Julieta is a 2016 Pedro Almodóvar movie starring Emma Suárez and Adriana Ugarte as a woman recalling great losses in her life, especially the estrangement from her daughter.
Julieta opened in New York City December 21, 2016 and played through March 16, 2017.
It is based on stories by Canadian short story writer and Nobel Prize winner Alice Munro. Chance, Soon, and Silence.
The film is considered part of Almodóvar’s mature period. It doesn’t have quite the wildness of his earlier work. But the bright, meaningful colors, symbolic objects, and manic women are there. Almodóvar’s attention to detail is masterful storytelling and great filmmaking.
The film was nominated for a Palme d’Or at Cannes. It is Spain’s official entry for “Best Foreign Language Film” to the 89th Academy Awards (2017).
Julieta Synopsis
Julieta (Adriana Ugarte) is a middle-aged woman living in Madrid with her boyfriend. They are planning a move to Portugal, but a chance run-in with Beatriz, who used to be her daughter’s best friend, changes everything.
Julieta has been completely estranged from her daughter Antia for 12 years. Beatriz tells Julieta that Antia is married and living in Switzerland with her three children. The shock sets up a downward spiral of depression.
Julieta breaks up with her boyfriend and moves into a building where she used to live, hoping to receive a letter from her daughter. Alone, Julieta begins facing her past, reminiscing about her life.
Here we meet her younger self played by Adriana Ugarte. Julieta visits places her daughter once frequented. She remembers a chance meeting on a train that led to love with a Galician fisherman Xoan (Daniel Grao), raising her daughter by the sea, her man’s beautiful ex-girlfriend, and a know-it-all housekeeper played by Rossy de Palma.
Later when Julieta goes to pick up her teenage daughter from a vacation retreat, she is told the girl no longer wants to see her and the estrangement begins.