New York Opens Arms for 'Broken Embraces'

Closing night at New York Film Festival. Penelope Cruz; Pedro Almodovar; Mara Manus, Andrea Illy, and Richard Pena; Donald Newhouse, Si Newhouse, and Susan Newhouse // Photos by Amanda Gordon

"Good evening, fellow elitists," Richard Pena, program director of the New York Film Festival, said tonight in Alice Tully Hall, addressing some of the criticism of this year's festival with good humor. The audience approved, and it was on to the highlight of the festival: Pedro Almodovar's "Broken Embraces." Mr. Pena recalled that 22 years ago, the festival opened with the Spanish director's "Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown." "That was the film that brought him to a much larger audience, and made a household name of him, if your household was an art house," Mr. Pena said. Since then, Mr. Almodovar has returned to the festival several times. But after tonight, his next big New York night will likely be on Broadway: "Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown" is being turned into a musical, directed by Bartlett Sher, and is scheduled for a spring opening.