Broken Embraces (2009)

I'll tell you why so serious

Fantastic!

The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Coming from me, it's not a congratulation. As Allen, I think that Almodovar is a highly overrated director that is praised for his touch, his universe whereas his movies are tedious, boring, dull and above all, it's a cinema about high society empty of any social consciousness and famous for his beautiful actresses.Here, he deals with two of the worst themes that I can't stand when I watch a movie: first, it's about a movie production so it's the ground zero of filmmaking , the empty void of imagination. The director has just to put his camera and says that's my story! With the extra, you can see that the "imagined" director acts similarly as Almodavar himself.Next, it happens among the mighty: the jealous boyfriend is a very rich business man who has tied with the politics! This confirms Almodovar's lack of imagination as such a background is totally unbelievable or at least uninteresting. Who cares about their "f…ing" lives? Do they really think it's entertainment for us? Do they really want to show us what's they can do with power and money: well, I see that they mistake sexual harassment for love but it's not news anymore… And for those who thinks that Almdovar shoots hymns to women, I find that he only sees them as object, to be grasp and embrace like the movie's title!What's left? A cute Penélope whose effort to looks like the late Audrey Hepburn is successful. Few inspired cameras movement that reminds me of David Lynch as Almodovar plays with projected images. The movie is full of colors, makes a trip to Lanzarote but it's not enough. In conclusion, I notice that this movie is from 2009 at a time when Almodovar's country was in crisis with high level of unemployment, rise of poverty and contesting. To shoot such a movie when his fellows suffer is stupidity or provocation and surely a sign of decadent artist! It's like everything crumbles around him and he doesn't seem to care. A recommendation: Pedro, look at your people and you will find inspiration!

I get excited about new Almodovar films, which is not always the most advised way to approach any cinematic release. Those opening moments are too tension-filled as I wait in fear that this will be the film where the magic finally disappears. Is that dialogue a little forced? This scenario too familiar? Its a bit like watching a new Woody Allen film, only in reverse.In its opening scenes, Broken Embraces both unsettles and reassures. We open with a male. His name is Mateo Blanco and he is a director. His name is also Harry Caine and he is blind. The fear subsides a little. We are clearly back in the world of Almodovar, with its convoluted plots and its noirish mysteries. The name Harry Caine alone cues us to expect a feast for the cine-literates, with its noir associations from Double Indemnity to The Third Man. Indeed we have been here before, as recently as Bad Education, in which Almodovar dazzled us with noirish flashbacks within flashbacks and duplicitous identity thefts. And it is to this strand in his work that Broken Embraces belongs, rather than the women centred melodramas with which he is more often associated.But we remain uneasy. The film references begin to stack up - with nods to everything from Belle du Jour to Peeping Tom. Moving back and forward in time, the mystery of Blanco/Caine's blindness and his double monicker begin to unfold. We meet Penelope Cruz as devoted daughter, high-class hooker, and an Almodovar-esquire character in an Almodovar-esquire comedy in which her character acts. The film exploits the twin-sides of Cruz's character which Almodovar has mined in the past; the angelic nun of All About My Mother and the fiery Spanish mama of Volver, the Madonna and the whore. She is the femme in this noir fatale. And who could blame Mateo/Harry for falling, although we know of course how things will turn out.The pleasure in noir is in watching it all go wrong for the central protagonist. As soon as Barabara Stanwyck or Lana Turner slinks into camera shot, we know our man is doomed. Whether he's a private investigator or an insurance salesman, the poor schmuck doesn't stand a chance. But all he can think about are her legs. And all we can think about are her legs too, so we understand why he might just throw away his life for a moment alone with them. And the girl knows it too, just what she can take from any man in return for a glimpse of thigh. But there is another pleasure in noir too, and its a vindictive mysognistic one. It comes from the pain in Stanwyck's face as her man slugs her with a 45, the screams of Jane Greer as she dies in a hail of bullets. Its our revenge on her for knowing how to get to us, for using her sexuality to take back a little of the power that rightfully belongs with our hero, the conquering male of the cinematic world.But Almodovar could never bring himself to treat women in this way. In Bad Education it is the coquettish Gael Garci Bernal that uses his sexuality as a lure. And it is love, not lust, that draws Mateo towards Cruz's Lena. The threat comes, not from her sexuality, but the overpowering jealousy of her millionaire lover, from whom she is unable to escape. Almodovar clearly cares too much for Cruz to allow her motives to be impuned in any way. And although this brings a roundness and sensitivity to the central character, instead of reducing her to an image of dangerous sexuality, it also causes the tension in the film to ebb. The central characters are in love. And if that love is to be doomed, as we know it must be, then the cause of that doom will come from outside, from some plot contrivance, rather than from inside the characters themselves. Unlike the character of classic noir, they are too fundamentally good to cause their own downfall.Given the intricacies of the plot of Broken Embraces; the shifts in time, the film within a film, the complex set of character relationships; its problem lies with the ability of the narrative to tie it all together, to make us care. For me, the mystery was not quite mysterious enough. The revelations not sufficiently shocking to make the whole elaborate puzzle seem worthwhile. There is undoubtedly a lot to enjoy in here. At times it feels like an extended riff on the art of filmmaking, with which Almodovar is clearly having great fun. And his enjoyment rubs off on the viewer too. The extended extract from Mateo's film, which is an almost shot for shot remake of Women on The Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, is worth the admission price alone. But there is a ragged quality, a sense that the parts overwhelm the whole, which, along with the film's uncertain relationship to noir, prevent it from fully cohering. In short, its no All About My Mother, but then its no Kika either. I'm already looking forward to his next one.

