Pedro Almodóvar, a prolific Spanish filmmaker, is renowned for his distinct and vibrant cinematic style that has captivated audiences worldwide. Born on September 25, 1949, in Calzada de Calatrava, Spain, Almodóvar’s career spans over four decades, during which he has become a leading figure in contemporary cinema. His films often explore themes of desire, passion, identity, and the complexities of human relationships, all infused with a unique blend of humor, melodrama, and visual flair.
Almodóvar’s filmography boasts an impressive array of critically acclaimed works, including Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, All About My Mother, Talk to Her, and Pain and Glory. Throughout his career, he has received numerous awards and accolades, including two Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film, making him one of the most celebrated directors in Spanish cinema history. Almodóvar’s distinct visual style, bold storytelling, and unapologetic approach to exploring societal taboos have solidified his place as a visionary filmmaker whose influence extends far beyond the confines of the silver screen. Discover the essence of his creativity and insight through the following collection of Pedro Almodóvar quotes.
I was born at a bad time for Spain, but a really good one for cinema. Pedro Almodovar
The challenge to me as a director was for the audience to see the film as going on in a straight line, so that they did not sense all of these break-ups. I did not want a film to be a collage of all these images. Pedro Almodovar
La Mancha is a very macho, chauvinistic society. I saw very clearly that my life had to be in Madrid, and I liberated myself from my mum and dad after high school. Pedro Almodovar
Already when I was very young, I was a fabulador. I loved to give my own version of stories that everybody already knew. Pedro Almodovar
Cinema has become my life. I don’t mean a parallel world, I mean my life itself. I sometimes have the impression that the daily reality is simply there to provide material for my next film. Pedro Almodovar
Even though I love my mother, I didn’t want to make an idealized portrait of her. I’m fascinated more by her defects – they are funnier than her other qualities. Pedro Almodovar
In fact, it was the women in our house who were in the saddle. If men are the gods, women are not only the presidents but all the ministers of the government. Pedro Almodovar
The silent film has a lot of meanings. The first part of the film is comic. It represents the burlesque feel of those silent films. But I think that the second part of the film is full of tenderness and emotion. Pedro Almodovar
If I make a movie in English, the money will come from Europe, so that I can keep my independence and freedom. The way they produce in Hollywood doesn’t fit me. Pedro Almodovar
After the enormous success of All About my Mother, all the awards and everything, I wanted to start a movie in exactly the same place that I used to be before. I wanted to show that all of the success had not changed my perception. Pedro Almodovar
I am partly not conscious of structure with my movies, but this is when I am writing. I leave my mind very free, and then I correct it after. Pedro Almodovar
I used this line to demonstrate how important colors are in movies: It’s not a caprice. Pedro Almodovar
I think it’s a change that I did not intend at the time but it is clear that, from The Flower of My Secret on, there is a change in my films. A lot of the journalists have very generously attributed this to my growing maturity. Pedro Almodovar
Hospitals are places that you have to stay in for a long time, even if you are a visitor. Time doesn’t seem to pass in the same way in hospitals as it does in other places. Time seems to almost not exist in the same way as it does in other places. Pedro Almodovar
Whenever I arrive on a real location, I have to move around and work out what the best angles are going to be. Pedro Almodovar
My mother was an extremely creative woman, despite the fact that she lived the life of a rural housewife. Pedro Almodovar
The life I live due to my work is difficult to share. Pedro Almodovar
I don’t want to imitate life in movies; I want to represent it. And in that representation, you use the colors you feel, and sometimes they are fake colors. But always it’s to show one emotion. Pedro Almodovar
Broadway musicals, where you sing the whole time, I really don’t like; I like alternating dialogue and music. Pedro Almodovar
The 1980s really ended for me in 1992 with the film Kika. Pedro Almodovar
For there to be communication within a couple, it is enough for there to be only one person who communicates or who really wants to communicate. Even though a couple consists of two people, if one of the people in a couple puts all their effort into moving a couple along they will move along. Pedro Almodovar
Of course I want my films to look really good, but every single element is chosen for a reason. It’s telling something in the story. Pedro Almodovar
I’m an artist, and I’m part of every decision in a movie. Pedro Almodovar
I also wanted to express the strength of cinema to hide reality, while being entertaining. Cinema can fill in the empty spaces of your life and your loneliness. Pedro Almodovar
There’s something about uninterrupted singing that just doesn’t work for me, because at some point, I need my characters to talk. Without meaning to offend anyone, a musical like ‘Les Miserables’ would be the last thing I’d ever be interested in. Pedro Almodovar
I think my films are always political, even if I don’t put explicitly political things in them. Pedro Almodovar
All my movies have an autobiographical dimension, but that is indirectly, through the personages. In fact, I am behind everything that happens and that is said, but I am never talking about myself in first person singular. Pedro Almodovar
My directors of photography light my films, but the colours of the sets, furnishings, clothes, hairstyles – that’s me. Everything that’s in front of the camera, I bring you. Pedro Almodovar
If I’d lived like my characters, I would have been dead before I’d made 16 films. Pedro Almodovar
It’s a pity that I can never really enjoy my movies because, after the mixing, your capacity as a spectator just disappears. I have to think about what I felt just before the mixing. Pedro Almodovar
Before shooting, I prepare with the actors much more like it’s a theater play than a movie. Apparently, that way of working is very unusual. Pedro Almodovar
Cinema can fill in the empty spaces of your life and your loneliness. Pedro Almodovar
When I make a film, the mixing process is very long, and you hear and watch the material in every form, so that totally shreds your ability to perceive it. So after the mixing, there’s no way I can have the emotions or the reactions to my films in the same way. Pedro Almodovar
The Flower of My Secret is definitely more based in true emotions. I also wanted to make something more realistic, but not naturalistic or simple. Pedro Almodovar
With this silent film, I wanted to hide what was going on in the clinic. I wanted to cover it up in the best cinematic way and in an entertaining manner. Pedro Almodovar
I think that there is always a part of utopia in any romantic relationship. Pedro Almodovar
All my movies are difficult to classify because they are very eclectic in mixing genres. Pedro Almodovar
I think that the consciousness of passion makes you act very differently. Pedro Almodovar
Yes, women are stronger than us. They face more directly the problems that confront them, and for that reason they are much more spectacular to talk about. I don’t know why I am more interested in women, because I don’t go to any psychiatrists, and I don’t want to know why. Pedro Almodovar
If I had not been successful as a director, then I’m sure I would still be telling stories. I would have continued on 16mm or found a different medium through which to tell them. Pedro Almodovar
The problem is that I work in more than one genre. It’s impossible for me to aim for a single one because, for me, comedy is mixed with tragedy. That’s very Spanish, the way in which comedy and tragedy are inextricable from each other. Pedro Almodovar
You can make a thousand different movies about the same subject. Pedro Almodovar
I remember myself at 10 years old telling stories to my sisters and brother. This is something I did through my adolescence and even through my twenties. Pedro Almodovar
Cukor is one of my favorite directors. He was a master at directing women. Pedro Almodovar
I ask myself questions that journalists don’t dare to ask or don’t know how to ask. Pedro Almodovar
My first memory is of the eyes of my brother; he was looking at me all the time. Pedro Almodovar
Whenever I arrive on a real location, I have to move around and work out what the best angles are going to be. When I was moving around with the lens, I discovered things that the naked eye would not have. Pedro Almodovar
I think decor says a lot about someone’s social position, their taste, their sensibility, their work – and also about the aesthetic way I have chosen to tell their story. Pedro Almodovar