What Have I Done to Deserve This? [¿Qué he hecho yo para merecer esto!] **** (1984, Carmen Maura, Luis Hostalot, Gonzalo Suarez, Verónica Forqué, Ángel de Andrés López) – Classic Movie Review 3572

Carmen Maura again stars in writer-director Pedro Almodóvar’s provocative and engaging 1984 dark comedy. It is a very welcome early pairing of Spanish cult director Almodóvar and the exceptionally appealing Maura, his star from his 1980 very first feature Pepi, Luci, Bom and from Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (1988).

Chus Lampreave (1930 – 2016).

Maura is once more pure delight as scatty Madrid housewife Gloria in this wacky, adult black comedy, made with a great deal of style and irreverence by a liberating gay director not afraid to show his affection for women.

Gloria lives in a tiny apartment with her forger taxi driver husband Antonio (Ángel de Andrés López), her cupcake-addicted lunatic mother-in-law and her two teenage sons, a drug dealer and a gay boy.

Also in the cast are Luis Hostalot, Gonzalo Suarez, Jaime Chávarri, Verónica Forqué, Juan Martinez, Anabela Hilomann, Chus Lampreave, Kiti Mánver, Cecilia Roth and Ampara Soler Leal.

It was belatedly released in Britain in 1989 on the strength of Women on the Verge’s success.

Chus Lampreave, also known for Almodóvar’s Volver (2006), Talk to Her (2002) and Broken Embraces (2009) died on April 4, 2016 in Almería, aged 85.

© Derek Winnert 2016 Classic Movie Review 3572

Link to Derek Winnert’s home page for more reviews: http://derekwinnert.com/