Rent Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (1988)
3.6 of 5 from 261 ratings
1h 25min
- General info
- Available formats
- Synopsis:
- When Ivan (Fernando Guillen) jilts long-time lover, actress Pepa (Carmen Maura), she plans her suicide; lacing her gazpacho soup with barbiturates. She is, however saved by her best friend Candela (Maria Barranco), a fugitive from the law. Further adding to the chaos, Ivan's son (Antonio Banderas) and his fiance Marisa (Rossy de Palma) turn up at the apartment. Bored with the situation, Marisa inadvertently ingests the gazpacho and as she blissfully snoozes, her fiance inaugurates an affair with Carmen's fugitive friend.
- Actors:
- Carmen Maura, Antonio Banderas, Julieta Serrano, María Barranco, Rossy de Palma, Kiti Mánver, Guillermo Montesinos, Chus Lampreave, Eduardo Calvo, Loles León, Ángel de Andrés López, Fernando Guillén, Juan Lombardero, José Antonio Navarro, Ana Leza, Ambite, Mary González, Lupe Barrado, Joaquín Climent, Chema Gil
- Directors:
- Pedro Almodóvar
- Producers:
- Pedro Almodóvar
- Writers:
- Pedro Almodóvar, Jean Cocteau
- Aka:
- Mujeres al borde de un ataque de nervios
- Studio:
- MGM
- Genres:
- Classics, Comedy, Drama
- Collections:
- Cinema Paradiso's Euro 24 Film Festival, Films & TV by topic, The Instant Expert's Guide, The Instant Expert's Guide to Pedro Almodóvar, Top 10 Modern Musicals, Top Films
- Countries:
- Spain
- Awards:
- BBFC:
- Release Date:
- 19/09/2016
- Run Time:
- 89 minutes
- Languages:
- Spanish DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
- Subtitles:
- English
- Formats:
- Pal
- Aspect Ratio:
- Widescreen 1.85:1
- Colour:
- Colour
- BLU-RAY Regions:
- B
- Bonus:
- Around 'Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown'
- Introduction by Jose Arroyo
- Trailer
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Reviews (3) of Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown
I nearly had a nervous breakdown - Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown review by Miss Lane
very disappointing, very slow. I actually turned it off.
Sorry
2 out of 6 members found this review helpful.
Gazpacho, Chaos, and Perfectly Bad Timing - Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown review by griggs
It’s one of those days where the phone won’t stop ringing and your flat starts feeling like a loading bay for other people’s bad decisions. Madrid becomes a brightly coloured panic room: doors slam, secrets leak, and everyone arrives two minutes too late with the worst possible news.
The mad thing is it’s only 89 minutes, yet it crams in more plot than films twice its length — and it still never feels cluttered. It just shoots by, juggling all these threads with this slightly intoxicating “how on earth is this going to collide?” momentum. Some of it’s gloriously contrived, sure, but that’s half the fun: you lean in and watch Almodóvar pull the strings without tangling them.
Carmen Maura is the towering centre of it all — frazzled, funny, and weirdly moving when the noise drops for a beat. Even the gazpacho is pulling its weight as a comic weapon of mass sedation. By the time the outrageous chase kicks off, I was grinning like an idiot.
1 out of 1 members found this review helpful.
A Classic - Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown review by PM
In his inimitable way Almodavar slowly builds his unlikely story into a complex and humorous finale, faintly reminiscent of "Some Like it Hot". But a word of warning, the dubbed "English" version somehow manages to miss all the humour of the subtitled version. It requires a little more concentration but if you can give this film your undivided attention then it's possible that, like me, you'll be chuckling for a long time afterwards.
1 out of 1 members found this review helpful.