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Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown

160 statements
30 feature instances
3 referencing feature instances

Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown	type	TVTItem
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown	label	Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown	page	WomenOnTheVergeOfANervousBreakdown
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown	comment	Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (Mujeres al borde de un ataque de nervios) is a 1988 film from Spain directed by Pedro Almodóvar.Pepa Marcos (Carmen Maura) is an actress who stars on television and also dubs Hollywood films into Spanish. Pepa is depressed because her boyfriend Ivan has just dumped her. Pepa, who has something very important to tell Ivan, keeps trying to call but can only get his answering machine. Pepa looks for him at work and even stakes out his apartment, but never can find him.Pepa, who is stressed out, can hardly be bothered to focus on her jittery friend Candela, who arrives at Pepa's apartment in a state of extreme agitation. It turns out that Candela's boyfriend is a Shiite terrorist who was hiding out in her home with two fellow terrorists, and Candela is terrified that she might go to jail. Meanwhile, none other than Ivan's son Carlos (Antonio Banderas) and his fiancée Marisa have arrived at the apartment, which they are looking to sub-let.Star-Making Role for Antonio Banderas. This film also made Pedro Almodovar famous worldwide.
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown	fetched	2023-05-02T19:58:47Z
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown	parsed	2023-05-02T19:58:47Z
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown	processingComment	Dropped link to ChloeInTheAfternoon: Not a Feature - ITEM
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown	processingComment	Dropped link to RearWindow: Not a Feature - ITEM
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown	isPartOf	DBTropes
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown / int_127fc252	type	Creator Cameo
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown / int_127fc252	comment	Creator Cameo: Agustin Almodovar (Pedro's brother), the producer of the film, plays an architect Pepa meets with at one point.
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Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown / int_127fc252	featureConfidence	1.0
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Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown / int_14bfa98	type	Freeze-Frame Ending
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown / int_14bfa98	comment	Freeze-Frame Ending: Ends with a freeze frame of Pepa and Marisa on the terrace. The entirety of the credits runs over the freeze frame; there's no black background.
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown / int_14bfa98	featureApplicability	1.0
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown / int_14bfa98	featureConfidence	1.0
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Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown / int_1f88a426	type	Psycho Ex-Girlfriend
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown / int_1f88a426	comment	Psycho Ex-Girlfriend: Lucia is a textbook example. She lost her sanity after being dumped by Ivan and was committed to an asylum. She decides that the only way she can forget about him is killing him.
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown / int_1f88a426	featureApplicability	1.0
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown / int_1f88a426	featureConfidence	1.0
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown	hasFeature	Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown / int_1f88a426
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown / int_21f3e32e	type	Chekhov's Boomerang
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown / int_21f3e32e	comment	Chekhov's Boomerang: The sleeping pills that an anxious Pepa mixes into her gazpacho. She takes a sip, which doesn't affect her; but when Marisa finds the gazpacho in the fridge and eats some, she passes out in Pepa's kitchen. Then later, when Pepa needs to get the cops out of the way so she can stop Lucia at the airport, she feeds them the gazpacho as well.
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown / int_21f3e32e	featureApplicability	1.0
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown / int_21f3e32e	featureConfidence	1.0
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown	hasFeature	Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown / int_21f3e32e
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown / int_222dc873	type	Black Comedy
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown / int_222dc873	comment	Black Comedy: In-Universe. Pepa stars on TV as the mother of a Serial Killer. We see a commercial for laundry detergent in which Pepa successfully washes her son's blood-soaked shirt.
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Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown / int_222dc873	featureConfidence	1.0
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Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown / int_27c09b00	type	Camp Straight
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown / int_27c09b00	comment	Camp Straight: The Mambo taxi driver. You'd bet he is gay because of his fixation with Mambo, the leopard-printed car seats, and his general mannerisms. Then he asks an autograph from Pepa for his girlfriend.
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Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown / int_27c09b00	featureConfidence	1.0
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Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown / int_280f59bf	type	Extremely Short Timespan
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown / int_280f59bf	comment	Extremely Short Time Span: 48 hours from beginning to end.
