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It is difficult to describe the appeal of this film. The acting is great, and the story is very well told, but I think the thing that sets this film apart is the characters. Almodovar somehow brilliantly manages to make you feel admiration, pity, and even anger at these people (often simultaneously).
This is absolutely one of the best films I've seen in a long time. Rent it, buy it, borrow it, but whatever you do, WATCH IT!
Considering that the women's portraits are on the DVD cover, Talk to Her is really about the men and their relationship. The focus is primarily on Benigno and his growing love for Alicia -- we learn more about the beginnings of this in flashback -- and how his caring for her in the hospital is his way of showing it. Camara has soft eyes and a sweet face, which gives Benigno an almost childlike innocence that is needed for us to find him sympathetic, so that we don't question his motives for involving himself so closely with Alicia.
I always enjoy Pedro Almodovar's films because they are never what I expect a film to be. He continually comes up with off the wall storylines, and his characters never act the way that "normal" people would. Plus, there's always a liberal dose of nudity featured (this time of the beautiful Watling), which never hurts.
One excellent example of this quirky sexuality comes in the middle of Talk to Her, when Benigno describes a film he saw involving a woman and her shrinking husband. The tiny man is shown crawling over his wife's naked body, trying his best to pleasure her. In the end, after some intense exploration, he gives himself fully to her. If this scene didn't so obviously involve a staged set, there is no way it would have escaped with an R rating. But even that is a metaphor to the story, related to Benigno's relationship to Alicia. And it is that sort of writing that is truly Almodovarian and which I was glad to see finally recognized with an Academy Award.
The plot comes across as a contrivance, a contrivance that doesn't necessarily work. Two women are placed in the same hospital in a coma. One is a dancer, one is a bullfighter. Two men stand vigil waiting, talking, watching, wanting above anything for their objects of affection to wake up. The two men gain a confidance with one another, a bonded friendship, and the story plays out with different pathways taken, paths not always moral, not always sane.
I believe from this we are supposed to get a juxtaposed look at different relationships, communication, what is love, and all this other deep meaning of life pondering stuff. That seems to be the gyst of things at times in foreign films, we English speakers have this general sense that it's trying to say something deep if we could just stay awake through the droning plot to decipher the undecipherable. In the end, I found "Talk to Her" leaving little impression and stiving to hard to make a revelation. A revelation on what...I'm still not sure.
If you are heavily into foreign films, you may find this one interesting. If you aren't, you just may want to rent this one if you are an insomniac.
Talk to Her has a memorable plot. It really deserves the Oscar it got in 2002. Some other great things are its music, art direction and photography.
It is not a long film. The complexity of the main character's mind is the reason of the first hour of the film. The way he introduces the other man how to care his patient is presented slowly, but every step has its reason. Sure he has got a perverse mind in the end, but there is no reason to consider this is a perverse film...
After this, I cannot resist to "review some reviews". I think this film is morally irreproachable. The rapist, finally pays a price and you can feel sorry about him, but this is not a way to justify his behaviour. You can understand him in some way but he is clearly guilty of what he does.
In any case, if you consider this film makes you throw up, what about all war films?
... for those who feel that the "rape" was violent or offensive, please not, there was NO violence in the movie, the man by the way if you didnt notice because the movie was so boring, was actually very good to alicia and in the twisted sort of way his raping, if that can be called raped, was what brought the 4 year sleeping beauty back to reality...
am i wrong?
Deciding to make myself look the part, I picked up this DVD and found it quite good. I'm not familar with the director, so I know nothing about how this stacks up to his other works on any terms.
The film begins to tell two storIies that eventually intertwine, and the two respective main characters become friends. Our hero is Marco, a journalist, whom we identify with because he is strong (despite that we see him cry in the first 3 minutes) and gentle, and more level-headed than Benignon (not sure I spelled that right), a male nurse.
Benignon is caring for a comatose dancer whom he has been infaturated with for some time. We see him as childlike and obsessive, but not in a bad way. We feel sorry for him in a helpless kind of way, due in no small part to the brilliant acting. He meets Marco, who is grieving his girlfriend who has also fallen into a coma after a bullfight.
The men's relationship is insightful, non-pretentious male bonding. We are wary, as Marco is, of Benignon. We are unsure of his sexuality and when his meekness may break into an unspeakable act.
Here's the low-down on the much-talked about sexual content of the film. Firstly, there is no sex, but there is a rape, which is not shown. Because we can rest assured that the rape was not violent, I don't see what the big deal is. It was not a plot device either, but a believable and consequential event. There is a magical realist scene in which a man crawls inside a woman's vagina. The scene is only vaguely sexual, more exploratory than anything, and is really too weird to be offensive to me.
The film is in Spanish, a language which I have not studied. It is quite powerful and there is nothing really overbearing about it. The drama is sincere and effective, the dialogue and acting natural and believable, and competently filmed, although in this genre of film, that is a minor requisite. The tragic events don't drag the film down into gloominess or bitterness. In fact, it is still overall rather hopeful and pleasing, as was ONE FLEW OVER THE CUKOO'S NEST.
