Almodóvar’s second feature film, Dark Habits (1983) blends comedy and drama to create a hybrid that both seems to focus on the present whilst obliquely referring to the past. Dark Habits is set in a convent where the nuns get up to all sorts of scrapes as they protect a cabaret singer who is hiding from the police.
The lesbian desire at the centre of the film is movingly conveyed through Almodóvar’s trademark use of traditional Spanish music. This hilariously irreverent film, set in the 1980s, appears to focus on a democratic present full of promise, but the hilarity hides a critique of the regime’s cinema as propaganda and the role of the Catholic Church in disciplining “wayward women” much like the Madgalene Laundries did in Ireland. This early film is crucial to understanding Almodóvar’s ambivalence towards Spanish culture and recent history, as well as his early mislabelling as an apolitical filmmaker.
Director Pedro Almodóvar
Year 1983
Duration
1h 54m
Language Spanish with English subtitles
Cast Cristina S. Pascual, Julieta Serrano, Marisa Paredes