Back to Drama: Almodovar's return with 'Julieta'

The great Spanish director Pedro Almodovar has returned to the world of drama after a brief dalliance with his raucous origins. After the fluffy, fun romp of 2013's I'm So Excited! (an odd retitling of the Spanish language version: Los Amantes Pasajeros), I feel like Almodovar wanted to get back to the serious drama that has fueled his most recent work.

2016's Julieta definitely brings us back to his world of women, family, motherhood, distance, and tragic romance. Based on three separate short stories by Canadian writer Alice Munro, Julieta is about a woman trying to reconnect with the daughter that disappeared from her life years and years ago.

I don't want to give away to much of the plot here. It'll help keep the low-key magic alive, as this puzzle starts to come together and reveal more about Julieta (played by two different actresses at two stages of her life) and her daughter Antia.

The story is very muted and melancholy, a far cry from his bubbly last film and the films at the beginning of Almodovar's history.

Beautiful images abound that make it feel like a waking, walking dream: The slo-mo shot of a stag chasing a train through a snowy landscape; Julieta and her husband Xoan making love on a fishing boat bobbing in the sea; Julieta visiting a spiritual retreat in the forested Pyrenees mountains.

This was set to be the director's first English-language film with Meryl Streep in the lead role, but the plan was scrapped and switched to a Spanish, not Canadian, location. I wonder if Almodovar should or could make something out of Spain and in another language. I have to ask, why should he? He is the master of detailing modern Spanish life.

Almodovar himself said:

"I didn't want tears, what I wanted was dejection. I adore melodrama, it's a noble genre, a truly great genre, but I was very clear that I didn't want anything epic, I wanted something else. Simply put, this had to be a very dry, tearless film"

That really explains the vibe of Julieta. And with all the heartache and loss throughout the film, the ending, a bit of an emotional cliffhanger where the future isn't spelled out, is truly hopeful.