SALON

Wednesday, Jun 26, 2013 7:53 PM UTC

“I’m So Excited!”: An air disaster, made fabulous

Celebrate gay pride with Pedro Almodóvar -- and an outrageous sex, drugs and death party on board a doomed plane

By

Topics: Movies, Our Picks, Our Picks: Movies, Comedy, LGBT, Gay Rights, Pedro Almodovar, penelope cruz, I'm So Excited!,

There’s close to zero explicit political content in Pedro Almodóvar’s “I’m So Excited!”, but in its own way the veteran Spanish filmmaker’s latest work is the perfect way to celebrate a landmark week for the cause of freedom and equality. A romantic and erotic fantasy largely set among the passengers and crew of a possibly doomed airplane (the Spanish title is simply “Los amantes pasajeros”), “I’m So Excited!” deliberately recalls the exuberant and outrageous cinema that first put Almodóvar, and the hedonistic cultural scene of post-Franco Spain, on the global map in the early ‘80s.

But Almodóvar isn’t just flashing back, retro-style, to the era of “Pepi, Luci, Bom” and “What Have I Done to Deserve This?” He’s also returning to a core principle of that era and of his work, which is that human sexuality, as much as it drives us crazy and makes us do stupid things, is also a force for the liberation of the human soul. And while I’m certain that Almodóvar would reject any suggestion that he sees gay sexuality as in any way superior to the hetero variety – he’s happy to depict characters of every possible orientation as ridiculous, despicable and/or irresistible – this movie is a no-apologies, flat-out celebration of gayness. If that celebration always carries with it more than a hint of self-mockery, as in the hideous but meticulous livery and design of Peninsula Airlines or the karaoke number performed by three male flight attendants that gives the movie its English title (while mostly irritating the passengers), that too is a crucial ingredient of the queer-cinema aesthetic.

One way of viewing “I’m So Excited!” is to suggest that Almodóvar simply needed to recharge his batteries after a run of more serious recent films that began with “All About My Mother” in 1999, includes the near-masterpieces “Talk to Her,” “Bad Education” and “Volver,” and ran off the rails a little with the Frankensteinian Gothic fable “The Skin I Live In.” At least on the surface, this movie is lighter in tone and slighter of ambition than anything he’s made since the early ‘90s, and is also loaded with in-jokes and references to Almodóvar’s earlier work. We begin, in fact, with a sketch comedy episode featuring Antonio Banderas and Penélope Cruz as incompetent runway workers at the Madrid airport – they’ve both appeared numerous times in Almodóvar films, but never together.

Because those two are more focused on each other than the job they’re supposed to be doing – such is the power of love! – Peninsula Flight 2549, supposedly en route to Mexico City, is in big trouble. The macho, men-of-few-words pilots, Alex (Antonio de la Torre) and Benito (Hugo Silva), may have to pull off a treacherous emergency landing that could break the plane apart. What better time to discuss Alex’s bisexual love triangle, involving his wife and Joserra (Javier Cámara), the plane’s chief steward? Or for Benito to reveal the true extent of his experiments in fellatio, which seem (as it were) to be deepening all the time? (Almodóvar has made clear that this movie has no pretensions toward realism when it comes to air safety or anything else. If you want to go ahead and be offended by it, I’m sure he’ll be delighted.)

Those two at least are flying the plane, and not drinking quite as much whiskey, tequila and wine as Joserra and his fellow flight attendants, the plump and judgmental Fajas (Carlos Areces) and the impeccably coiffed, resolutely ironic Ulloa (Raúl Arévalo). No straight director could ever get away with depicting a trio of male flight attendants as a pack of effeminate queens, but even in the restricted airspace of this movie, Almodóvar works his magic: These three may begin as a sort of comical, über-gay Greek chorus, but by the end of the movie they are individuals, as flawed and tragic as the rest of us.

