Pain and Glory

2019 • 113 minutes

About this movie

PAIN AND GLORY tells of a series of re-encounters experienced by Salvador Mallo (Antonio Banderas), a film director in his physical decline. Some of them in the flesh, others remembered: his childhood in the 60s, when he emigrated with his parents to a village in Valencia in search of prosperity, the first desire, his first adult love in the Madrid of the 80s, the pain of the breakup of that love while it was still alive and intense, writing as the only therapy to forget the unforgettable, the early discovery of cinema, and the void, the infinite void that creates the incapacity to keep on making films.

Ratings and reviews

This film in general is worth 5 stars. It has beautiful scenery and shots and tells a story well with a kid living with his parents in a nice cave to his adulthood in filmaking. However I just found it to be offensive at times, but it is truly a well done picture.

Quick moving. Not too many dull moments. Lots of passion from the entire production team, the love of making the movie is apparent. The gay surprise kiss was not to my liking, prefer to have imagined, would have fit the movie overall better. But you will enjoy.

The best performance of Antonio Banderas' career, well deserving of the Oscar nod. It's closed captioned, but learn how to read, and stop marking that as a 'reason to hate'.