Kika

"There’s enough outrageousness and ribald humor in Kika to please Almodóvar fans, and ... even newcomers will find much to like, provided they can follow his eccentric, offbeat rhythms." – Rene Rodríguez, Miami Herald

Makeup artist Kika (Veronica Forque) falls for Ramón, a corpse who bounces back to life. But her affair with Ramón’s father (Peter Coyote) threatens their relationship. Looking to wreak havoc, Kika’s maid (Rossy de Palma) introduces her brother, a prison escapee and porn star, into the household. Voyeuristic dominatrix and television host Andrea Scarface (Victoria Abril) witnesses a crime committed against Kika, but she’s mostly interested in catching it on camera. The dizzying succession of events unfolds in a raucous comedy only Almodóvar could make.

Following the success of our recent retrospective of Spain’s revered filmmaker, we were deluged by requests for additional gems from Almodóvar’s middle period - some say his finest - which we’re hastening to oblige. As in our original program, all titles have been painstakingly restored to their original splendor. Launching this limited one-week series will be Dark Habits (Entre tinieblas), the film that introduced the maverick director’s work in the US with its premiere at the first Miami Film Festival in 1984. Enjoy!

Program notes adapted from MoMA’s Almodóvar retrospective.

Check out the rest of our Almodóvar II program!