Whether you want to see those guys as the Three Fates or the witches from Macbeth – and whether you want to see them in their slightly too tight baby-blue-trimmed-with-red uniform shirts at all – the flight attendants serve as commentators on the Chaucerian ensemble of business-class passengers, some of whom face fates that almost make dying in an air disaster look attractive. There’s a notorious madam and dominatrix (longtime Almodóvar pal Cecilia Roth, who starred in “All About My Mother,” “Labyrinth of Passion” and other films), who may be the target of a hitman — and finds herself drawn to the suave Mexican stranger (José María Yazpik) sitting next to her. There’s a crooked businessman (José Luis Torrijo), who’s trying to flee with his ill-gotten millions, but would give it all up to get his estranged daughter back. There’s the soap-opera Lothario (Guillermo Toledo) who has jilted zillions of women but got dumped by the only one he ever loved.

As the booze, rampant sex and smuggled drug-mule mescaline tablets (yes, you do know where those have been and how they got on board) push the party to fever pitch, and the flight attendants’ galley seems to expand to infinite size, like Doctor Who’s time machine, there’s also the matter of the virginal psychic. Lola Dueñas, one of my all-time favorites in the Almodóvar arsenal of odd-looking beautiful women, roams the plane in a too-prim dress and slightly outdated hairstyle, cheerfully announcing to everyone that she can see the future and that this is the day she will finally get laid. She’s right about that last part, anyway, although I’m not sure psychic abilities are involved. “I’m So Excited!” ends on a note of metaphysical doubt that leaves us unclear whether the passengers have returned to Spain or traveled on to a more distant destination. Like them, we’re all on an ambiguous journey toward uncertain freedom, trying to work it all out as best we can before it’s too late.

“I’m So Excited!” opens this week in New York and Los Angeles. It opens July 5 in Chicago, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose, Calif., and Washington; July 12 in Boston, Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Miami, Phoenix and Santa Cruz, Calif.; July 19 in Atlanta, Baltimore, Dallas, Denver, Houston, Minneapolis, Naples, Fla., Philadelphia, Portland, Ore., Sarasota, Fla., and Seattle; and July 26 in Boulder, Colo., Cincinnati, Cleveland, Detroit, Eugene, Ore., Hartford, Conn., Honolulu, Milwaukee, Nashville, New Haven, Conn., Palm Springs, Calif., Sacramento, Calif., St. Louis and Austin, Texas, with more cities to follow.

Andrew O

More Andrew O'Hehir.

You Might Also Like

More Related Stories

Featured Slide Shows

7 motorist-friendly camping sites

close X
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 9

Sponsored Post

  • White River National Forest via Lower Crystal Lake, Colorado
    For those OK with the mainstream, White River Forest welcomes more than 10 million visitors a year, making it the most-visited recreation forest in the nation. But don’t hate it for being beautiful; it’s got substance, too. The forest boasts 8 wilderness areas, 2,500 miles of trail, 1,900 miles of winding service system roads, and 12 ski resorts (should your snow shredders fit the trunk space). If ice isn’t your thing: take the tire-friendly Flat Tops Trail Scenic Byway — 82 miles connecting the towns of Meeker and Yampa, half of which is unpaved for you road rebels.
    fs.usda.gov/whiteriveryou


    Image credit: Getty

  • Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest via Noontootla Creek, Georgia
    Boasting 10 wildernesses, 430 miles of trail and 1,367 miles of trout-filled stream, this Georgia forest is hailed as a camper’s paradise. Try driving the Ridge and Valley Scenic Byway, which saw Civil War battles fought. If the tall peaks make your engine tremble, opt for the relatively flat Oconee National Forest, which offers smaller hills and an easy trail to the ghost town of Scull Shoals. Scaredy-cats can opt for John’s Mountain Overlook, which leads to twin waterfalls for the sensitive sightseer in you.
    fs.usda.gov/conf


