The Cleveland Cinematheque kicks off its two-week Pedro Almodóvar film retrospective at 7:30 tonight with the Spanish director’s greatest work, 1989’s Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown. It’s the highlight of Viva Pedro, an eight-film series that is now making its way around the country.

Almodóvar’s movies, which he also writes, balance the personal and political. Viva Pedro includes his rarely seen early works, Law of Desire (screening at 9:30 p.m. September 29 and 7:30 p.m. September 30) and Matador (9:30 p.m. September 30 and 4 p.m. October 1) — starring Antonio Banderas as a horny filmmaker and a horny bullfighter, respectively. Also on tap: brand-new prints of All About My Mother (5:30 p.m. tomorrow), The Flower of My Secret (4 p.m. Sunday), Talk to Her (7 p.m. Sunday), Live Flesh (7 p.m. September 28), and Bad Education (7 p.m. October 1).
Sept. 22-Oct. 1, 7:30 p.m.; Sat., Sept. 23, 5:30 p.m.; Sun., Sept. 24, 4 & 7 p.m.; Thu., Sept. 28, 7 p.m.; Fri., Sept. 29, 9:30 p.m.; Sat., Sept. 30, 7:30 p.m.; Sun., Oct. 1, 7 p.m.

This article appears in Sep 20-26, 2006.