The Flower of My Secret(1995)

Updated June 26, 2020 | Infoplease Staff

Director Almodóvar took a surprising turn when he created this subtle, earnest film — quite a change from his usually outrageous fare. Even his typically lurid colors are muted in this film. The story, which evokes Hollywood's classic women's pictures in the age of Joan Crawford, Bette Davis, and Greta Garbo, follows Leo (Paredes), a depressed romance novelist with a failing marriage who takes a job as a newspaper editor. For her first assignment, she's asked to pan one of her own books. A flamenco-dancing housekeeper and a bickering mother and sister threaten to drive Leo crazy, injecting the film with familiar Almodóvar humor.