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown / int_280f59bf	featureApplicability	1.0
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown / int_280f59bf	featureConfidence	1.0
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Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown / int_367f2530	type	Outdated Outfit
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown / int_367f2530	comment	Outdated Outfit: The film is set in The '80s, but Carlos' mother (and Ivan's ex) still wears outfits from The '60s along with the typical Twiggy eye make-up. It's justified since she hasn't taken well to the fact that she spent 20 years in an asylum while her youth and beauty faded.
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Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown / int_40cc0c7e	type	Bittersweet Ending
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown / int_40cc0c7e	comment	Bittersweet Ending: In the end, while Pepa saves Ivan's life, she realizes that he would never be faithful and tells him to go on vacation with Paulina. She promises to matchmake the phone repairman and Marisa, knowing that Carlos will hook up with Candela, and reveals to an awake Marisa that she's having a baby.
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Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown / int_548bd053	type	Guns Akimbo
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown / int_548bd053	comment	Guns Akimbo: Lucia does this after she relieves both the unconscious cops of their firearms.
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown / int_548bd053	featureApplicability	1.0
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Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown / int_6563aeb6	type	Shameless Fanservice Girl
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown / int_6563aeb6	comment	Shameless Fanservice Girl: There's a woman at Ivan's apartment building who likes to dance in front of the open window while wearing nothing but bra and panties.
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown / int_6563aeb6	featureApplicability	1.0
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown / int_6563aeb6	featureConfidence	1.0
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Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown / int_658854ee	type	I'm a Doctor, Not a Placeholder
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown / int_658854ee	comment	I'm a Doctor, Not a Placeholder: When Pepa asks the cab driver to follow Lucia and the motorcycle she's hijacked (after Lucia has shot at them), the cab driver protests, "I'm a cab driver, not a bounty hunter."
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown / int_658854ee	featureApplicability	1.0
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown / int_658854ee	featureConfidence	1.0
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown	hasFeature	Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown / int_658854ee
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown / int_6e27397	type	Missed Him by That Much
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown / int_6e27397	comment	Missed Him by That Much: Pepa misses Ivan by seconds as she's leaving his apartment building, then Ivan misses her by seconds, and then Ivan doesn't notice her in a phone booth as he passes it.
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown / int_6e27397	featureApplicability	1.0
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown / int_6e27397	featureConfidence	1.0
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Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown / int_7a265daa	type	Eagleland
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown / int_7a265daa	comment	Eagleland: When Ivan muses "some things are distinctly American," there's a shot of a majorette twirling a baton.
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown / int_7a265daa	featureApplicability	1.0
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown / int_7a265daa	featureConfidence	1.0
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Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown / int_7d3f1d63	type	The Ending Changes Everything
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown / int_7d3f1d63	comment	The Ending Changes Everything: Everyone thinks that Pepa is acting erratically while trying to track down Ivan, given her spiking the gazpacho with sleeping pills. Carlos comments on her breaking the phone the second time. She then reveals to Marisa that she's pregnant and decided not to get back together with the father of her child. It puts her behavior in a new light.
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown / int_7d3f1d63	featureApplicability	1.0
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Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown / int_860a1362	type	Break-Up Bonfire
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown / int_860a1362	comment	Breakup Bonfire: Pepa sets fire to a goddamn bed with hers and Ivan's memorabilia on it.
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown / int_860a1362	featureApplicability	1.0
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown / int_860a1362	featureConfidence	1.0
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown	hasFeature	Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown / int_860a1362
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown / int_98591d23	type	Speech Impediment
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown / int_98591d23	comment	Speech Impediment: Carlos has a stammer.
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown / int_98591d23	featureApplicability	1.0
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown / int_98591d23	featureConfidence	1.0
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Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown / int_9d12bbc1	type	Foreshadowing
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown / int_9d12bbc1	comment	Foreshadowing: Done several times during the film: The daily news shown in Pepa's television report some Shia terrorists have been captured by the police, but a Spanish accomplice still unknown. Said accomplice is Candela, although unwittingly. Pepa is shown fainting several times and picks up some test results from her doctor, which Carlos eventually reads and immediately grows concerned for her health afterwards. She is pregnant, as she reveals in the last scene. Paulina Morales, the lawyer, is extremely rude to Pepa although she has just met her. She's Ivan's new girlfriend, and while Pepa isn't aware of her identity, she knows who Pepa is instead.
