Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (1988)

Carmen Maura: Pepa

Photos 

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Quotes 

• Iván : How many men have you had to forget?

  Pepa : As many as the women you remember.

• Pepa : Hello. I'm the mother of the notorious Crossroads Killer. When my son comes home after one of his famous crimes, his clothes are just filthy.

  [Pepa holds up a bloody shirt. The police arrive] 

  Policía I : Where are the clothes your son wore...

  Policía II : At the time of the murder?

  [Pepa takes a clean shirt out of the dryer] 

  Pepa : Right here. Sparkling clean.

  Policía I : No trace of blood.

  Policía II : Or guts.

  Policía I : Unbelievable!

  [Pepa holds up a box of detergent] 

  Pepa : Ecce Homo. It's unbelievable.

• Policía I : What's going on?

  Pepa : Nothing. Just discussing the lady's dress.

  Candela : [in tears]  It's awful!

  Carlos : It's only a dress.

  Candela : But it's awful!

• Pepa : I'm sick of being good.

• Pepa : Follow that cab!

  Cabdriver : I thought this only happened in the movies.

• Pepa : You could have killed yourself!

  Candela : That was the idea. I'm desperate.

  Pepa : So am I, but I don't jump off terraces.

  Candela : I didn't know where to go. I couldn't face my folks. It's bad enough that I became a model.

• Pepa : That lady is dangerous.

  Cabdriver : No lady's dangerous if you know how to handle her.

• Pepa : For two days everyone has been saying no to me. Now it's my turn to say no.

• Ana : I'm fed up. I'm gonna get myself some quick cash, buy myself his bike and split. With a bike, who needs a man?

  Pepa : Learning mechanics is easier than learning male psychology. You can figure out a bike, but you can never figure out a man.

• Carlos : [Carrying Marisa, who has passed out, onto the patio]  But a minute ago...

  Pepa : A minute ago she wanted to go home but since you ignored her, she got depressed and had some gazpacho.

  Carlos : Ah. That made her fall asleep?

  Pepa : Yes. It was spiked with barbiturates. Sorry.

• Carlos : What happened?

  Pepa : She fell asleep.

  Candela : So suddenly?

  Pepa : Yes. The strangest things can happen suddenly.

• Paulina Morales : She must turn herself in, go to jail, and let the jury decide her case.

  Pepa : I don't understand.

  Paulina Morales : She's committed a crime.

  Pepa : Her only crime was falling in love and being afraid. I'd do the same.

  Paulina Morales : I'm sure.

• Candela : Three months ago, I spent a weekend with a guy. I didn't know his name or anything, but, after he left, I couldn't get him out of my mind.

  Pepa : What happened that weekend?

  Candela : Nothing special. We fucked the whole weekend. Just thinking about it gives me goose bumps. It was like a revelation. Like making love for the first time. I loved it.

  Pepa : Sex means a lot at your age.

  Candela : Because he's like a terrorist, he's more intense than other guys.

• Carlos : [after finding out the gazpacho is spiked with morphine]  Why did you do that? Were you trying to kill yourself too?

  Pepa : No. It was for your dad. He loves gazpacho.

• Pepa : Did Iván call again?

  Secretaria : No. Forget him, honey.

  Pepa : I'm working on it.

• Secretaria : You're making a fool of yourself.

  Pepa : Well, a little more won't hurt.

• Pepa : Bring me my tranquilizers from the kitchen.

• Pepa : Young people don't know how to fight for things. You think life is all pleasure. Well, it isn't. You have to suffer a lot.

• Pepa : We'll come back in a week. You'll go to to court and tell everything, except for the fucking, and that'll be that.

• [last lines] 

  Marisa : I was a virgin this morning, but I don't think I am now.

  Pepa : Don't tell me one of these jerks...

  Marisa : No. It was in my dream!

  Pepa : Great! Actually, you've lost that hard look that virgins have. Virgins are awful.

• Lucía : [on the phone]  How dare you call here!

  Pepa : Don't yell at me. I just had a fainting spell.

  Lucía : I don't care if you drop dead!

  Pepa : Look, Iván and I are finished.

  Lucía : Fuck off!

  Pepa : Fuck off yourself!

• Pepa : You must think I'm crazy.

  Carlos : No. You're just nervous from a lack of sleep.

• Pepa : In my house, I collaborate with whomever I want.

• Pepa : Lady, you're nuts! Between Iván and me, there's nothing but pain.

• Ana : She's going for his balls!

  Pepa : I think she's just trying to hang on.

• Pepa : I'm not interested in Shiites.

• Pepa : You just woke up, but I haven't slept in two days.