Pedro Almodóvar: La flor de mi secreto / The Flower of My Secret (1995)

Pedro Almodóvar's La flor de mi secreto / The Flower of My Secret (1995) revolves around Leo Macías, who writes under the pseudonym Amanda Gris. Her marriage with Paco is an emotional train wreck: Leo's neediness combined with his distance form a wretched dynamic, one so awful that he prefers serving with NATO in Brussels and Bosnia during wartime rather than remain with her in Madrid -- whereas she (just almost) wants to die rather than be without him. 

Leo (as Amanda Gris) is a successful writer of "pink" romance novels, but her growing affinity is for "black" (as in the mood) writing. She loves "anxious" and "lunatic" writers such as  Djuna Barnes, Jane Bowles, Janet Frame, Virginia Woolf, Anaïs Nin, and so on.  And indeed, The Flower of My Secret touches quite a bit on identity, persona, pseudonym and a heady creative spirit. Even the choice of "Amanda Gris" as pen name seems to derive from the Spanish visual artist Juan Gris, formerly known as José González, a fellow traveler in stage-shifting. Then there's the matter of stealth, theft and the so-called "writer's [or writers'] well" -- there are only so many ideas to be reworked. Leo's "black" work is to be made into a film (and actually was later made into Almodóvar's own Volver ~ whoah), while her "pink" work is taken over by a temporarily secret admirer/ghost writer. Ah, life!   

Almodóvar's La flor de mi secreto / The Flower of My Secret (1995): Plaza Mayor, Madrid. Ángel and Leo after dark. Red is the color. 

Almodóvar's La flor de mi secreto / The Flower of My Secret (1995): Blanca (Manuela Vargas), Leo (Marisa Paredes) and Rosa (Rossy de Palma).

A few lines for the future: 

"Except for drinking, everything is difficult for me" (Leo).

"Jealousy is a needle that keeps me from living" (from a song in Almagro, Castile-La Mancha).

From Leo's madre (played by Chus Lampreave, always memorable):

"She hides things like a magpie" and "Like a cow without a cowbell." 

Let's not forget phosphorus supplements for "memory." Who knew?

Today's Rune: Partnership.