Pedro Almodóvar’s Pain and Glory — A Film About a Man with, Among Other Complaints, Tinnitus

[Peter Q]

Has anyone seen Pedro Almodovar's Dolor y Gloria (Pain and Glory)? It's a very good film which I have seen twice. First time at the cinema and then on TV. It's a film about a man with, among other complaints, tinnitus. Thematically it's a film about memory, grief and emotional blocks. Apparently the director himself has tinnitus.

Notes on tinnitus in Pedro Almodóvar's Pain and Glory (2019)

 

[Juan]

Pedro Almodóvar has hearing loss himself, and wears hearing aids. Maybe he has tinnitus too. It would be great if he could make a movie where hearing problems would be really central to the plot. It could be his real legacy to world cinema.

 

[Peter Q]

Pedro Almodóvar has hearing loss himself, and wears hearing aids. Maybe he has tinnitus too. It would be great if he could make a movie where hearing problems would be really central to the plot. It could be his real legacy to world cinema.

Juan, have you seen "Dolor y gloria"?

 

[Juan]

Juan, have you seen "Dolor y gloria"?

They showed it on TV and I watched a bit. I have not watched the full movie. I think it's more or less autobiographical in some aspects, it relates to Almodóvar's life. I know he has hearing problems since he was young, but maybe they are not that intrusive in his life or work, taking into account he is a director and maybe that's more visual.

Almodóvar's movies usually resort to recurring topics, and there is a certain colour to them, a certain aesthetic, the photography etc is kind of unique. They are not for everyone. To me they are aesthetically interesting, but the plots are strange and I am not really that interested in the topics Almodóvar focuses on...

Aesthetically I liked his movie "¿Qué he hecho yo para merecer esto?" (what have I done to deserve this? ... would be the translation). It's from the 80s... there's people learning kendo in the movie, which is just a bit out of place for Spain in the 80s...

There are other movies where hearing problems appear at some point, but they are not central to the plot, or openly discussed, let alone thoroughly discussed. These are some:

- Love & Mercy. On the Beach Boys and Brian Wilson.
- A Star is Born. There are some examples of tinnitus.

There is a movie called "Noise" from 2007, with Tim Robbins, which in theory describes hearing problems, and the movie poster actually showed a man wearing earmuffs. I haven't been able to find this movie yet, so I was not able to watch it.

A really good sequence on the effects of severe hyperacusis is actually shown in a war movie: the opening sequence of Saving Private Ryan, when they disembark on that beach and have to advance while being heavily bombed. There are sound effects that portray what a soldier hears in that situation, and that's just the ear reaction to hyperacusis and a very loud noise exposure.. muffled hearing, immediate tinnitus, etc.

 

[twa]

When I studied in Mexico one of my favorite things to do was to go to the movies. I thought it was an Almodóvar film but it was by Iñárritu. I thought he's not for me. I think it was the one about the famous model who was in a terrible car crash and how she adjusts to her disability.

@Juan, I saw the remake of "A Star Was Born" about a year or two before my acoustic trauma. I remember thinking that must be terrible to lose your hearing. At that point I thought only musicians or older people lost their hearing. I had never heard of an acoustic trauma from an everyday occurrence.