    Image credit: flickr/chattoconeenf

  • Nordhouse Dunes Wilderness Area via Green Road, Michigan
    The only national forest in Lower Michigan, the Huron-Mainstee spans nearly 1 million acres of public land. Outside the requisite lush habitat for fish and wildlife on display, the Nordhouse Dunes Wilderness Area is among the biggest hooks for visitors: offering beach camping with shores pounded by big, cerulean surf. Splash in some rum and you just might think you were in the Caribbean.
    fs.usda.gov/hmnf


    Image credit: umich.edu

  • Canaan Mountain via Backcountry Canaan Loop Road, West Virginia
    A favorite hailed by outdoorsman and author Johnny Molloy as some of the best high-country car camping sites anywhere in the country, you don’t have to go far to get away. Travel 20 miles west of Dolly Sods (among the busiest in the East) to find the Canaan Backcountry (for more quiet and peace). Those willing to leave the car for a bit and foot it would be remiss to neglect day-hiking the White Rim Rocks, Table Rock Overlook, or the rim at Blackwater River Gorge.
    fs.usda.gov/mnf


    Image credit: Getty

  • Mt. Rogers NRA via Hurricane Creek Road, North Carolina
    Most know it as the highest country they’ll see from North Carolina to New Hampshire. What they may not know? Car campers can get the same grand experience for less hassle. Drop the 50-pound backpacks and take the highway to the high country by stopping anywhere on the twisting (hence the name) Hurricane Road for access to a 15-mile loop that boasts the best of the grassy balds. It’s the road less travelled, and the high one, at that.
    fs.usda.gov/gwj


    Image credit: wikipedia.org

  • Long Key State Park via the Overseas Highway, Florida
    Hiking can get old; sometimes you’d rather paddle. For a weekend getaway of the coastal variety and quieter version of the Florida Keys that’s no less luxe, stick your head in the sand (and ocean, if snorkeling’s your thing) at any of Long Key’s 60 sites. Canoes and kayaks are aplenty, as are the hot showers and electric power source amenities. Think of it as the getaway from the typical getaway.
    floridastateparks.org/longkey/default.cfm


    Image credit: floridastateparks.org

  • Grand Canyon National Park via Crazy Jug Point, Arizona
    You didn’t think we’d neglect one of the world’s most famous national parks, did you? Nor would we dare lead you astray with one of the busiest parts of the park. With the Colorado River still within view of this cliff-edge site, Crazy Jug is a carside camper’s refuge from the troops of tourists. Find easy access to the Bill Hall Trail less than a mile from camp, and descend to get a peek at the volcanic Mt. Trumbull. (Fear not: It’s about as active as your typical lazy Sunday in front of the tube, if not more peaceful.)
    fs.usda.gov/kaibab


    Image credit: flickr/Irish Typepad

  • As the go-to (weekend) getaway car for fiscally conscious field trips with friends, the 2013 MINI Convertible is your campground racer of choice, allowing you and up to three of your co-pilots to take in all the beauty of nature high and low. And with a fuel efficiency that won’t leave you in the latter, you won’t have to worry about being left stranded (or awkwardly asking to go halfsies on gas expenses).


    Image credit: miniusa.com

  • Recent Slide Shows

  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 9

Related Videos

Comments

Loading Comments...

follow salon

Most Read

Popular on Reddit

links from salon.com

vote
We crush them with debt to go to college -- and today, rates are actually set to double. Are we out of our minds?
3281 points3282 points | 4075 comments
vote
Before Edward Snowden: “Sexual deviates” and the NSA - When the last major defection hit the NSA, the government smeared the leakers as gay. New documents show they lied
2684 points2685 points | 187 comments
vote
This man is still lying to America: A smoking gun shows Director of National Intelligence James Clapper is not coming clean to us -- again
770 points771 points | 43 comments
vote
We must hate our children. We crush them with debt to go to college -- and today, rates are actually set to double. Are we out of our minds?
112 points113 points | 17 comments
vote
James Clapper is still lying to America
84 points85 points | comment

From Around the Web

Presented by Scribol
listener_new_rect The Listener: "The Joker": Laughing at life's deepest sorrows