Page 31 - Adelante Magazine February 2025

Entertainment
By: Laura Moreno

PEDRO ALMODOVAR’S ‘The Last Dream’
A Wild Ride Into the Recesses of His Mind
“The Last Dream” by Pedro Almodóvar (trans-
lated by Frank Wynne) is a collection of 12
short stories, including 8 works of fiction, that
were written over a span of 55 years.

Considered a “fragmentary autobiography” by
the author, this book demonstrates the
Academy Award winning film director’s literary
prowess and versatility. His writing, like his film-
making, delves deep into the human psyche
using beautifully crafted spare prose.

The Spanish-speaking world will be quick to
note the title’s allusion to the 18th century epic
poem “First Dream” (Primer Sueño) by Mexi-
can LGBT Renaissance nun, playwright, phi-
losopher, inventor, painter, and composer Sor
Juana de la Cruz. (“I, the Worst of All,” a film of
her life based on research done by Nobel Prize
Laureate Octavio Paz is available for free on-
line.)

“Fabulator,” not writer
In the Introduction to the book, Almodóvar
writes that he sees himself as a “fabulator,” his
preferred term to describe what he does. It’s a
freeing term for him, freeing from a strict adher-
ence to the truth, and even from himself as au-
thor-director. He rather prefers to consider
himself a mere guide taking us on a wild ride
into the recesses of his mind.
book’s few mechanical shortcomings, it more Vargas gained success despite (or because of)
He writes that there is an “intimate relationship than makes up for it in creativity. her masculine appearance and dress, and fa-
between what I write, what I film and what I mously dated women like Frida Kahlo, even
live.” The secret to his genius photographing themselves frolicking in the
In “The Mirror Ceremony,” a vampire enters a grass. The singer is featured in a number of his
Despite bold story lines that know no bounds monastery and manages to transcend his un- films.
and an exhibitionistic alter-ego named Patty Di- satisfactory circumstances through an obvious
phusa (“patidifusa” is Iberian slang for flabber- yet startlingly novel solution: he simply accepts And finally, the collection would not be com-
gasted) that first appeared in the Spanish Christ’s redemption of his soul! plete without a proper romp into surrealistic ter-
magazine La Luna in 1979, the fabulator re- ritory, not so far removed, really, from Catholic
mains a very private person hidden behind the Stories like this get readers wondering whether reality. “The Life and Death of Miguel,” written
camera. the premise of the plot is silly or serious. With when Almodóvar was very young man, depicts
Almodóvar it’s always both, always a paradox, a world in which death and life happen in re-
Nonetheless, several stories fill in biographical always as fascinatingly complicated as real life. verse as people grow younger, like Benjamin
information about Almodóvar the man, such as The same can be asked of the story “Too Many Button. (He was certain the idea was stolen
the title story “The Last Dream” about the day Gender Swaps,” which contains ideas that ap- when he first learned of the film.) Writing the
his own mother died. It represents his finest pear in several films including the gay thriller story, he reflects, was his attempt to come to
writing in his own view. “The Law of Desire” and the wondrous film terms with our powerlessness in the face of un-
“Dark Habits” on which the terribly dumbed- stoppable time.
In the short story “The Visit,” he reveals the down “Sister Act” films were based.
story of how one of his most enduring films All in all, reading “The Last Dream” is well
“Bad Education” about clerical abuse came to In “A Bad Novel” Almodóvar, 75, commands in- worth your time. But the book is best enjoyed
be. terest as he tries to candidly assess his own after watching at least a few of his world-class
writing. But when he sets out to assess it again films. In particular, I recommend “Women On
Like fine sculpture, Almodóvar’s writing has in “Memory of an Empty Day” we begin to see the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown” and “All
carved away all the superfluous description why he has thus far not been prolific. Nonethe- About My Mother” as a basic introduction to the
that many writers and readers luxuriate in. This less, the story fascinates as he tries to meas- wild world of Pedro Almodóvar.
book, however, is not perfect; no work ever is. ure his worth as fabulator in light of the fact that
At times the fabulator seems to be trying too he is ageing and no longer shares a culture of ‘The Last Dream’ by Pedro Almodóvar, Harper-
hard to be overly creative when there’s no need youth with an ever-growing percentage of his Via, $26.
to be, something that feels like a more egre- audience (readers). LINK
gious sin in literature than in labor-intensive
filmmaking: “Genet was a sauce we sometimes The memorable short story “Adiós, Volcano”
used to douse our work together.” Was there was written as a tribute to the great Mexican
no budget for an editor? But whatever the LGBT singer Chavela Vargas upon her death.

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