Movie Man Darian Watching All Night Long

Pain And Glory

This is a beautifully captured film of a struggling artist! This film is a incredibly well crafted film with a career defining performance from Antonio Banderas who commits to every frame of this film giving a gripping performance from start to finish. This film to sum it up best is emotionally gripping to witness as it really delves Into the mindset of this artist who struggles with his emotional and psychical pain in very raw ways and does whatever he has to do to help himself heal. The film was beautifully filmed and incredibly well directed and amazingly well acted it is one of the best indie films I’ve seen this year. 

First off, The performance from Antonio Banderas is a career best performance as he explores territory emotionally he hasn’t shown before which will blow you away. His lead performance is amazing and so are the supporting performances everyone involved in the film give well rounded performances but it’s Antonio who steals the show with his emotionally raw performance in this film that is gripping and heartbreaking. 

Secondly, The only problem I had with this film was its pacing as it felt way to overlong as it is an hour and fifty two minutes and could of been easily a hour and thirty minutes as their were some scenes that could of been taken out and it wouldn’t of affected the overall film as after a while you do start to really feel that runtime and it’s unfortunate as I do really enjoy this film it’s just some scenes were way to drawn out and could of been shorter or cut altogether as it does feel long and the film is already a slow film and an overlong slow burn to some people can be not the film for them since this is an indie that draws out its runtime for a little longer then it should have. 

Lastly, This film is incredibly well shot and brilliantly directed but extraordinarily acted by Antonio Banderas central performance that will blow you away it’s a emotionally well told story that will have you amazed and entertained Pain And Glory was a very enjoyable film I recommend people check this film out. 

This film centres on a struggling film director who after many years of critical success has to find ways to find happiness emotionally as he deals with his very psychical and emotional pain. 

Rated R : for drug use, some graphic nudity and language

Antonio Banderas : Antonio gives a phenomenal performance! This man has given such great performances over the years he’s been zorro and Puss In Boots from Shrek and he’s also done action, romance and drama but his performance here is unlike anything I’ve seen before. He’s given dramatic work before sure but not on this level. He gives a performance of a struggling artist who deals with pain in every level and it’s heartbreaking and Antonio steps up to the task of delivering that as honest and truthful as he can and it’s a emotionally charged performance he shows onscreen that wowed me. As when you watch him you can feel the pain in his words and his eyes especially Theirs this very straight and serious look he has in his eyes for 95% of the film and it’s scary actually as I’ve never seen Antonio deliver a performance like this and damn is he good. As he was able to give such a complex character arc as he struggles with drugs, relationships and creatively and Antonio was able to tackle these very real topics in such a emotionally effective way that felt realistic and gripping to witness. He transforms psychically for this film and it’s amazing to watch as he goes places emotionally we haven’t seen and he wraps himself up in every frame of this film and gives every scene his absolute all. Even in the moments in the film where he is quiet he can tell so much and it’s so brilliantly shown by Antonio as this is the most emotional vulnerable I’ve ever seen him onscreen and it’s a tremendous performance that deserves all the awards coming its way as he gives one of the best performances of the year and it’s truly a career defining performance Antonio gives his greatest performance to date with his brilliant turn in this film. 

Pedro Almodóvar : Pedro gives amazing writing and direction on this film! This is a filmmaker I’m unfamiliar with as I’ve not seen any of his previous work prior to this film. After seeing what he did here I would definitely watch his next film and his past work as well. Here he was able to give a very emotionally effective story that goes back and forth from past and present on this man’s life as we get to know him from the flashbacks and see where he is now and how he also struggles with heartbreaking psychical pain and also emotional pain and what he does to help himself and it’s amazingly well Captured through the screen as he was able to get a truly amazing performance from Antonio while also talking about very real issues like poverty, Addiction and depression and he’s able to tackle such heavy topics in such a artistically different way of seeing it while staying as honest about these topics and grips you with his very well written story with amazingly well fleshed our characters. He makes it very simple and I like that and he talks about things the audience can relate to in some way and I liked that connection he had with the audience with that it was such a unique story that was such a breath of fresh air and it was so well written and magnificently directed.