In her 1964 essay, Notes on Camp, Susan Sontag wrote, “The essence of Camp is its love of the unnatural: of artifice and exaggeration.” There are few times this sentiment has ringed as true as in the films of Spanish Filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar. A master of the artifice, and influenced by filmmaking masters like Douglas Sirk, Joseph L. Mankiewicz, as well as cheap T.V. soap operas, the cinema of Almodóvar creates an environment of humor and high drama, making his work unique and attractive. Tragic women, drag queens, and delinquents in animal costumes populate the universe of his movies, which in part proves, without a doubt, that Almodóvar is a master of kitsch.

Here at Fandor we love Pedro Almodóvar. If you do too, check out our articles on “How the Foreign Language Film Oscars Work, and Don’t.” And be sure to check out Fandor’s deep library of Spanish and camp films, some of which are highlighted in our Spotlight, “Space Camp,” all available to stream with a subscription.

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