Film and Media Studies Commons^™

Rewriting Rendell: Pedro Almodóvar's "Carne Trémula", Linda M. Willem

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

The 1997 film Carne trémula has been lauded within as well as outside of Spain as one of Pedro Almodóvar's best works. Critics on both sides of the Atlantic also have noted that this film marks a departure from Almodóvar's previous style, not only because of its tighter plotline and greater psychological depth, but also because Almodóvar's treatment of his material is more serious, less self-indulgent, and openly political. Russell Smith has suggested that the film's narrative coherence may be attributed in part to Almodóvar's use of Ruth Rendell's novel, Live Flesh (1998), as the basis for his script. This …