Mujeres al Borde de un Ataque de Nervios: An Analysis

By Leire López

Women are complicated, but not because women are

crazy, but because people are crazy, and women
happen to be people.

The song “Soy infeliz” is being played in the background, and the audience can
observe female feet with black high heels. The right hand pinches the stocking in an
insinuating way, while the left hand rests on the ground. There is no head, and also no
body. Makeover. The audience can see a woman’s nose and lips. The eyes stare at the
audience from separated rectangles by the words: “Un film de Pedro Almodóvar”.
There is no question that “Mujeres al borde de un ataque de nervios” starts in a
very special way. On the one hand, from the beginning, the movie presents a
fragmented vision of woman, a faithful reflection of the mental state of almost all the
woman that will appear in the movie. For example, the name of the editor, José Salcedo,
is accompanied by some photos of a female eye, and scissors that prepare to separate the
three last. Instead of being placed between the photos, the scissors are right in the
middle of the eye, emulating the famous scene of Buñuel in ‘Un perro andaluz’. What is
more, the deliberate fragmentation of the woman continues, Pepa’s angst, who is
waiting for Ivan’s call, is emphasized by a scene focused on the ground, and by showing
his feet on high heels that walk around the apartment. On the other hand, men are also
fragmented, but they do not indicate a mental or emotional state, as women do.
In Pepa's dream, the camera focuses on Ivan's nose and mouth. His most important
feature is the voice that, as a bender of romantic films, makes him capable of deceiving
anyone. (Vidal, 1988)
Almodóvar claimed that he wanted to make a hyper realistic movie, which is
why the protagonists are confined inside the walls of an attic. What is more, Almodóvar
uses idyllic and stylized decoration, so that the story acquires magnitude, creating such
a unique atmosphere and visual style that seems almost unreal. This way, Almodóvar

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gives a peculiar vision about society. If one analyses the settings of the movie, one can
note the parallel with the stage effects specific to theatre, as previously mentioned, the
action occurs almost entirely in a flat. Nonetheless, it is not monotonous, with its
brilliant colours and phones ringing or flying through the window glass, which
hypnotize the viewers. Furthermore, it is of paramount importance to mention the
importance of some objects such as the telephone and the answering machine.
Nowadays the telephone has become an essential aspect of our existence. With the
telephone, the director wants to represent a dehumanized society, which avoids personal
contact. “In Almodóvar’s cinema, the telephone recalls the failure of communication”
(Méjean, 2007, p.148).
Moreover, there is another object of these modern times: the television. In the movie
one can note that the use of false advertising is another important element. The false
advertising is evident in the movie; with the commercial of the detergent Ecce Omo.
Pepa is the protagonist of this aforementioned advert, but instead of looking incredibly
perfect like in normal advertisements, her hair is a mess and looks like a real housewife.
Talking about techniques, it is also important to mention the colours, red is patent
during the whole movie and symbolizes passion, love and blood. Moreover, Almodóvar
plays with shadows and light. Also, the songs are incredibly well chosen as they
represent feminine lack of affection, pain of separation and no reciprocated love. (Vidal,
1988)
Women of this movie are independent women. Pepa works dubbing movies.
Paulina works as a feminist lawyer. Finally, Candela is a model, despite her family’s
prejudices. Nevertheless, these women are exploited by men. For instance, Lucia tells
the agent: “-¿Por qué no nos dejan tranquilas? Pepa y yo tenemos cosas más
importantes de las que hablar.” To which the agent answers: “-De hombres ¿no?”
Finally Lucia adds: “-¿Hay algo que importa más?”. When commenting the liberation
of women, Almodóvar claims that:
"La mujer ha evolucionado mucho, ha pasado de la batería de cocina a la batería
de un grupo de rock […] y llegará a controlar la sociedad, pero dudo que
afortunadamente consiga controlar sus nervios. Y este descontrol las honra
porque significará que no han perdido su espontaneidad." (El Globo, 1988)
Here one can note Almodovar’s sensitivity with the problematic of women. Moreover,
The most subversive thing in the movie may be the vision it offers of family break
down. The conventional family seems destined to disappear because of man's inability