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown / int_9d12bbc1	featureApplicability	1.0
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Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown / int_ab8e26e2	type	Slipping a Mickey
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown / int_ab8e26e2	comment	Slipping a Mickey: Pepa mixes up sleeping pills in her gazpacho. Later, Marisa finds the gazpacho in the fridge and eats some. She passes out in Pepa's kitchen, and after that, Pepa uses it to get the cops out of the way.
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown / int_ab8e26e2	featureApplicability	1.0
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Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown / int_b5b3599d	type	Amoral Attorney
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown / int_b5b3599d	comment	Amoral Attorney: Paulina Morales seems to be this way. She refuses to take Candela as a client when Pepa asks her for help, saying that the best thing Candela can do is turn herself in, even though Pepa knows that Candela needs legal representation.
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown / int_b5b3599d	featureApplicability	1.0
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Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown / int_b7b0c10d	type	Phone-Trace Race
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown / int_b7b0c10d	comment	Phone-Trace Race: In order to foil the hijacking without getting Candela involved, Carlos makes an emergency report and then slams the phone down before the cops can trace the call. As it turns out, he overestimated how hard it was to trace a call.
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown / int_b7b0c10d	featureApplicability	1.0
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Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown / int_bba9ea51	type	Good Stepmother
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown / int_bba9ea51	comment	Good Stepmother: Pepa is thrilled to learn that Ivan has a son and is very affectionate to him when she unexpectedly has the chance to know him. After all, she almost was his stepmother and is pregnant with Carlos' half-brother.
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown / int_bba9ea51	featureApplicability	1.0
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Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown / int_bf1255fa	type	Really Gets Around
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown / int_bf1255fa	comment	Really Gets Around: Deconstructed with Ivan. He dallies with various women and dumps them cruelly. It comes back to bite him when one of those women decides to kill him, and his most recent ex-lover, who saves him, finally realizes he's not worth it and doesn't take him back afterwards.
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown / int_bf1255fa	featureApplicability	1.0
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown / int_bf1255fa	featureConfidence	1.0
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Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown / int_c75df49a	type	Shout-Out
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown / int_c75df49a	comment	Shout-Out: Pepa does the Spanish dub for Joan Crawford In Johnny Guitar. The scene where Pepa is staking out Ivan's apartment from outside the building is reminiscent of Rear Window, to the point there's even a character similar to "Miss Torso" from the original film. Almodovar has said the idea of a woman waiting for her lover to call was taken from Jean Cocteau's play The Human Voice (which Almodovar would later make a short film of with Tilda Swinton). The scene of Ivan walking down a hallway and women throwing himself at him when he asks is similar to a dream sequence in Chloe in the Afternoon when Frederic imagines the same thing happening to him.
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown / int_c75df49a	featureApplicability	1.0
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Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown / int_dc579c91	type	Contrived Coincidence
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown / int_dc579c91	comment	Contrived Coincidence: Madrid's a big city but Carlos can still arrive completely at random at his father's lover's apartment. Pepa calls a taxi three times. She always comes across the same driver.
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown / int_dc579c91	featureApplicability	1.0
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Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown / int_e91cc721	type	In the Style of
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown / int_e91cc721	comment	In the Style of: Almodovar has said in interviews the movie is a modern-day version of a Hollywood Screwball Comedy.
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown / int_e91cc721	featureApplicability	1.0
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Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown / int_e933b1f7	type	Follow That Car
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown / int_e933b1f7	comment	Follow That Car: Pepa gets into a cab and says "Follow that cab." The driver replies, "I thought this only happened in the movies." Later, she asks the same driver to follow the bike that Lucía has hijacked.
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown / int_e933b1f7	featureApplicability	1.0
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Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown / int_ec40626	type	Love Martyr
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown / int_ec40626	comment	Love Martyr: A common theme is that Love Hurts. Candela falls in love with a man that is revealed to be a Shia terrorist, and Pepa has been hurt and stood up by Ivan, a womanizer and deadbeat dad, countless times.
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Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown / int_ed503b22	type	Match Cut
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown / int_ed503b22	comment	Match Cut: From the movie reel that Ivan is dubbing counting down, to the clock by Pepa's bed.
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The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown	hasFeature	Freeze-Frame Ending / int_bff788c6
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown	hasFeature	Psycho Ex-Girlfriend / int_bff788c6
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown	hasFeature	The Joy of X / int_bff788c6

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