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23 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Dark Humor Gives the Film its Edge, November 13, 2000
As a North American, one is subject to films which are essentially shallow, mindless and repetitious. Rarely is there a film that comes as a surprise. However, Qué he hecho yo para merecer esto offers a completely different cinematic experience. Pedro Almodovar's use of dark humor in Qué he hecho yo is what I found most appealing. The film takes a peek into the lives of the members of a poor working class family and explores their many problems in a tragic but comic way. The film opens with a shot of an enormous apartment complex similar to "the Projects" of the United States defining the films dark aspects and the tragic situation of the family. Soon, the close up takes us into the tiny apartment which is decorated in humorously bad taste, "kitsch". This allows the audience to relax and laugh as it reveals the film's dark humor. Furthermore, the film deals with subjects such as prostitution, child molestation, adultery, murder, drug addiction, and poverty. What I found most interesting was the way in which Almodovar manages to poke fun at these issues. A North American film would never even dare to mention child molestation unless it suggested that the criminal would end up dead, however Qué he hecho yo presents a mother who allows her young son to live with his homosexual dentist after he makes advances towards the boy at his practice. Interestingly, it is one of the films funniest moments. Hence, the film is truly a must see for anyone wishing to escape the monotony of American cinema and who enjoys an unconventional dark comedy.
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Another Jewel in Pedro Almodóvar's Crown!, September 14, 2006
This review is from: What Have I Done to Deserve This? (DVD)
Though the films by one of our geniuses of filmmaking in our times, Pedro Almodóvar, is making films now that are polished to perfection - Volver (2006), La Mala educación (2004), Hable con ella (2002), and Todo sobre mi madre (1999) - his early films such as this one '¿Qué he hecho yo para merecer esto!!' in retrospect contained all the identifying marks that would establish him as not only one of the bad boys of cinema, but also one of the sensitive cinematic psychologists. And everything he touches gleams.
In this 1984 story of a wildly dysfunctional family co-habiting in Madrid, the star is Gloria (Carmen Maura), a No-Doz addicted maid living in a tiny flat with her taxi driver/forger husband who perseverates on an aging German chanteuse for whom he once worked, two sons - one a hustler and the other a drug peddler - and a wacko mother-in-law who treats food like contraband, selling what she chooses to the family members. The turning point in this raucously fragile but funny family is the chance to make money: the father is coerced into forging Hitler's memoirs with a little help from his German chanteuse's influence,
Gloria bargains with a dentist for her hustler son's possession, ad infinitum!
But leave it to Almodóvar to pull it all off with just the right amount of madness and mayhem, and a jolly dollop of psychology about family interaction and women thrown in for good measure. The cast is a delight (including Almodóvar regulars Cecilia Roth and Verónica Forqué!) and the movie is so fast paced that it feels like a carnival ride - which is very much the way this marvelous director sees his early work. Highly recommended. Grady Harp, September 06
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14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
One of Almodovar's Best Films, April 16, 2000
This is certainly not his first film(Pepi, Luci, Bom y otras chicas del monton, is his first film). It's a great film that deals with one, if not his favorite subject, women, but not ordinary ones. This housewife(the extraordinary Carmen Maura) deals with all sorts of problems such as her son's preferences for older men, her mother in law's new mascot( a lizard called dinero, money in Spanish) and her husband's murder all in a very hard financial situation and with the help of a very original neighbor. This is certainly one of Almodovar's best films!
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