Almodóvar Gets Psychoanalyzed

On April 16, the University of California, Los Angeles, Department of Biobehavioral Sciences and Psychiatry is analyzing filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar. No, the auteur behind Bad Education, Talk to Her, and Live Flesh (the director is pictured, standing with the film's cast) isn’t in the shrink’s chair. Instead the department, with sponsorship by the New Center for Psychoanalysis, will be presenting a one-day symposium examining Almodóvar’s films from a post-Freudian psychoanalytic perspectives.

“[His] films are like dreams,” said NCP’s Thomas Brod, MD. “There’s anxiety in small measures, and you’re always in identification with the characters, no matter what they’re doing. It’s open to all sorts of possibilities. The visual qualities are so exciting, and there’s plenty to chew on psychoanalytically. So we like to have psychoanalysts from many different kinds of theoretical perspectives discussing it.”

“Mirrors of the Heart: The Films of Pedro Almodóvar” will be a symposium on farce, human relatedness and psychoanalysis. “He gets into primordial processes: boundary crossing, jealousy, rage, possessiveness, revenge,” said Peter Wolson, Ph.D., one of the symposium panelists. “It’s like Marx Brothers comedy gone wild.”

The event is open to the public. For a schedule, click here.