By the time he reached the mid-1980s, Pedro Almodóvar already had three mildly successful but widely appreciated comedies and several short films, which made him a name recognized by those with a penchant for alternative art, specifically within his native Spain, where he came to be known as someone of a high-level provocateur, but someone who was more at home amongst underground audiences, never having intentions of appeasing the mainstream, who generally seemed to detest his style of ruffling feathers without any hesitation. However, it was What Have I Done to Deserve This? (Spanish: ¿Qué he hecho yo para merecer esto!) that had the most substantial impact on his reputation, being his first film to be given a wider global release, which suddenly launched his perverse sense of humour to audiences around the world. There is an argument to be made that this is his first bona fide masterpiece, which is a sentiment that is difficult to argue against when we realize that absolutely everything that we appreciate from Almodóvar as a filmmaker – stories that skirt around the edges of bad taste, eccentric performances from a sprawling cast composed of some extraordinary women, and a general sense of sharp social satire that feels genuinely fresh and unlike anything we had seen previously – have their roots in these early works, which serve to be the foundation on which the director could experiment with form and content, seeing what worked in context and what he could appropriately show without becoming too morally corrupt. In this film, we find that several intricate details populate this story, particularly in how he attempts to make a film about social decorum, but one that unravels these tightly wound conventions and presents them as indicators of societal decline, a subject that we find scattered through a lot of his work, and which was usually most biting in these jagged dark comedies that not only broke the rules but rewrote them entirely.

Almodóvar has remarked that What Have I Done to Deserve This? has its roots within Italian Neo-Realism, a movement that heavily influenced quite a bit of art in Europe and beyond, for several decades, with the bleak outlook and dedication towards sincerity and authenticity being a much-needed balm as Europe emerged from the ashes of the war. Naturally, this is meant in the same way that Dark Habits was influenced by Robert Bresson, or Labyrinth of Passion by Billy Wilder (or the likes of Douglas Sirk, who would factor into some of his later films), wherein the film is made as a heightened, almost deranged version of a nightmare as envisioned by these more elegant filmmakers, who Almodóvar considers to be his artistic heroes, even though they were not entirely aligned with his vision. To be clear, unlike some of his predecessors and contemporaries within the underground and alternative film movements, there is a method to Almodóvar’s madness, with his story having a clear structure, rather than just being compressed chaos. At the core, this film has a straightforward story about a working-class family struggling to make ends meet – this is the foundation of the film, and having a more straightforward narrative allowed the director the space to insert wild, offbeat elements that take the film in a dozen different directions, but yet everything remains well-aligned with the underlying narrative, never being too incomprehensible, and where every peculiar choice was deliberate and placed there by a director who was actively attempting to show a different side of society. Much like the films that influenced it, What Have I Done to Deserve This? is a film that uses imagery to convey certain messages, and Almodóvar’s research allowed for some genuinely fascinating references that make this film as much a tribute to Neo-Realism as it is a parody, which makes for quite a rich, evocative comedy that has enough depth and nuance to hold every moment of our attention, even if it isn’t quite logical enough for those seeking something more conventional – but very rarely does anyone approach an Almodóvar film with the expectation that it will be anything other than a lavish, complex character study.

