Pain and Glory Channels Inner Nostalgia

The 2019 Spanish language drama, Pain and Glory, tells of a series of reencounters experienced by Salvador Mallo, a film director in his physical decline. A few of these moments come in the flesh while some are only remembered: his childhood in the 60s, when he emigrated with his parents to a village in Valencia in search of prosperity, the first desire, his first adult love in the Madrid of the 80s, the pain of the breakup of that love while it was still alive and intense, writing as the only therapy to forget the unforgettable, the early discovery of cinema, and the void, the infinite void created by the incapacity to keep on making films.

Lead actor of the film, Antonio Banderas, was presented with the International Star Award at the 31st Annual Palm Springs International Film Festival Awards Gala this year for his performance in Pain and Glory.

Pain and Glory talks about creation, about the difficulty of separating it from one’s own life and about the passions that give it meaning and hope. In recovering his past, Salvador finds the urgent need to recount it, and in that need he also finds his salvation.