lasttimeisaw Almodóvar's fourth feature, blatantly shows a full-frontal man in the opening sex scene, its shock value aptly sets the harbinger of what viewers are expected to see: a hodgepodge of flawed characters.Among them are a home-working prostitute and her clients, one of which is an exhibitionist and another one is a struggling writer, with a kleptomaniac wife and an alcoholic shrink brother, a suicidal over-the-hill German singer, a telepathic kid and her disgruntled single mother, an impotent cop, a stingy mother-in-law, an abusive husband who is good at forging signatures, a teenage drug-dealer and an his even younger gay gigolo brother and a lizard named Money. Those are the rank and file surrounding our protagonist Gloria (Maura), an ordinary housewife who moonlights as a cleaning lady, living in a minute apartment with her husband Antonio (López), a taxi driver, her mother-in-law Abuela (Lampreave) and two sons in Madrid.A life of toil, Gloria gets neither love nor money from Antonio, who is possessed with a former German singer Ingrid (Loritz) in Berlin, for whom he worked as a chauffeur; her two sons have already gone awry in their life paths, Almodóvar really stretches out on a limb to let a mother give up her teenage son to the adoption of a lecherous dentist (nudge nudge); her only friend is the fille de joie neighbour Cristal (Forqué), from whom her horizon of sex perversion has been widely broadened. Yet, this friendship is prohibited from Antonio, whose double-standard is the epitome of male chauvinism, which is often the target in Almodóvar's works, and the marital dispute will heat up to a murder on the spur of the moment, however, things seem to be back on track for Gloria afterwards.Almodóvar's gaudy aesthetics has already gone full-blown in this creative dark comedy, and his script goes to great length to make the story whole, although this time even himself cannot make ends meet in this slightly meandering menagerie of wackos.His sympathy towards women is unmistakably tangible, and Carmen Maura is the perfect emblem of a woman who seethes with a cocktail of negative emotions: disaffection, irritation, frustration, depression and sorrow, but at the same time, represents strength, mettle and hope as if nothing can destroy her whatsoever. Verónica Forqué is a hoot to watch with her gum-exhibiting naivety as the golden-hearted working girl, and Chus Lampreave is always a go-to focus of attention in Almodóvar's universe. Whimsical and audacious, Almodóvar's fourth film is a terrific mess and to a great extent, shows his true grit in grain as a young and gifted filmmaker.

Daly del Carmen Contreras Prostitution. Drug addiction. Murder. Infidelity. All make for a riveting movie, yet in Pedro Almodovar's Que he hecho yo para merecer esto! these fascinating elements seem to be solely for one's amusement and do not add much to the film's purpose; assuming there was one to begin with. Que he hecho yo paramerecer esto! seems to have been made for pure shock value; the elements of prostitution, drug addiction, murder, and infidelity are all mixed up and never seem to come together to make a purpose of the story. After watching the film I do not know what the purpose or morale of the story was, to me it seemed to end with a lot of loose ends. Why did Toni suddenly decide to leave with Abuela to the village? Why is it that when Gloria confesses to the murder of her husband she is not arrested? Why doesn't Vanessa use her telekinetic powers to get away from or get rid of her tyrant mother? These are a few of the many questions that are left unanswered.It is classic Almodovar style to portray controversial life style choices in a mature and understanding way and this film is no exception. Though Hollywood cinema tends to glamorize prostitution, drug addiction, murder, and/or infidelity, Almodovar presents them as they really are—and that is his charm.

pinkymp I loved it, it is pure Almodovarian genius! This really embraces everything that Pedro Almodovar stands for, setting out to include every social taboo in the book, but presenting it in a manner which, although shocking, doesn't seem to be making a social comment. More structured than earlier films, although not making as much of a comment about the "transition to democracy" period, which has by this point pretty much passed. It is a spectacular work of social realism which shows how much Spanish attitudes were still anchored in the past, whilst forever striving to become modern.You'd have to be totally crazy not to love it!

KGB-Greece-Patras By far not my best Almodovar film, but it is a winner as is! The more films I get to see from this one-of-a-kind (as all pioneers!) director, the more I love his work. In this 4th film of his, he starts out with his usual absurd, peculiar humour and his trademark hilarious characters. If you have seen any of these other films of his: 'Pepi, Luci, Bom and Other Girls on the Heap', 'Labyrinth of passion', 'Kika', 'Matador', 'Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown' plus more, you know what to expect. Almodovar humour is unique and it's here. The big difference in this one is that from a point and on, Almodovar fits in a sad tone, slowing the pace down and converting the film to a drama half-way - despite the fact he does not leave out some humour element - in this very special Almodovar way.I suppose this should do also for people who didn't like half of Almodovar films (the more offensive ones), maybe because things are more serious in this or maybe because one can distinguish the director's point more easily than in other, more hillariously absurd, almost surreal ones.