I’m So Excited (Spanish: Los amantes pasajeros), 2013.
Writted and Directed by Pedro Almodovar.
Starring Antonio de la Torre, Hugo Silva, Miguel Ángel Silvestre, Javier Cámara, Pepa Charro, Lola Dueñas, Laya Martí, Antonio Banderas and Penélope Cruz.
SYNOPSIS:
When it appears as though the end is in sight, the pilots, flight crew, and passengers of a plane heading to Mexico City look to forget the anguish of the moment and face the greatest danger, which we carry within ourselves.
Pedro Almodóvar is a force to be reckoned with. A director who doesn’t appear to make any compromises, making a film almost annually in the eighties, and becoming accepted in the mainstream market since 2000. He has a back-catalogue as diverse as Bad Education, Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! and Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, and a close-knit group of actors to turn to – including Antonio Banderas and Penelope Cruz, who owe their careers to him. It is clear that although themes of sexuality, identity and gender appear often in his work, Almodóvar can equally raise these issues in cine-literate moments such as the silent-film within Talk to Her or within the context of a crazed-surgeon and his kidnapped-victim in The Skin I Live In. Pedro Almodóvar is part of the roster of filmmakers who owe their own style of filmmaking to the filmmakers that preceded them and upcoming directors who surround them in cinema today. His previous exploits are as cinematically aware as Quentin Tarantino and Martin Scorsese, with references to Hitchcock, Fellini and Bergman rather than exploitation and Powell and Pressberger. Does I’m So Excited build on Almodóvar’s work so far? Or is it merely a footnote in his ever-growing canon?
Giles Tremlett for The Guardian interviewed Almodóvar who “joyously” stated that I’m So Excited is his “gayest film ever!”. Though incredibly camp and a complete shift away from the seriousness of Almodóvar’s films in the last decade, this is not unheard of. Indeed, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown is a film that is comedic, camp and playful in the same manner as I’m So Excited.
A faulty plane is forced to stay in the air as all the Spanish airports cannot accept it for landing. On the plane itself, we are forced among the business class and their respective cabin crew – three camp air stewards – until the situation resolves itself. The pilots equally have a role to play as both are unsure, sexually, where they stand. It is clear from this basic overview that the film is full of subtext and allegory as it alludes to the financial issues in Spain. A plane that cannot land; those leading the people – the pilots – are indecisive about their sexuality and truly don’t know who they are and where they should go; the passengers all have their own goals and motives to pursue – without looking out for each other. We are forced to stay in the small space of the elite upper-class – whilst the rest of society / the plane is fast asleep in economy.
Generally speaking, this film remains within the plane – often taking place in ever-decreasing smaller spaces as the air stewards argue and joke within the preparatory area at the front of the cabin, only to only move into the cockpit, whereby we remain squeezed in amongst all the dials and gadgets that litter the front of an airplane.
But this film is about capturing the mood of a nation. Pedro Almodóvar is famous for creating an image of Spain to the rest of the world. The cultural attitudes towards death in Volver, the almost-iconic look of the pastel-coloured rooms that he regularly uses. Almodóvar believes we are in a “bleak place” right now – and I’m So Excited is about filling that void with a playful, comedic and upbeat attitude towards our own defencelessness in the face of the recent banking crisis. I’m So Excited is an “unrealistic, metaphorical comedy”, and so you seek out the political and personal issues raised amongst the sex, alcohol and drug-taking on board Flight PE 2549.
This is Almodóvar for the fans. This is Almodóvar for the hard-core film-completest. Since 1999’s All About My Mother, Pedro Almodóvar has been a filmmaker who has not only challenged viewers but he has also become a filmmaker who weaves profound and deeply-poetic themes and ideas within accessible international cinema. I’m So Excited features a cast and cameos from many actors who have featured in many of his previous films – Javier Cámara (Talk To Her), Lola Dueñas (Volver) and Cecilia Roth (All About My Mother) to name a few – and so we have a film that almost feels like a Best Of… Almodóvar. Using this idea as a jumping-off point, it is more a Best Of… The Early Years of Almodóvar. That’s not a bad thing of course, but personally I preferred his later records and despite being a huge success in his native country, I don’t think I’m So Excited is as accessible as his later films. Enjoyable, quirky and metaphorical yes, but not as profound as I expected.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★
Originally published May 1, 2013. Updated April 11, 2018.
