, 1h42 Directed byPedro Almodóvar OriginEspagne GenresDrama, Romance ThemesFilms about writers ActorsMarisa Paredes, Carme Elias, Rossy de Palma, Juan Echanove, Chus Lampreave, Kiti Mánver Rating69% Marisa Paredes is Leocadia ("Leo") Macias, a woman writing popular romance novels under the pen name Amanda Gris. Unlike her romantic ("pink") novels, her own love life is troubled. Leo has a difficult relationship with her husband Paco (Imanol Arias), a military officer stationed in Brussels and later in Bosnia, who is distant both physically and emotionally. The film starts with Leo writing about the feeling of having lost her lover, a feeling that she compares to the pain of a tight pair of boots that she can't take off. Almodovar took for this first part of the film strong plot elements from Dorothy Parker's short story The Lovely Leave