This is a given for art-house enthusiasts, but those mainstreamers looking to expand their horizons could do well to check out TALK TO HER
Habla con Ella certainly marks Almodovar's "mature" stage, in the sense that the music and themes are more serious and less neurotic or whimsical, and the production value looks to be at an all-time high for his films. Perhaps this is because he recently turned 60. But despite this, his consistent trademark is still maintained here: the film is very entertaining yet never displays any poignancy that could elevate it to classic status.
Apparently he's softened up at this stage. Talk to Her has not much in the way of quirky female characters : in fact, the two women are in a coma. Marco, a journalist and travel writer, is fascinated by Lydia, a famous female bullfighter, and tries to get an interview with her. He gets more than that, as they become a couple. But she is gored in the arena and falls in a coma.
At the hospital, Marco meets Benigno, who works as a nurse for Alicia, a ballerina also in a coma. It becomes quickly obvious that Benigno's relationship with Alicia is a bit more than nurse-patient. Despite himself, Marco takes to a friendship with Benigno, but events will conspire to complicate this seemingly idyllic situation.
Talk to Her is a tightrope event. Almod—var's story is at once touching and comedic, profound and shallow, and you can take it as great camp or a great drama. The theater plays, and the silent movie parody that Benigno goes to see, also reflect this duality. They are ironically funny, and somewhat ridiculous, but they are also pregnant with significance and can be taken quite seriously.
Look at the scene, for example, where Marco goes to Lydia's house to kill a snake because she has a snake phobia. After doing the deed, Marco sheds a tear. This is campy, but there is also a mystery : why is he crying ? This is answered later in the story, of course, but that's not my point. It's easy to slip from one to the other. It's ironic but also very honest.
Without wanting to spoil the ending, when Benigno commits an act which we would not expect, he suddenly appears to us very differently - it's very incongruous but also chilling. Like most of Almod—var's movies, Talk to Her is about relationships, but this time about relationships when there is no one answering you on the other side, and how we can forge worlds for ourselves outside of social mores and seem perfectly normal... but also how easy it becomes to fall to the other side of normality.
To someone who is unfamiliar with Almod—var, this is probably the best movie to start with. It's as colourful and stylized, but it's also very accessible and thematically profound.
Almodovar makes clear that this need for connection transcends the pat male/female roles and even the accepted notions of human sexuality and sexual orientation. It is no accident that among the characters are a male nurse, a female matador, a seemingly macho travel writer who cries when sad memories are awakened, and women in comas as the objects of affection. Almodovar brilliantly turns all "acceptable" roles on their ears and categorically proclaims that true love is spiritual and can exist and be fueled by many seemingly unuusal situations. The need for human connection supercedes humanity's constant efforts to dictate what constitutes a "normal" relationship.
"Talk to Her" is a fascinating exploration of human loneliness and the need to connect in any way possible. It is one of Almodovar's most poetic, enigmatic and affecting films.
I think it's hard for a movie to be very serious without being dreary, pretentious, or melodramatic. Almodovar's made that rare thing, a truly great film, which deserves to be held up alongside the great works of art and literature.
I recommend this movie without reservation.
Rosario Flores cuts quite a figure in the role of Lydia, a bullfighter. She is a rangy figure, all huge features on a long, slim face and ropy body. She looks quite out of place when she wears 'traditional' women's clothing and jewelry with her hair down, but is striking in the elaborate traditional dress of the toreador. When she appears in the ring she is quite ugly (by conventional definition) but you can't take your eyes off her. Like Beningo (and all the other characters ultimately) she is an intriguing combination of male and female, power and submission, modern and traditional.
There is not a wasted shot in this film. Almod—var's eye is utterly precise, as he weaves this wild and unlikely story in which the characters' world progressively grows smaller, as their lives draw together and begin to overlap.
Although ultimately I might like ALL ABOUT MY MOTHER more, I could hardly deny the power of this film.
Almod—var has brilliantly weaved together this new masterpiece by incorporating silent film, music, ballet, flashbacks, and scenes shot out of sequence to come up with a seemingly simple film which will surly stick with you for a long time.
Telling you the plot would be pointless, this is, in my opinion, one of those that you just have to watch, having no idea what's going to happen.
The acting is exceptional, the character's are unforgettable, the script is perfect, the pace is such, so as to keep you guessing, but still allows time for all the subtle elements which makes this such a rich cinematic experience.
Don't hesitate with this one!
A man's wife lays in a coma after a bullfighting accident. At the hospital, he meets a man whose "love of his life" also lays comatosed. The two become fast friends. Many dramatic turns occur amongst the four. Suddenly, a shocking event occurs, which changes everyone's lives, awake or unconscious.
"Talk To Her" is recommended to those looking for heavy drama. This will give them an experience to never be forgotten. Don't rent the english version. As all other foreign films, they change the script, therefore, demolishing every characters' emotions. The spanish version expresses everything that the producers intended.
Dicen que es un poco sadica, si es sadica o no, eso realmente para mi no me importa, yo soy un cinefilo convencido y veo lo que sea tanto si me guste como si no.
