Words by Sean Wilson

Parallel Mothers, or Madres Paralelas to use the original Spanish title, is the latest movie by Pedro Almodóvar. The leading light of contemporary Spanish cinema, Almodóvar’s characteristic splashes of colour, bold melodramatic flourishes, and upfront depictions of sexuality, particularly female sexuality, has yielded a near-unbroken run of artistic success.

The film contrasts the destinies of two very different women: Penélope Cruz’s Janis and Milena Smit’s Ana. Having both given birth at the same time, the two women decide to keep in touch with one another. What then unspools is a quintessential Almodóvar concoction, one that revels in contrivance and a heightened atmosphere while also eliciting a fine performance from the director’s muse, Cruz.

Another mainstay of Almodóvar’s films is composer Alberto Iglesias whose association with the director stretches back to the 1990s. Iglesias’ music is as supple and inventive as Almodóvar’s camerawork is tactile and luscious, sensuously plucking away at our sympathies and our nerves with tightly wound string ensembles and tasteful allusions to Spanish musical tradition.

Oscar nominee Iglesias reunites with Almodóvar for Parallel Mothers. In fact, the score has yielded his fourth Oscar nomination, his first for an Almodóvar collaboration and his first for a Spanish-language film, a historic moment in itself. The composer credits the legacy of one pioneering film composer in particular whom, he explains, helped pave the way for the sort of psychologically-oriented film music heard in Almodóvar’s films.

“Debussy and Stravinsky were the composers who opened my mind to write,” Iglesias explains. “Then I came to film music. My first connection with the creation of film music was Bernard Herrmann. That entire generation of film composers, including Herrmann, was a very important influence on the modern generation. They became the narrators of the story. 

“I liked very much how Herrmann’s music was based in the expressionist tradition. Yet he was also his own person. Herrmann influenced all film composers. There’s a desire to be oneself while also absorbing the ‘river’ that flows down from the past.”

Iglesias first encountered Almodóvar in the mid-1990s when the filmmaker, in the composer’s words, “was trying to change himself and make a new kind of film.” Little did Iglesias know at the time that this would be the genesis of one of the most fruitful and enduring director/composer partnerships in the history of cinema. 

“The leader of the story is the director, but the director is also trying to listen to the film,” Iglesias says. “So, my task is to connect with the director and to learn as fast as possible what the film is trying to say to the public. When [Almodóvar] called me, I felt the responsibility because he was a very famous director with a style and a tendency to create an entire world. He was a big artist, but one who was trying to change and try new things, and bearing that in mind, we became very close immediately.

“We’ve made 13 films together, and admiration is a very good basis for drawing people together. It’s part of the friendship. I have a big admiration for his style, for his fight to create a better society. Making his films, we discover the fight for change and a lot of other beautiful things. I’m proud to be beside him. 

“Sometimes my music runs in parallel with what is happening. Other times, it’s a little mirror on the world. I try to play in different moods. Like in a football game, I can go to the left, to the middle, I try to move around. I try to find creativity and locate the music in different points around the story.”

As with all of Iglesias’ scores for Almodóvar, the microtonal, intensely expressive range of the string section is utilised to express multifaceted character nuance. Given that the movie juggles disparate elements including the birth mother plot and the wide-ranging political examination of the Spanish Civil War, Iglesias was tasked with scoring a uniquely feminist movie that extends its broad sweep in several different directions.

“Whether played together or alone, strings are, for me, very closely connected to the suggestion of things,” he says. “I used two types of string ensemble for this film. One is a string quintet, and the other is a bigger string orchestra with piano, plus two or three woodwinds. With that contrast between the lightness of the single quintet and the string orchestra, I tried to build a language.”

Choices are intrinsically tied to cultural and gender associations, which further helps embolden Almodóvar’s empowering feminist narrative. At the same time, the universality of certain musical choices, plus the enduring influence of Hollywood’s Golden Age of film music, also meshes with the specificity of Spain’s musical culture.

“There is an element connected with vital force, the female force. Motherness,” the composer says. “I tried to establish this vital force at the beginning with the tambourines. The tambourine is a female instrument in the Spanish tradition. Even in Asia and Africa, it’s an instrument that is traditionally played by a woman, and even made by women. There are two tambourine players used at the start of the film. In a way, it reflects the parallelism, the force between the two mothers. I spun this arc as the vital force from the start to the end of the film when we arrive at the mass grave. It’s a trip from life to death. I know some songs from the years of the Spanish Civil War and they are in the score but on a secondary level. I tried not to make a statement with the use of those songs.

“There’s also a connection with the fandango, which is a style of music from the Spanish tradition. I don’t strictly follow this influence but it’s a part of my musicality. There are also lullabies at some points. Also, there is the use of suspense music, which connects me with Herrmann and the music from the 1930s. There’s a moment in the film where Janis thinks she knows the truth or part of the truth, but she doesn’t yet. So that moment is a suspended moment. I combined three or maybe four elements to bring us closer to the notion of death, and this appears in the middle of the film and at the end. In all of Almodóvar’s films, the music is in sync with the narration. The music doesn’t describe the characters but their problems, which lie at the core of the film.”

The score for Parallel Mothers is supple and tightly coiled around the neuroses of its contrasting central characters. However, as with many successful film scores, it must work hard not to impose too aggressively on the narrative. On the subject of when to lead with a score and when to hold back, a key element of the ‘spotting’ process, Iglesias deploys a wonderful metaphor.

“In Spain, we have a river where at one point, it disappears, and it then re-appears again 10 miles later. Film music has to be connected with the audience, not constantly, but having a pause or intermittence. The art of making music is how to be relevant at the moment, whether to act as a shadow or cast light on things.”

We then touch on the controversial 2022 Oscars decision to pre-tape the Best Original Score category, as opposed to broadcasting it live. Although it may seem like a slap in the face to artists like Iglesias, not to mention the wider art of film music, the genial composer expresses a magnanimous attitude. 

“It’s a pity because it’s all of us, not just composers, but editors and the best filmmakers,” he says. “I don’t know what we can do, but the Academy says they won’t change. They say it’s a necessity for the audience. At the same time, I’m happy to be in the same position as the other categories. I’m very happy [to be excluded] alongside the editors, with the filmmakers who make short films, every one. It’s a good team to be in!” 

Iglesias says he’s anticipating working on Pedro Almodóvar’s new film. Adapted from Lucia Berlin’s book A Manual for Cleaning Women, it’s set to be the director’s English-language debut, and will star Oscar winner Cate Blanchett. The composer lauds “the beautiful script” that Almodóvar has spun from the source material, and we anticipate the surely joyous musical tapestry that will spring from this ongoing collaboration.