From "Pain and Glory" in 2018 to "Parallel Mother" in 2021, it is not difficult to find that in Almodovar's films, the falsehood of strangeness has been reduced and individual pain has been amplified; in "Parallel Mother", Almodóvar even further explored the significance of historical memory and blood inheritance, touching the historical trauma of Spain and the memory of women being abandoned, and telling the history and past of this nation.
"Parallel Mother" tells a "father like son" story in the story shell. Two mothers, Yanis and Anna, who are about to give birth, will live in the same hospital ward by fate, and give birth to a girl at the same time. Forged a friendship beyond the age, but by coincidence, the two took each other's children in the observation room. Since then, the seemingly parallel two people have formed an inseparable knot. Under the urging of fate, their lives have begun to interweave layer by layer, forming a knot of mutual connection.
In "Parallel Mothers", Almodovar also shows the diversity of motherhood: the motherhood of the third party in marriage, the motherhood of the raped, and the motherhood of those who yearn for a career. The three are parallel and intertwined with each other, showing a kind of All-encompassing motherhood, which embodies an 'almodovar-like maternal feeling''.
A seemingly abrupt clue is also interspersed in the film: Yanis hopes that the archaeological team can unearth the bodies of people who died in the mass graves during the Spanish Civil War; in 2006, Spain promulgated a draft on the historical memory law, in the law It is clearly stated: Political activities are prohibited in places commemorating Franco (such as cemeteries), except for activities commemorating the victims of his rule, so Yanes hopes that the archaeological team will unearth the bodies of the people who died in the town during the civil war. , as a comfort to the relatives of the deceased and a memory of history. In the film, Yanis and Anna had a fierce quarrel over the excavation of the burial mounds. Anna believed that "we should focus on the future, or just keep uncovering the old scars." Yanis responded and said to her angrily. : "It's time to open your eyes and look at the country you live in." This episode is full of Almodovar's indignation and cries for young people's disregard for history. He used Yanis's mouth to show his disregard for history. resignedly. As a generation who once lived under the Franco regime, Almodovar seemed to record this history on the screen.
"Parallel Mother" also shows a deep concept, seemingly parallel time and space and people, but there is an inseparable connection in it: in the first half of the film, Yanis takes a sampler to explore the real mother-son relationship, and later Half of it is a human historian holding a sampler to explore the historical blood of the townspeople, using blood as a link to find history; Yanis' aunt was unknowingly taken away by the army by the army, just like Yanis He lost his own flesh and blood without knowing it. In the last shot of the film, the members of the archaeological team lie down in the burial mound to rest. At that moment, it seems that they have become new "guests" in the burial mound, and they also seem to tell us in the dark: If you don't pay attention to history, then What happened in parallel time and space will also happen again.
The archaeological team rests in the burial mound
At the end of the film, all the women in the town came to the mass graves with photos of their dead fathers. They all lost their fathers, grandfathers or husbands, but they still recorded and described this episode in their memory. A tragic history, they still remember the memories of the past. As it is said at the end of the film: "History is never silent, no matter how they denigrate, no matter how they tamper, no matter how they falsify, the history of mankind refuses to remain silent".
Throughout the whole film, although it is definitely not the best work of Almodovar, and some plots have a sense of breaking and hard connection. But the memory of history seems to be Almodóvar's social responsibility as a director and a Spaniard. He appeals to young people today to remember the importance of history and blood inheritance. The parallel mother in the film is an individual. Also country. Constantly stimulates us to remember history and never forget the present.