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"The first book that really made an impression was The Story of Dr. Doolittle by Hugh Lofting. An English country doctor who lived in Puddleby-on-the-Marsh who was taught how to speak to animals by his parrot, Polynesia. His amazing household ranging from Jip, the dog and Whitey the white mouse to Dab Dab the duck who took over as housekeeper when the Doctor’s sister left in a huff because he would have animals in the house and she found mice nesting in her linen cupboard…Mum got it for me from the library – we could not afford new books. I read it at least twice before it had to go back. In fact I loved it so much that Danny (my grandmother, with whom Mum, my sister Judy and I went to live after war broke out and my father joined up in the army) gave it to me as a great treat for Christmas, 1944. It was one of the most exciting presents I remember – my very own book!"

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Awix (3310 KP) rated Dark Habits (Entre tinieblas) (1983) in Movies

May 4, 2020

Dark Habits (Entre tinieblas) (1983)

1983 | Comedy, International

6.0

(1 Ratings)

Movie Rating

Rather uneven comedy melodrama from very early in Pedro Almodovar's career. A cabaret singer hides out in a convent; the Mother Superior has a heroin habit, the nuns have names like Sister Manure and Sister Sewer Rat, one of them writes schlocky bestsellers on the quiet and another keeps a pet tiger in the convent gardens.

Apparently intended as a critique of the anachronism of organised religion in modern Spain, and to begin with the film's various provocations are diverting and amusing, but the jokes dry up after a while and any serious points the film is making get lost in all the silliness. The fact the main character is played by a non-actress does not help. The plot is the kind of mixture of deep emotion and absurd contrivance that Almodovar has built a career on, but at this point he was yet to master making you invest in it and care about the characters. Kind of diverting and interestingly weird in places, but clearly the work of a director still paying his dues.