Pain and Glory (soundtrack)

Pain and Glory is Alberto Iglesias' eleventh collaboration with director Pedro Almodóvar since 1995.^[1] Iglesias recalled that Almodóvar mentioned water, while he mentioned light and asked him to travel to the past.^[2] Iglesias considered the film to be important as it was asking him more difficult questions and Almodóvar besides him through the whole process, helped him and opened to new possibilities. Focusing on the plot, Iglesias worked on familiar themes of love, loss, desire and regret, adding that the music had to tell the truth and being true to the story.^[3][4]

Jazz Tangcay of Awards Daily wrote "Plaintive clarinets in Alberto Iglesias' score whisk us back in time to the '60s."^[5] Peter Debruge of Variety called it the best score from Iglesias.^[6] Mark Kermode of The Guardian wrote "Alberto Iglesias's lovely score perfectly matches the shifting tones of the drama: the warmth of the early childhood scenes, the poignancy of Jacinta's last days, the tensions and anxieties of Salvador's suspended life."^[7] Nick Hasted of The Arts Desk felt it to be "sparely ambient".^[8] Donald Clarke of The Irish Times wrote "Alberto Iglesias's score wheezes its way to a melancholy tinged with mischievousness."^[9] Pete Hammond of Deadline Hollywood wrote "Frequent colleague Albert Iglesias contributes his most lyrical musical score yet."^[10] Eric Kohn of IndieWire called it a "wondrous score".^[11] Peter Travers of Rolling Stone called it "a supremely lovely score by Alberto Iglesias".^[12]