Director Pedro Almodovar’s film “Julieta” to represent Spain at the Oscars

Film director Pedro Almodovar’s latest movie has been chosen by Spain’s Film Academy on Wednesday as its representative at this year’s Academy Awards in the category of Best Foreign Language Film.

“Julieta,” which opened in Spain on April 8, has _ according to most reviews _ a tantalizingly complex plot woven around three stories penned by Canadian writer Alice Munro, winner of the 2013 Nobel Prize in Literature.

Spanish actresses Emma Suárez and Adriana Ugarte play mother and daughter on typicallystylish locations and sets, with tolling bells a running theme: one British critic noted their recurrence throughout the film, from wedding bells to alarm bells.

Almodovar’s film beat two other finalists, “El olivo” (“The Olive Tree”) by Icíar Bollaín and “La novia” (“The Bride”) by Paula Ortiz, for a chance to represent Spain at the 89th edition of the Oscars.

The renowned Spanish filmmaker has previously won the coveted prize on two occasions: with “Todo sobre mi madre” (“All About My Mother”), which won the Best Foreign Language Film award in 2000, and “Hable con ella” (“Talk to Her”), which took the gilded statuette for Best Original Screenplay in 2003.

Almodovar, 66, has this year been awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Oxford; additionally, New York’s Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is to dedicate a retrospective to him this coming winter season.