Kika **** (1993, Verónica Forqué, Peter Coyote, Victoria Abril, Àlex Casanovas, Rossy de Palma, Francisca Caballero) – Classic Movie Review 3569

Writer-director Pedro Almodóvar’s biting 1993 black comedy is a typically savage, no-holds-barred assault on modern media culture. More focused and controlled than his early work in the Eighties, this is lit up by Victoria Abril’s powerhouse turn as Andrea Caracortada, a Jean-Pierre Gaultier-clad true-crimes reporter with a scared face, electronic helmet and a voracious appetite for personal tragedy.

There’s a noticeable lack of the usual joie de vivre in Almodóvar’s dark comedy about Madrid make-up artist Kika (Verónica Forqué), who is called to the mansion of super-cool American novelist Nicholas (Peter Coyote) to make up the corpse of his stepson, Ramón (Àlex Casanovas). Kika finds her life unravelling in a spectacular way after her attentions revive Ramon and she moves in with him but has an affair with Nicholas.

Despite a few deeply uncomfortable moments, most notably a rape scene played for laughs, this often maligned movie is consistently powerful and occasionally sublime. Almodóvar’s mother Francisca Caballero has a glorious cameo as the starchy host of a TV book programme. It also stars Rossy de Palma, Santiago Lajusticia, Anabel Alonso, Bibí Andersen [Bibiana Fernández], Jesús Bonilla and Karra Elejalde.

© Derek Winnert 2016 Classic Movie Review 3569

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