Review: Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown

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Pedro on the verge of a fabulous career: what a blast Pedro Almodóvar’s strange, stylish “Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown” was when it first came to the States in 1988: a mix of tragedy and farce, boldly designed, acidly crackpot, in love with female hysteria, brightly colored, scored to Farfisa mambo, and crisply photographed by the great Jose Luis Alcaine. And please, feel free to pass on the gazpacho. With Carmen Maura, Fernando Guillen, Julieta Serrano. 89m. [Seven earlier Almodóvars are being shown in restored prints this month in anticipation of the release of his latest, “Volver.”] (Ray Pride)

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