From the start of his career, Almodóvar has appreciated the merits of being a good actor, and he has populated his films with countless iconic performers, who are collectively known as the “Chicas Almodóvar”, his recurring coterie of brilliant women that defined his career and assisted in making him one of the most notable directors of his generation, while also establishing themselves as incredible talents. They all have their incredible gifts, but perhaps the quintessential representative of this group is Carmen Maura, who is often seen as the ideal version of the kind of actor that the director enjoys collaborating with, regardless of the project. What Have I Done to Deserve This? is the third collaboration between the pair, and while it may not be the best (which was still to come only a few years later), it is unquestionably one of the most creative. The reason why Maura in particular has stood out as one of the more memorable performers in the director’s regular ensemble is that she seems to possess very few inhibitions, and will do whatever Almodóvar asks, knowing that it will ultimately have a purpose – and playing a woman whose sanity gradually erodes as a result of the challenges she faces from her annoying family, as well as her growing sense of self-worth, she is just extraordinary. Veronica Forque and Chus Lampreave have memorable roles as the eccentric prostitute who befriends Maura and the most deranged mother-in-law captured in film since Cinderella, and the use of a variety of relatively unknown bit players and one-scene actors helps set the foundation of this story, developing the film to be something much more complex than we initially imagined. Almodóvar always makes great use of an ensemble, and this film contains some of the most unsettlingly brilliant performances we have seen in quite a while, and proves to be far more intriguing when we see how these wildly strange performances are put together and influence one another to create this masterpiece of controlled chaos.

Understanding the appeal of What Have I Done to Deserve This?, as well as how it came to be seen as one of the director’s first major international successes (within reason – if anything, it only boosted his profile amongst alternative audiences around the world), lies in decoding exactly what it does so well. Primarily, this is a film that presents a very common story, but instead of following conventions, Almodóvar reworks it to be a resounding feminist statement, which has often been a recurring theme in his films. This is a film about female empowerment, but the kind that starts within, and where the people spearheading this movement do so from the inside, fighting against abusive husbands who believe women should be at their beck and call. The director has revisited these themes on numerous occasions (the impetus behind the story of Volver is eerily similar to the climax of this film, for example), but it’s here where they feel most revolutionary, solely because Almodóvar is not afraid to shock audiences or show us something unexpected. Considering his status as inarguably the definitive elder statesman of European cinema, it’s bewildering that he could make a film that not only contains themes such as domestic violence, spousal murder, prostitution and a range of taboo subjects that are even difficult to mention but to do so in a way where they’re amongst the most outrageously funny moments in this offbeat comedy. There are merits to pushing the boundaries of good taste, and the fact that Almodóvar does it without losing an iota of the unconventional sophistication with which he directs these films is incredible, being a deft act of taking the viewer on a harrowing but hilarious journey where we are suitably surprised by how far he is willing to go, but also appreciative of the fact that he knows when to show restraint, preventing it from becoming too uncomfortable of an experience, but rather one that pulls us in many different directions in creative and hilariously irreverent ways.

There are some moments where I consider What Have I Done to Deserve This? to be one of the funniest films ever made, and a personal peak for the director, who had already proven his skills as a profoundly gifted provocateur, but yet still found ways to surprise us with his solid, unconventional work.  The reasons for this are clear from the very beginning – the humour is razor-sharp and bitterly funny, being able to take broad jabs at society as a whole, coming across as equally biting and critical of the supposed social decorum that everyone is expected to follow. This is aided considerably by the performers, who follow the director’s vision, surrendering to his requests, secure in the knowledge that there was some purpose behind some of these absurd and ridiculous scenarios that he was concocting, fully aware that there was something special awaiting them on the other side, a principle that has drawn many actors into his inner circle. More than anything else, Almodóvar offers us something unique with this film – this was at the point where he was still considered an acquired taste as a director, and his films did not speak to broader audiences, since they circled complete taboo, and seemed designed to unsettle and disturb those who didn’t possess the same perverse sense of humour. Even forty years later, What Have I Done to Deserve This? still feels like a cutting-edge achievement, a strange and off-putting dark comedy with broad overtures of perversion and satirical repulsion, the fact that it managed to be so entertaining is quite remarkable. Yet, it’s difficult to resist its charms, and there is something extremely captivating about how Almodóvar pushes boundaries without crossing the very narrow line that overtakes moral decency, leading to a daring but otherwise wickedly entertaining comedy that knows when to stop, but still goes as far to the edge as it possibly could, this being the exact kind of fearlessness that has made Almodóvar one of our greatest living filmmakers.