Las intervenciones de los invitados como Paz Vega, Elena Anaya etc... fueron claves, a parte que la escena de Paz Vega en el corto en blanco y negro fue sublime, bastante salada ;-)
El guion fue perfecto, todo muy bien trabajado a fondo, y yo desde aqui Pedro - tanto si lo lees como no - te felicito por el oscar (a pesar de que te felicite un poco tarde jajajaja) Pues eso! Sigue haciendo peliculas!
Despite the spectacular wrapping, however, with TTH, there's just no getting around the plot.
There's only two ways to go here. Either
1) Talk To Her succeeds in showing that poetic, empathetic, and deeply human qualities can be found even within the morally repugnant, and merits comparison with a number of very good films featuring lush treatment of lurid subjects, including Kieslowski's White and Red, Tom Tykwer's Heaven, The English Patient, and even Seven.
or
2)Talk To Her IS morally repugnant, an unfortunate result of a director who had no one by his side with the guts to point out the self-absorbtion and gratuitous fantasy of the premise. Kind of like the ridiculous Eyes Wide Shut, or all of Woody Allen's "romantic comedies," now that we know just how creepy Woody Allen is.
Sorry, but I pick 2 on this one.
For a better film, see Y Tu Mama Tambien--that film finds real compassion within base desire, and it wipes the floor with this beautiful mess from Almodovar.
Benigno is a victim of plutonic love. After developing an obsession for Alicia, a ballerina who delves into a coma for years, he not only nurses her as an intimate friend, he eventually martyrs himself for her as well.
If one pays attention to the subtlest details within the film, he or she will see there is limited, circumstantial evidence that deems Benigno guilty of the "crime" against Alicia. There is just as much evidence to deem another guilty.
The director masterfully punctuates the movie with a retro "talkie" that implies a warped phenomenon in Benigno. However, poetic intuition reveals an ulterior motive in another seemingly innocuous character.
Marco, a man who befriends Benigno, while caring for his comatose lover, Lydia, becomes Benigno's nemesis in pursuit of the same woman. Critical viewers will notice how each relationship overlaps like themes and motifs in a musical composition. This is relevant to understanding Marco's betrayal of Benigno. For instance, after caring for his own comatose lover for months, Marco discovers that his lover, Lydia, had repaired her relationship with her ex-lover before she had her debilitating accident. Distraught and alone, Marco wanders into an affinity for Alicia still in an unconscious state. It may not seem likely that Marco is capable of perpetrating the "crime" unto Alicia, but there is a few key lines in the film that allude to this strong possibility.
At one point, Benigno and Marco discuss Benigno's feelings about Alicia. He confesses in public he's in love with her and would like to marry her, despite her comatose state. Marco chides Benigno for confessing such "nonsense." Moreover, Marco tells Benigno that he won't be around to help him if "it" ever comes to light. What exactly is Marco alluding to? It seems Marco possesses some hidden knowledge of something, (perhaps the crime against Alicia), which Benigno knows nothing about.
The director deliberately leaves controversial angles of the film ambiguous in order to challenge viewers. No great work of art is simple. Any great work of literature, film or music is deliberately left ambiguous in order to provide multiple interpretations.
The director of "Talk to Her" doesn't want viewers to take any detail in the four relationships for granted. Unfortunately, though, most viewers are not as critical as the director would like, and only see the surface of any complex relationship. Yet, not everything in this world is as rosy as a harlequin romance. There are dark, hidden forces in the human psyche that manifest themselves in every human relationship--especailly when that relationship involves competition for a desired object.
In my humble opinion, Marco radically usurps the love of Alicia from Benigno's loving, caring, nurturing, and most importantly platonic hands. But, like a saint who dies for the sins of his loved ones, Benigno unconsciously takes the fall for Marco--a man who makes a choice to sacrifice the love of a friend for the love of a woman in a most complicated way.
This is why the film earned an Oscar. If the film were as cut and dry as other reviewers would have you believe, surely that award would not have been granted.
And, the main character survives amidst comatose humanity because he is true to his emotions, not fully willing to "sell out" and become a real life zombie. In the end, we are forced into shedding a tear -- perhaps a hopeful gift from this talented filmmaker.
I don't have a lot of DVD's but I have "Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown" -- don't let this title fool you into a negative reaction. This is meant to signal humor much like in "I Love Lucy", where often the comedy stems from Lucille Ball's being on the edge of nervous hysteria. A wonderfully funny movie.
As for "Talk To Her" thanks, Almodovar for a last chance before total anaesthesia -- hopefully we will come out with it before the next one kicks.
First, I must comment on some of the other reviewer's statements that AlmodovÌÁr condones the violent act in the film, and I must say I couldn't disagree more. He is simply the storyteller of this lonely tale, not the advocate. Furthermore, in listening to his commentary, (which proved to be as fascinating as the film itself) he explains the motivations behind the characters (unlike most other mainstream films, where the protagonist is either evil or good with no grey area) this gives the characters more depth and realism.
That being said, 'Talk To Her' plays like a symphony of poetry, colors and even passionate music, that evoke complex emotions within us. AlmodovÌÁr has a unique style, he is a true master of his characters, they are what drive his pictures. It is the story of four people that are mirror images of one another and yet so different at the same time. The twisting plot developments that will leave you speechless and at the edge of your couch. I know I was mesmerized from beginning to end.
