Has the clown prince of Europe lost his sense of humour, both in his life and in his art?

Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar established his international reputation with ‘raucous farces’ such as What Have I Done to Deserve This? And Women On the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, writes Robert Chalmers in the Observer Magazine on 5 June 1994. His new film, Kika, features a porn star, a lesbian maid, a serial killer and a rape scene played as ‘knockabout comedy’, begging the question: has the clown prince of Europe lost his sense of humour, both in his life and in his art?

Holding court in his Madrid headquarters, the 42-year-old is ‘listless, withdrawn and miserable’. Reviews for Kika in Spain and France are poor. He has a bad toothache. The state of his nation is also causing him pain. ‘The economic position is bad,’ offers Almodóvar. ‘The social situation is bad. People are more afraid. I think the 90s have taken us all by surprise.’ The early 80s were different. Back then, ‘Spain was the most liberated country in the world.’