Exploring the intertextual relationships in Pedro Almodóvar’s films based on Gérard Genett’s opinions

Pedro Almodóvar is a renowned and influential director in contemporary Spanish cinema whose works have a unique style and aesthetic presentation. Almodóvar has frequently stated that his films are inspired by various sources. This Spanish director drew inspiration for his works from various movies, TV programs, paintings, and literary works. Meanwhile, film references and scripts play an important role in his works, and he is one of the directors whose works incorporate a combination of such texts. Thus, “intertextuality” is one of the topics that can be properly examined in this Spanish filmmaker’s works. This research investigates intertextuality in Almodóvar’s works and answers the following question: “How are Pedro Almodóvar’s films created through their intertextual links with other films?” A descriptive-analytical method and comparative method were used to address this question. In addition, Gérard Genette’s theory of intertextuality has been used to analyze and categorize such intertextual relationships. The statistical population of this research consists of Almodóvar’s feature-length films produced during the 1980s, which are regarded as his most renowned works. The results demonstrate that the various cinematic texts mentioned by Almodóvar, such as cinematic excerpts, script titles, and cinematic allusions, within Genette’s theory take on the roles of para-texts, quotations, cinematic references, and inter- and intra-authorial allusions, which, in addition to their conventional functions, have a metaphorical function.