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to create a relationship based on honesty and responsibility. Ivan's relations with Lucia,
Pepa, and Paulina can not last because they are based on the lie. (Vidal, 1988)
Moreover, it is possible to find a feminist approach in the movie. There is no
question that ‘Mujeres al borde de un ataque de nervios” is a film in which women are
the centre of the universe and an example of the feminine world. In one scene, Pepa
claims that “It is easier to learn mechanics than male psychology”. You can know a
motorcycle from top to bottom. But a man, never”. According to some classical feminist
theories, in this movie we are witnessing the more or less symbolic assassination of both
the male and his domination claims. Thus, it sets an end to an era when women and
their sexuality were constantly objectified. ‘Mujeres al borde de un ataque de nervios” is
a piece of work with and about women. What is more, the director uses the male
character to prove women’s force value. Strangely, women seem to somehow depend on
them and become desperate when they walk out on them. But as soon as the lady
characters realize their weakness, they initiate a fierce battle against themselves in order
to heal their wounds and recover their independence as individuals. No matter how
fragile and vulnerable they may seem in the beginning, their emancipation is constant
and irreversible. This whole process is triggered by Pepa’s line: “I’m sick and tired of
being good.” (Hernando, 1998)
In the movie, women are taken to extremes by love, they are taken to madness.
In Almodovar's film, women follow the pattern of madness. Pepa creates a "magical
gazpacho”, to make Ivan fall asleep and in order to keep him with her, even if it through
making him fall asleep, while she searches him without stopping, because she is
obsessed with him. Moreover, Candela is able to serve as an accomplice in a Shiite
terrorist attack to keep the one she loved happy. While Lucia is becoming mad of love
for Ivan, which takes her to madness, and finally she becomes a killer.
The women in the film have a way of living their own feelings in a very expressive way,
which almost reaches hysteria. This hysteria is not only perceived by the viewer in the
dialogues and the different situations in which they are involved, but also shown in
numerous shots through a filmic language that shows this duality between hysteria and
wisdom. This subjective language appears on several occasions: First, in the shots in
which women’s bodies do not appear in whole, they appear in pieces. Next, the
dialogues underline the state of nerves in which the women of the film are found for
various situations, all related to men. Despite this, all the women in the film are
presented as independent and modern except for the men. Related to this, some critics

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claim that Pedro Almodóvar perpetuates the stereotype that women are hysterical. To
my mind, there is no question that women in ‘Mujeres al borde de un ataque de nervios’
are complicated, but not because women are crazy, but because people are crazy, and
women happen to be people. Almodóvar shows real woman, which are spontaneous,
and decontrolled. (Hernando, 1998)
As Finney (1994) concludes the film “is not in the interest of the patriarchal
power which such stereotypical women seem to justify” p.300. Irrational woman need
rational men, but in the end, Pepa is able to say “Adiós” to Ivan. There is no question
that the ending sums up gender messages in the film, which let one realize that this
movie is a story about emancipation from machismo. Moreover, as D’Lugo asserts Pepa
“represents a cultural social system in which the female has finally shed the ideological
chains of her imprisonment in traditional Spanish patriarchy” (D'Lugo, 2006, p. 63-65)
All in all, "Mujeres al borde de un ataque de nervios" creates a unique and
innovative sense within the world of cinema, a revolution. It represents the emergence
of a new stream of imagination and film vision, with a particularly punctual and
recognizable atmosphere. The special capacity of imagination and sense of Pedro
Almodóvar, that will be known in many places of the world thanks to this masterpiece.
Furthermore, the movie is clearly about the liberation from “machismo” as Pepa
overcomes her subordination to “the macho”.

Bibliography

D'Lugo (2006) Pedro Almodóvar. Urbana, Ill.: University of Illinois Press

El Globo. (1988) Pedro Almodóvar escribe su nueva película. 4-10 marzo.

Farrán, C. (2010) ‘La palabra, el teatro y la seducción en Mujeres al borde de un

ataque de nervios, de Pedro Almodóvar’ 69-83

Finney, G. (1994) Look who is laughing: Gender and Comedy. Volume 1. Women at
the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown. University of California, Davis. 299-314

Hernando, M.I. (1988) Pedro Almodóvar, al borde del ataque de moderación. 108-110

Méjean, J. (2007) Pedro Almodóvar. Barcelona: España. Ediciones Manon Troppo.

Vidal, N. (1988) El cine de Pedro Almodóvar. Barcelona