A film with many themes, the main one being solitude and loneliness. Yes, it has elements of tragedy, but also encompasses humour, wit and thoughtfulness. The short silent film fantasy in which a little man attempts to please a woman with what can only be described as total and complete commitment, both amusing and heartbreaking. It is also a pivotal change in the film's direction. If you are a fan of AlmodovÌÁr, then you have no doubt seen this already, but if you've never seen his work before, I recommend trying this one first (most recent of the 17 films he has directed). It is a true work of art.
Although I have not completely figured out the film, it is one that is filled with meaning and real-life struggles.
Some themes it evokes include male-female dependency.
It is interesting to see that Lidia, a woman is a matadora, she kills and has a more stereotypically masculine job. While her "lover" is masculine and not effeminate like Benigno. Benigno's woman is the one that lives, she is the creator of art of meaning, she is a dancer.
There are many themes and ideas in this film about male dependency on women and vice versa.
In my opinion the character of Benigno should not be extoled for his actions with Alicia, but he does it out of mental sickness. From the beginning Alicia is glorified as the girl that has a father that is a doctor. The audience does nto develop a relationship with Alicia, because she is very wealthy and above the other characters in class.
The film makes you think and is definentely worth buying!
On the one hand it is the beautiful result of thoughtful, careful filmmaking. The mundane details of Almodovar's scenes are often raised to the level of art not by heavy stylization but by showing us the artfulness and colorfulness of mundane life. One example occurs in the scene where Benigno tells Marco about the time he saw him crying during the earlier theater performance scene; what is beautiful is that Marco naturally, unnoticeably is putting eye drops into Alicia's eyes at the same time. This detail could be interpreted in many different ways: perhaps it shows that Marco is a sensitive, emotionally whole person; Benigno, by literally putting tears into Alicia's eyes, is foreshadowed to cause pain. This detail also points to the artful narrative structure: it may seem obvious, but the mirroring that takes place throughout ought to serve as a starting point for analyzing where this mirroring begins and ends, how it is distorted, and how it functions to illuminate each subject. Some examples of this are: Marco/Benigno, Lydia/Alicia, Marco-Lydia/Benigno-Alicia, and each detail that falls within the realm of each of these subjects.
The troubling thing about "Talk to Her" is how the rape of Alicia by Benigno essentially brings Alicia to life and out of her coma. This should trouble us and we should spend some time thinking about what it means. But, first, we should admit that this movie is not "about women." The two main female characters are comatose and are taken care of by two men; the movie would appear to be "about" these two men. Second, I find that "Talk to Her", "All About My Mother", and "Women on the Verge..." are three films that "talk" to each other. Recognizing this, we see that "Talk to Her" has men replacing women as the caregivers and protectors that they are in the other two films. It would be silly to assert based solely on "Talk to Her" that Almodovar somehow misogynistically believes that men are the caretakers of women and that this relationship is never reversed. In fact, in seeing this, we should see that the movie does not seek to make such narrow, sweeping generalizations about men or women or even rape.
So does the rape by a seemingly loving but clearly pathological man deserve to be excused because it draws a woman out of a coma? I do not think that the film asks the viewer to excuse Benigno's act. His action is nowhere glorified in the film. If we feel sorry for his plight (his imprisonment and suicide), it is because Benigno (benign) is so pathetic and psychologically unbalanced and ill suited to life. We cannot say he is a martyr since he dies by his own hand. The acts of foreshadowing of the rape suggest tragedy and not heroism. Evidence of Benigno's creepiness also shows that the film realizes he is not normal. We should also remember that this is fiction and that the rape is operating symbolically and not literally (i.e., not in our real world).
What I struggle with most about the rape is the masking of the actual rape with a lighthearted silent film. Does this sanitize the rape of its ugliness? I don't know. There could be numerous interpretations of the silent film and its placement. I have not resolved this issue for myself, but I think it's something to dwell on. What I am consoled by is this: one theme of the film seems to be that life can rise out of death and ugliness. This does not deny the depravity of the rape nor is it a prescription for those in comas. The ugliness of Benigno's rape and the subsequent miscarriage of the fetus, despite themselves, somehow are causes of Alicia's regaining consciousness. This isn't pretty and we don't want to see it, but sometimes that just how things in life come to pass; it is a mystery of life. I recommend "Talk to Her" because it is beautiful filmmaking, and though it is perhaps troubling at times, it is not malicious; it is merely thought provoking.
When I read that a foreign film won a screenplay Oscar, I knew that I had to see the movie. I'm not sure if that has happened in the history of the Academy Awards. I had also heard positive reviews, but I did not have any sort of expectations going into this movie. I have a difficult time comparing the screenplay to an English language film, but this was a very good movie.
The movie opens in a theater where there is a dance performance going on. Two men are sitting next to each other, but they do not know each other. One of them is deeply touched and the other notices this and remembers it. The performance is over and they go back to their lives. Benigno is a male nurse who has one patient, Alicia. Alicia is in a coma. Benigno shows incredible care and tenderness for Alicia and early on we get the image that he is a fantastic nurse and that she is well served. Marco, the other man at the theater, meets a female bullfighter, Lydia, and they begin a relationship. When she is gored one day and ends up in a coma, Marco meets Benigno. They begin an odd friendship and Benigno helps Marco learn how to better care for Lydia.
