritic Retrieved 12 July 2013 The 100 Best Films of World Cinema 78 Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown Empire Archived from the original on 7 February 2012 Gollersrud Nils 25 August 2021 Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown Quintessential Almodovar Loud and Clear Reviews Retrieved 3 January 2022 Hetrick Adam 26 July 2010 Patti LuPone Brian Stokes Mitchell Sherie Rene Scott Cast in Broadway s Women on the Verge playbill com Archived from the original on 5 November 2013 Hetrick Adam 28 December 2010 Broadway s Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown Will Close Early playbill com Archived from the original on 29 June 2011 Petski Denise 19 January 2022 Women On The Verge Of A Nervous Breakdown TV Series Adaptation In Works At Apple With Gina Rodriguez To Star amp EP Deadline External links EditWomen on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown at IMDb nbsp Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown at AllMovie nbsp Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown at Box Office Mojo nbsp Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown at Metacritic nbsp Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown at Rotten Tomatoes nbsp Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown A Sweet New Style an essay by Elvira Lindo at The Criterion Collection Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown amp oldid 1181195843, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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