As Pedro Alomdóvar’s latest film Julieta hits cinemas, we dove into a new boxset celebrating his early work.

Dark Habits/Entre Tinieblas – 1983

Finding herself in trouble after her boyfriend dies of a heroin overdose, a cabaret singer commits herself to the most unconventional of convents. Seeking salvation, Yolanda (Cristina Sánchez Pascual) instead finds a swamp of drug-fuelled masochism spiked with musical melodrama. A curious – if not entirely satisfying – watch, it is nevertheless probably the only opportunity you’ll have to see an acid-tripping nun play bongos to a tiger.

What Have I Done to Deserve This?/Qué He Hecho Yo Para Merecer Esto! – 1984

A pill-popping part-time cleaner and part-time housewife is run ragged by her brute of a husband, her delinquent drug-dealing son, and loveable yet loopy mother-in-law. Throw in a prostitute, a paedophile dentist, and some telekinesis and you have a surreal but sour kitchen-sink drama that’s sorely lacking in Alomdóvar’s cheek and charm.

Law of Desire/La Ley del Deseo – 1987

Mixing thriller with theatrical melodrama, Almodóvar’s outrageous seventh film features a young Antonio Banderas and an even younger Manuela Velasco (the [REC] franchise) alongside Eusebio Poncela’s film and theatre director Pablo Quintero. A post-modern exploration of artifice, obsession and sexual identity, it’s a striking film notable for a Banderas performance full of promise, intensity and charm.

Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown/Mujeres al Borde de un Ataque de ‘Nervous’ – 1988

Earning Almodóvar his first Oscar nomination and international success, the film sees Carmen Maura’s Pepa fall out with her lover and into his marital mess – a mentally-ill wife and adulterous son. Were that not enough, there’s a subplot of international terrorism and tranquilizer-laced gazpacho. This chaos his held together by black humour and arresting cinematography, resulting in a tense yet tenuous study of sex and psychology.

Kika – 1993

Veronica Forque plays the titular make-up artist in this sordid soap opera of murder, incest, voyeurism and rape. A mess of absurd plot strands and questionable taste, Kika explores the mainstream media’s increasing infatuation with gratuitous sex and violence in Almodóvar’s unique, if tactless, style.

The Flower of My Secret/La Flor de Mi Secreto – 1995

Marisa Paredes’ Leo Macías is a writer torn between her philosophical principles and her profession as a purveyor of trashy romance novels. As her marriage dissolves, she falls into drink, despair and the understanding arms of her newspaper editor. A far more subdued and sombre affair than the rest of this collection’s chapters, The Flower of My Secret tones down Almodóvar’s colourful characters and lurid locations for a more emotionally engaging portrait of sorrow and soul.

With sound and image restoration supervised by the filmmaker’s brother Augustín Almodóvar, and a host of brand new interviews and extras, The Almodóvar Collection will be released on DVD and Blu-Ray through Studiocanal on 19^th September.

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