It is at this point where we begin to see a different side of the characters. Benigno is revealed to a bit more obsessed with his patient than one would deem healthy. It is clear that he believes himself in love with Alicia. Marco's love for Lydia is being tested by the coma as well as by his memories of their time together. As the movie progresses we see more and more of the backstory that got the characters to where they are at the start of the movie. This changes our understanding of Marco and especially Benigno and it changes how we perceive their relations to each other.
By the end, Talk to Her went in some directions I did not expect with the characters. I was surprised by this movie, but it was a pleasant surprise. I liked Talk To Her. I can't speak to whether or not it deserved the Oscar that it won, or if it deserves a spot on a Top 10 list...but this is a good movie and if anyone has an interest in foreign movies, this is one to see (not necessarily the one to see, but it is one to see)
"Talk to Her" uses decidedly unconventional and roundabout means to describe how relationships form out of life's tragedies: Two women in comas and the men who care for them. This is a beautifully photographed movie, and director Pedro Almodovar has masterfully crafted the film in such a way as to keep our interest in characters and a story that actually do very little. "Talk to Her" has elicited some strong reactions from viewers who object to how Benigno's behavior towards Alicia is portrayed in the film. Some members of the audience are left with the impression that the film condones his treatment of Alicia. I don't think that it does. It simply does not directly comment on the issue. Almodovar allows the characters in the film to comment on Benigno's conduct, but refrains from doing so himself. "Talk to Her" asserts that hurtful events in life often serve as a catalyst for the formation and discontinuation of relationships. Benigno's eventual abuse of Alicia is one of those events. As for the character of Benigno, himself, Almodovar goes out of his way to include scenes which call into question Benigno's mental health, as well as scenes which draw attention to Benigno's homosexuality. "Talk to Her" is not a morality play, and it is even less a social diatribe. It is a thought-provoking film about relationships. If that sounds interesting to you, I highly recommend this film. Spanish with English subtitles.
As is common in movies, you begin to sympathize with the characters, but here they do things to make you think twice about them, not unlike situations in real life where friends reveal their weaknesses.
Marco and Benigno really occupy different facets of the male psyche. Marco is outwardly masculine, but sensitive to the point of tears in the right situations. Benigno is sexually ambiguous and cold emotionally, so his actions later are a big surprise. So while the movie seems to be about the women in these men's lives, it gradually becomes about the friendship they develop between themselves.
The filmmaking is tremendous. The same idea could have been a tedious bore with the wrong director. I will certainly take this as a cue to see Pedro Almodovar's earlier films.
Coincidence is a phenomenon that occurs in most of Almodovar films--in "High Heels," for example, both mother and daughter marry the same man. Coincidence is the method by which Almodovar weaves his characters into his stories--they are in the same place at the same time, and so there is a story to be told. Of course, coincidence is just the term given to events that are connected by some unnameable undercurrent. But for want of a better word, it is a coincidence that both Lydia and Alicia end up in the same hospital--both young women are in comas. Benigno becomes Alicia's nurse, and he thrives at the job--taking additional shifts, exercising her body--but above all, he talks to her--endlessly. Alicia's devoted dance teacher, Katerina Bilova, played by Geraldine Chaplin also haunts Alicia's bedside. She holds entire (but one-sided) conversations with Alicia discussing dance, and Benigno even discusses films he's seen with Alicia.
Marco meets Benigno at the hospital and Marco is at once both fascinated and frustrated by Benigno's ability to nurse and care for the comatose Alicia. Marco is experiencing difficulty with Lydia's current state, and he is unable and incapable of taking Benigno's advice to talk to Lydia. Marco simply cannot communicate with Lydia, and he's rather impatient with the notion--although he's at a loss to explain why. Admiration for Benigno's apparent absorption and devotion leads to a deep bond between the two men.
Past Almodovar films have possessed a certain degree of dark humour. There is none to be found here, but the film--in spite of its subject matter--is not depressing either. Fans of "Tie Me Up, Tie Me Down" will remember one highly controversial scene that excited censors. A very similar scene is found in "Talk to Her," and it may be offensive to some viewers. "Talk to Her" is a rather odd film, and it certainly does not contain conventional morality, heroes, villains, or those who are punished for deeds viewed as evil. This is a story--that's all--no judgement strings attached, but it is simply beautiful. As always, Almodovar carries an optimistic message of acceptance of those who perhaps do not quite fall within the definitions of good or bad behaviour. Almodovar is one of my very favourite directors, and "Talk To Her" is yet another Almodovar masterpiece which will not disappoint Almodovar fans--displacedhuman.
Benigno's portrayal undermines nearly everything in the film. It makes his deep friendship with a journalist (Dario Grandinetti) seem implausible. And it causes Almod—var to abandon the character of Lydia (Rosario Flores), a female bullfighter who dominates the fascinating opening third of the movie. Once we learn a secret Lydia has been hiding, her character (admittedly comatose) vanishes, and she is sorely missed. We're then left with a sort of "love triangle" that rings false in almost every way.
