“Broken Embraces”
Written and Directed by Pedro Almodovar; Stars Penélope Cruz, Lluís Homar, Blanca Portillo, José Luis Gómez, Rubén Ochandiano and Tamar Novas. A film noir mystery about jealousy and revenge centering on a writer/director who has lost his sight and his former mistress, told in both the present day and through flashback.
Seen December 30, 2009, by Lars Bastholm
LARS:
First, a confession: I’m a big fan of the Spanish director Pedro Almodovar and I’ve had a major crush on Penelope Cruz since first seeing her in Bigas Luna’s “Jamon, Jamon” in 1992, which was her first real film role. So I am genetically disposed to like “Broken Embraces”, even if it weren’t a great movie, which, thankfully, it is.
I suppose “Broken Embraces” qualifies as a film noir, if one of the operating principles of that genre is that a femme fatale is the turning point around whom things go haywire. It would be a shame to give too much of the plot away, as this is a gently unfolding mystery of a movie. The protagonist is a writer/director with two names, Harry Caine/Mateo Blanco, and the story takes place in present day and 14 years ago. The overall objective is to find out why Harry/Mateo has two names and how he came to be blind and what happened to the love of his life, Lena. And that’s enough about the story.
If you think this sounds like a thriller, you’d be wrong. Suspense is not really what Almodovar is after. As usual, his story is more about people, the choices we make and how they impact our lives. Lena, as played by Cruz, is a force of nature that leaves enraptured men in her wake. And she’s pivotal to the story. But then so are a few other people and it’s really another ensemble piece with great, mostly unknown (to me at least) Spanish actors.
Looking at Cruz in Almodovar’s films always makes me wonder why she never had a big breakthrough in the US, where she’s still more known for her looks than for her acting. She’s always fantastic when acting in Spanish, but seems less comfortable in English. Surely that should just be a matter of matching her up with a director that can bring the same out in her that Almodovar does. I’d love to see her work with a Jason Reitman, a Wes Anderson or a Christopher Nolan. I mean, she was great in “Vicky Christina Barcelona”, but that was still kinda acting in Spanish.
While Almodovar keeps getting better and better, both in terms of writing and directing, you’re cheating yourself out of some really fun times, if you haven’t seen his earlier, more frivolous “sex comedies” (for lack of a better description). In the 80s he did “Matador”, “Labyrinth of Desire” and “Laws of Passion” before breaking through internationally with the Best Foreign Picture Oscar-winning “Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown”. In those early films he hadn’t yet found his voice as a great writer of female characters and was spending more time exploring the seedy underbelly of Spanish nightlife and sexual behavior. Good stuff indeed. Alas, they may be a little hard to find in the US, but as a serious cineaste, you’re willing to put in the effort. Right?
