I picked up on the pregnancy at the beginning, yeah, when she gets the test results and the doctor tells her to eat right and not to smoke. The pregnancy did color my interpretation of her desperation, I guess. I had the idea that if she weren't pregnant, she might have just let him go without a fuss.
The feminist thing was funny. I'm not sure what to make of it, exactly.
Here's where the two translations came in. The audio referred to the lawyer as a feminist, but the subtitles never said feminist -- it just said they wanted to go to her because she'd be more understanding because she was a woman. Who knows which Almodóvar intended.
I think he intends the viewer to realize right off that she is pregnant, but perhaps it wouldn’t matter that much if you didn’t figure it out until later. Even though it was years ago, I think since I had seen it before made the hint seem obvious.
It would be disappointing if Almodovar hadn’t used “feminist” and meant something similar to what we mean by it. I also thought the singular was funny as if this woman had the very essence of the trait—the Platonic Form. Perhaps it was a jab at the hypocrisy that can come from an easily acquired label. Maybe the lawyer got called feminist just because she often had women clients, or maybe she really had had some feminist principles and motivations when she was young and poor and had since decayed into a greedy fat cat.
This is simplistic, but is the message that the womanizing Don Juan and the corrupt feminist are equally bad for women — they deserve only each other, they should leave town together — and that it's much better for women to live their own lives without depending on either?
I sort of wondered whether Almodovar had an Ivan in his own life at some point. He certainly has profound sympathy for the jilted.
Something tipped me off to the pregnancy midway through. I can't remember what it was, only that I felt very clever for figuring it out early. I think it did affect my opinion; it seemed to explain her desperation AND the way she let Ivan go after the encounter with Lucia.
I think it's interesting that she never mentioned the pregnancy to Ivan at the end. Part of me can see her getting over him and getting on with her life yet still wanting to do a little damage. I was waiting for a vengeful stab; "See ya. Oh and by the way, I'm pregnant."
10 comments:
First, did you pick up on Pepa's pregnancy before she announces it at the end of the movie?
Did her pregnancy color or revise your opinion of her desperation to reach Ivan?
It crossed my mind when the "test" was mentioned. It didn't affect my opinion on her desperation.
I have a question about the ending. What do you make of the fact that Ivan, womanizer extraordinaire, is with a bad feminist at the end of the movie?
(I thought it was funny how she was referred to as the feminist, as if there were only one feminist in the whole country).
I picked up on the pregnancy at the beginning, yeah, when she gets the test results and the doctor tells her to eat right and not to smoke. The pregnancy did color my interpretation of her desperation, I guess. I had the idea that if she weren't pregnant, she might have just let him go without a fuss.
The feminist thing was funny. I'm not sure what to make of it, exactly.
Well, if "the feminist" somehow had burned Lucia while handling her case, then she was just getting what she deserved.
Here's where the two translations came in. The audio referred to the lawyer as a feminist, but the subtitles never said feminist -- it just said they wanted to go to her because she'd be more understanding because she was a woman. Who knows which Almodóvar intended.
I think he intends the viewer to realize right off that she is pregnant, but perhaps it wouldn’t matter that much if you didn’t figure it out until later. Even though it was years ago, I think since I had seen it before made the hint seem obvious.
It would be disappointing if Almodovar hadn’t used “feminist” and meant something similar to what we mean by it. I also thought the singular was funny as if this woman had the very essence of the trait—the Platonic Form. Perhaps it was a jab at the hypocrisy that can come from an easily acquired label. Maybe the lawyer got called feminist just because she often had women clients, or maybe she really had had some feminist principles and motivations when she was young and poor and had since decayed into a greedy fat cat.
And George, the subtitles on the tape did use “feminist”. So that DVD must be a different translation.
This is simplistic, but is the message that the womanizing Don Juan and the corrupt feminist are equally bad for women — they deserve only each other, they should leave town together — and that it's much better for women to live their own lives without depending on either?
I sort of wondered whether Almodovar had an Ivan in his own life at some point. He certainly has profound sympathy for the jilted.
Something tipped me off to the pregnancy midway through. I can't remember what it was, only that I felt very clever for figuring it out early. I think it did affect my opinion; it seemed to explain her desperation AND the way she let Ivan go after the encounter with Lucia.
I think it's interesting that she never mentioned the pregnancy to Ivan at the end. Part of me can see her getting over him and getting on with her life yet still wanting to do a little damage. I was waiting for a vengeful stab; "See ya. Oh and by the way, I'm pregnant."
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