The turning point that sends Talk to Her spinning downward is a short movie-within-the-movie that, at first, is a campy spin on old silent movies. But a few minutes in, it turns into one of those self-pretentiously disturbing scenes (think Prince Charles) that should have a warning sticker on it saying, "Director Going Overboard". You will squirm, and worse, for no real purpose. Almod—var has been hailed as great director and portrayer of women. But you'll be hard pressed to find the subsequent scenes woman-friendly. Talk to Her starts out a fascinating study of relationships, only to then wallow in the literal objectification of women. Here, women are a tool to help men find salvation. It's a stupid and arrogant idea, and it'll make Almod—var no new fans, no matter how clearly talented he may be.
The other major character is Marco, whose bullfighter girlfriend Lydia is gored by a bull and remains in a coma just like Alicia. Marco and Benigno soon strike up a friendship, taking solace in their ability to relate to one another. Soon, as Benigno's troubles grow, Marco becomes his only true friend.
It's a beautiful story that works on many levels. It's about relationships. The "relationships" between two men and the comatose women that they love, and the relationship between the two men themselves. Indeed it can be disturbing at times, particularly as it becomes clear that Beningo has some psychological problems to deal with. However, I found Talk To Her to be an incredibly moving and profound experience.
I have not seem many of Almodovar's films. I enjoyed his 1999 Academy Award-winning All About My Mother, but I found Talk To Her to be even beyond that fine film. Based on this one, I plan to delve deeper into the work of Pedro Almodovar who seems to be a genuinely imaginative, compelling and complex filmmaker.
Almodovar, who won an Oscar for "Talk to Her's" screenplay, spends a lot of time describing the obvious, but the commentary does have its moments. The director ("Matador") returned to the bullfighting arena in this film, and displays a detailed knowledge of the blood sport's rituals. Actress Rosario Flores spent four months learning how to fight, Almodovar says, and actually received offers for representation as a matador.
Almodovar, suffering from a cold, does most of the talking, laughing at his own torrent of words and at one point promising Chaplin, "I'll be silent at any moment." His chipper chat is in contrast to the film's fairly somber tale of two women in comas. Veteran actress Chaplin is respectful of her director and overly reserved.
Images are a bit soft and tend to be flat in outdoor scenes and dark indoors. Colors are OK, but unusually reserved for the director's work. The Spanish-language film comes in adequate Dolby Digital 5.1. Engish subtitles are in bright yellow, clear and easy to follow. Almodovar and Chaplin's commentary is in Spanish, also with subtitles.
The characters all remain enigmatic perhaps even to themselves but obsession proves to be the thing that gives life its meaning as is so often true in Almovodars films. To Almovodar women are mysterious and never moreso than when they are in a coma. By having the object of desire both vulnerable and close and yet so utterly remote at the same time Almovodar gives us his most mysterious meditation on the nature of love yet. The very funny fantasy scenario with shrinking man climbing into sleeping woman is perhaps the most absurd literalization of obsession ever filmed.
Odd, but not bizzare, view of redemption via not-quite-mature love.
It's the story of a mama's boy, who falls in love with a ballerina next-door, but is too shy and selfconscious to woo her in a normal way. But his opportunity comes when she is put into a coma with a traffic accident. He becomes her primary caregiver. He talks to the comatose girl and does her hair, her fingers, massages and washes her daily. Falling in 'love' with an object of desire who never talks back, never interacts except in his head. He is smitten with a silent movie and rapes her one night. fired from the job, jailed, out of touch with the only thing that matters to him, he eventually commits suicide. While she, still comatose delivers a stillborn baby and awakens as a result.
There is much to think about in this gentle movie...Interaction with the woman, interaction with another story line about a comatose bullfighter and her boyfriend. But most of all the story about him. Never loved, yet tender, unable to express himself to a live conscious woman, he truely loves her as a person despite her inability to return his love at all. A surprising movie, worth the time to see.
So why did I make the statement that "Talk to Her could have been a great film"? Because there is a line that needs to be drawn as to what is acceptable in cinema. Western society has progressed beyond the point of rape being anything but bad. Sure every nation may punish rapists differently, but it is assumed that rape is a bad thing. In Talk to Her, a character rapes a comatose woman, and that woman is awoken, revived, saved when she gives birth (a direct result from the rape) to a stillborn child. In my opinion, this is sick and demented, to maintain that a female character can be saved by a rape? The rapist is ostracized from society (and more importantly the comatose woman that he "loves") and rightly punished (jailed), but this does not fix the problem I have, the woman was still "saved" by being raped. It could be argued that his "love" saved her, but that "love" was represented by non-consentual sex. Of course the rapist has an excuse, he's a social outcast, boardering on mental retardation. So, he didn't know better. He didn't know it was wrong. He was only living by his emotions, he wasn't thinking. Does this make it any better? I know this is Spain, a country deeply routed in Catholicism, but was abortion really not an option for a woman that is in a coma and becomes pregnant by rape. Think of the metaphors involved in a much more progressive scenario in which the hospital aborts the baby, and she wakes up. The abortion saves her life. Not the rape.