I love Almodovar's films, the very first one I watched is TIE ME UP, TIE ME DOWN (1990), and I have watched almost all the rest of his works, which I admire the most is TALK TO HER (2002) and VOLVER (2006), as an true auteur, I think now he is in the prime of his career with only one barrier erected in the way, which is how to mature his unique style to match a subtler but impressionist influence, like other international film masters, to make his film accepted willingly by audience all over the globe (not only in Spain or Europe). From this point, BROKEN EMBRACES is a sound step-stone. The film contains all kinds of picturesque Almodovar leitmotivs, from the familiar female cast (led by his new muse Penelope Cruz and a bankable Blanca Portillo), the vivid palette and the homage towards his earlier comedic works. Clearly there is a sacrifice of the storyline to make the film itself more international (that's why purely comedy is never an option), as the plot can be simply recapitulated as "a paramour of a mistress", thanks to the Taiwan translation of the film (in Chinese letters is QING FU DE QING FU). The hackneyed gut does not reach our expectation of a high-end Almodovar's film, especially after the full-fledged previous work VOLVER. Luckily, I am still profoundly impressed by the film, one important reason is Cruz's existential and detailed performance, with a less screen time in it than in VOLVER, but interprets her role with various dimensions (not to mention the film-in-film set piece). At the same time, in order to maintain its pathos, the story is decorated in a fine way with convincing theatrical novelties, such as the lip reading in front of a extra-widescreen and the sex scene (swiftly rotating while it is between Cruz and his sweetheart director, while fully under the sheet with her estranged bigwig); the horror-approaching feeling after a malevolent push from upstairs by her senior lover. In a word, it is the details shows Almodovar's talent. There is still much room to improve, though I give it an encouraging 8/10 rate, I'm looking forward to his next project, a thriller with Antonio Banderas, sounds intriguing enough for me.

I watched this film because I had seen All About My Mother four years ago and loved it. I was happy to see that Broken Embraces retains the vibrant cinematography with its rich array of primary colors and perspectives only a camera can provide. Broken Embraces, whose settings are less gritty than those of All About My Mother, is even more gorgeous to look at than its predecessor. Moreover, the memorable shots in Broken Embraces never feel gratuitous or self-indulgent, but always seem to enhance the emotion of the plot points. Broken Embraces' melodramatic plot, however, does not dig as deeply into its themes as All About My Mother does. Some themes reappear, such as coming to terms with a dark past, optimism during life's crises, art, and homosexuality (although this is only touched on in Broken Embraces). It also stays away from some of All About My Mother's darker subjects, such as AIDS, transvestitism, and the death of a son. Whereas the latter is a dark, evocative drama, the former is a film-noir thriller with Penelope Cruz as the quintessential femme fatale (there's even a "I knew she was trouble when she walked into my office" scene!). Ms. Cruz gives a lovely performance, but after seeing her play an HIV-positive pregnant nun in All About My Mother and a jilted maniac in Vicki Cristina Barcelona, I figured she could play a charming but troubled actress in her sleep. The other performances are quite good as well, particularly Lluis Homar as a gentle but passionate screenwriter who has lost his sight. Taken on its own, Broken Embraces is an entertaining, romantic, and cinematically stunning film. I intended this review for those who, like me, were looking for another All About My Mother. At the end of that film, I felt inspired by the beauty of the world around me and amazed that such a dark film left me feeling so optimistic. While I enjoyed Broken Embraces and did not feel like I'd wasted my time watching it, it did not provide as powerful an emotional experience as that of All About My Mother.