 |
Movie: Talk To Her (Habla Con Ella)
Starring Rosario Flores, Geraldine Chaplin
Written and Directed by Pedro Almodovar
In Spanish (Sony Pictures Classics)
Reviewed by Rusty Pipes
Talk To her is a story like no other, an allegory of loneliness and redemption, but it is also very earthy, emotional and engaging.
Marco (Grandinetti) is a journalist who comes to do a story on a lady bullfighter, Lydia, (Rosario Flores) and falls in love with her. They are with each other several months and are slowly falling out of love again when tragedy strikes inside the bullring and Lydia goes into a prolonged coma. Marco visits Lydia every day and in the hospital Marco meets a male nurse, Benigno, (Camara) who is caring for another woman in a coma named Alicia (Watling). It is soon apparent that Benigno is devotedly in love with his charge. Marco assumes that Lydia will slowly fade into death but Benigno calms him, saying that all that's required is to talk to his lover. Over the months Marco and Benigno become friends, holding mock parties with their loves in hopes that somehow they can hear. Along the way tells Benigno all about how he came to know Alicia before her accident.
Almodovar uses flashback liberally through the movie. Marco has a previous relationship that sparks Lydia's jealousy. Marco and Benigno meet briefly at a concert before they meet again in the hospital. Alicia is also seen as a vibrant young woman in a dance class where her instructor is Geraldine Chaplin, who does her part in flawless Spanish. The director even moves out of his drama entirely for several minutes. Benigno has taken up Alicia's passion for silent films and tells her all he sees, so in the middle of the film Almodovar treats us to a mock 1920's science fiction movie, "The Diminishing Man," where a man is reduced six inches tall and explores the giant body of his lover.
Talk To Her might have gone on at this disjointed, slightly humorous yet introspective level but Marco learns that Lydia had made plans to break up with him before her last bullfight. He leaves and eventually Lydia dies. Soon after the story takes a much more serious turn when Benigno is accused of raping Alicia. Marco is forced out of his funk to aid his friend. Redemption comes eventually but not in the way you think.
The currents run deep in Talk To Her; it's easy to see why Pedro Almodovar won an Oscar because it is indeed a very original screenplay. His work is darkly humorous, touching and inventive. Talk To Her is like no other movie you've seen.
The Skinny:
Am I glad I saw the film? Absolutely.
Would I go to see it again? Definitely, it's a very engaging movie and it makes me want to see all the other Almodovar films I've missed.(Also Starring Dario Grandinetti, Javier Camara, Leonor Watling)
© 2003 - Rusty Pipes