Without that minor (?) plot point, Talk to Her would rank up there with All About My Mother, as one of Almadovar's greatest films. Instead, Almadovar opened my eyes to his conservative, machismo attitude and closed my eyes to his talents as a filmmaker.
Of course, many Almadovar fans can look right past this. Many did not even notice, or said I was reading into the situation too much. So maybe its just me. Or maybe I now understand what many of my leftist, intellectual friends have told me from the beginning, Almadovar is clearly a product of Franco Spain. I can think of no greater insult.
I love Almodovar, really I do. And I tried, oh how I tried to like this movie. It's visually stunning, after all, and wonderfully acted. And it is an atrocity.
Apparently most of my 40 fellow reviewers have no real problem with the fact that one of the male protagonists of this film, a man portrayed sympathetically as someone capable of great love and tenderness, nevertheless [attacks] the woman he "loves" while she is in a coma.
By itself, this wouldn't make a bad movie. What's bad is that Almodovar seems to REALLY WANT US TO BELIEVE that the [attack] is not an immoral act, that somehow the situation presented is beyond good and evil. Guess what? It's not.
The film's visual and narrative focus totally disempowers the female characters of the film--and not just because two of them are in comas. There's nothing TO the women in this movie. They're just objects, landscapes, tools, for men to use in order to find out just how sensitive they can be and how much love they can have. No thanks. Not interested.
I'm all for movies that force us into uncomfortable identifications with unusual protagonists, but there's a way to do this without making us complicit with the protagonist (Fight Club, for instance). Instead of offering some perspective, Talk to Her visually rapes a female character and then tries to convince us that something beautiful has happened.
What really disturbs me, though, is my fellow 40 reviewers. How exactly do the males among those reviewers look at women? And how do the women among those reviewers look at themselves?
Maybe this time I'm just wrong. But so far, no matter how hard I have tried, I have been unable to convince myself that anything beatiful happened in this movie. And the movie seems to think the opposite. And that, my friends, is very, very disturbing.
I was a little apprehensive about this new film,'Habla con ella,' but I shouldn't have worried as it was another triumph for the Director. Who else could direct a film about two comatose women and two oddball men who are in love with them, one being unnaturally fixated. The two men for the most part would not have even met had they not seen each other at the hospital, where Lydia (Rosorio Flores), and Alicia (Leonore Watting) have close rooms. Both women were dancers so-to-speak, Alicia was a classical ballet student and Lydia, danced with the Toro in the Arena of the noonday sun, the bull hooked Lydia and a car caught Alicia.
The men Benigno, (Javier Camara), a nurse, and the one who talks to Alicia as if she were alive, and Marco (Dario Grandinetti), who is in love with Lydia, who is on the rebound from another affair....
Both men do a great job and you can feel their angst, especially Benigno, as he is not in control of his feelings for Alicia.
There was one of the greatest renditions of 'CU, CU ,RU, CU, CU, PALOMA, that I have ever heard, very sexy and moving.
Also, Almodovar brings in his stars from other pictures. At the nightclub you will see a few actors from All About My Mother. Marisa Paredes, (Huma Rojo) and Cicilia Roth (Manuela) By far Rosorio Flores eats up the camera, especially in her bullring outfit, her face and litheness gives her a wonderfully tormented and tragic look. She is an Almodovar actor.
ciao yaaah69 I give this flick 41/2 out of 5
As in most Almod—var films, this one tells of strange relationships and deep feelings. All the characters are well developed, and the intertwining of the stories is flawless.
Highlights of the film: Caetano Veloso singing "Cucurrucucu paloma" (don't miss Cecilia Roth's and Marisol Paredes' cameos in this scene), the bullfighting scenes, and the silent b&w movie scene.
Kudos to Pedro for another great piece, and for winning the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay -- and shame for the Spanish Cinema people who decided no to postulate this film as their entry in the 2002 Oscars...
The cinematography is no less than exquisite, as is the use of color. The film is touching and unpredictable; the performances are wonderful across the board, including a supporting role splendidly handled by Geraldine Chaplin. What is striking is Almodovar's affection for the characters, despite their flaws and weaknesses. The humor is never at anyone's expense, never cruel. The pain evidenced by the characters is almost matter-of-fact in its presentation--randomly terrible things happen and somehow the survivors must go on.
There are some extraordinary moments, one of the most notable being a remarkable affecting performance of "Cucurrucucu Paloma" by Brazilian actor, singer, director Caetan Veloso. The soundtrack ranks as a cast member, so vital is it to the integrity of the film.
Finally, satisfyingly, the film ends on an optimistic note with more underlayers--of sadness, loss and hope. Intelligent and thoughtful, Talk To Her is a singular accomplishment.
My highest recommendation.
Talk To Her is a story about the friendship between two men, about loneliness and the long convalescence of the wounds provoked by passion. It is also a film about incommunication between couples, and about communication. About cinema as a subject of conversation. About how monologues before a silent person can be an effective form of dialogue. About silence as "eloquence of the body", about film as an ideal vehicle in relationships between people, about how a film told in words can bring time to a standstill and install itself in the lives of the person telling it and the person listening.
Talk To Her is a film about the joy of narration and about words as a weapon against solitude, disease, death and madness. It is also a film about madness, about a type of madness so close to tenderness and common sense that it does not diverge from normality.
Lydia (Rosario Florees) a female bullfighter, gets mauled and this leaves her in a coma. Her new boyfriend Mauricio losyti n what to do, stays with her though he knows her situation may be terminal. Then he accidentally spots a nurse, Benigno, taking care of Alicia, in a coma as well. There's a game of attarction between the four lead people in this film because Mauricio and Benigno are so genuinely in love with the women and eventually they literally fall in love with the other's capacity to love. When confronted about his sexuality, Benigno opts to be homosexual so that Alicia's father, a psychiatrist he saw once while secretly stalking Alicia, won't suspect him as the obsessive he so obviously is.
THe movie, set up literally in neurosis and to some degree psychosis, lensed through love goes even further as Alicia, literally pops up, pregnant. And Benigno's loving devotion starts looking a little too devoted. Eventually mauricio discovers that Lydia is "cheating" on him. She reunited with a lover the day of her mauling who now sits by her side, so he's been replaced. The funniest, most warped scenes are when Lydia and Alicia are propped up in chairs next to each other for visits and sunbathing and Mauricio and Benigno talk both over them and to them. Benigno has perfected the art of
"hearing" Alicia and tries to train Mauricio until scandal erupts with the pregnancy.
Mauricio's devotion to Benigno is touching and even Benigno explains that in order to be visited in prison he had to tell the officials that Mauricio is his lover. Their sympathy deepens into both understanding and friendship in a way that we see Benigno's sexuality has just never been explored by a living person and Mauricio's capacity to love is greater than his masculine ego about his sexuality. To some degree there's this huge question of whether or not this whole mess has co me about to bring the two men together, one man who's always wanted to be devoted to someone living but has settled for his dying mother and then the comatose Alicia, people who can't reject him until he finds someone who loves him, whackiness and all.
I think there comes a point when we all love someone who we can love, regardless of gender, and the body no longer matters. There's a high degree of spirtuality at play in this movie, particularly about love and simply loving someone, being availible to loving someone. There's a couple of twists in the last third of the movie that veer sharply from where this seems like it may go and begins a whole new chapter, a new story between Mauricio and Alicia, which is startling and at the same time suggests that everything before was an attempt to get to that point.
A stupendous film because of a great story, as the best movies always are.
Talk To Her is a story about the friendship between two men, about loneliness and the long convalescence of the wounds provoked by passion. It is also a film about incommunication between couples, and about communication. About cinema as a subject of conversation. About how monologues before a silent person can be an effective form of dialogue. About silence as "eloquence of the body", about film as an ideal vehicle in relationships between people, about how a film told in words can bring time to a standstill and install itself in the lives of the person telling it and the person listening.
Talk To Her is a film about the joy of narration and about words as a weapon against solitude, disease, death and madness. It is also a film about madness, about a type of madness so close to tenderness and common sense that it does not diverge from normality.
By the way, over here (Europe) Mr. Almodovar is considered as a GOD.
For me, one of the most pleasant twists was Almodovar's inclusion of a healthy dose of the best music from Brazil, including a glorious live version of "Cucurrucucu Paloma" by Caetano Veloso... as charming and transcendent a performance as you could ever ask for. Okay, so now a bunch of people are wondering which Caetano albums to buy that sound similar in tone to that song. Off the top of my head, I'd recommend acoustically-oriented records such as 1975's "Coisa" and "Joia," and particularly the more recent European concert album, "Omaggio A Federico E Guilietta," which features Caetano playing with pretty much the same ensemble as seen in the film, and has the same subtle cultural spendor. It also features avant-pop cellist Jacques Morelenbaum, who has been Caetano's bandleader for the last decade or so. They're all favorites of mine, and hopefully of your's as well!
The plot was beautifully summed up by a reviewer on another site with these words: "Marco [Grandinetti] is Sancho to Benigno's [C‡mara's] Quixote, and as Benigno's hopes for his patient [he plays a male nurse] become fantasies, Marco tries to inject reality." As hipnotizing the movie can result there's more to it than a brilliant storyline: direction is impeccable (as usual with Almodovar), filled with details to embellish the story; the music is... well, what else can be said about Alberto Iglesias, Almodovar's long time scorer? This is his most brilliant accomplishment so far!
The best advise I can give you is, get up, grab your keys and shoot for a theater that is playing it: you will laugh, you will cry and you will come back home craving for more. Be in the look for his next work, "La Mala Educacion" where he brings along Gael Garc’a Bernal, the young star from "Amores Perros" and "Y Tu Mama Tambien". This is what happens with Almodovar: once you get started with his movies, you can't get enough of them. You need more!
Benigno and Marco meet for the first time watching a play. Benigno notices how emotive Marco is, and comments the fact with a fellow nurse. Months later, they meet again in the hospital where Alicia and Lidia are interned, and start a friendship based on the fate of the two women.
Even if he's emotive, Marco can't understand why Beningno constantly talks to Alicia, even if she is not able to listen. Marco won't talk to Lidia, not even when Beningno says: "Talk to her. It will do you both good."
This is a good film, but, based on all the hype, and on what everybody else is saying about "Talk to her", I though it was going to be better. Almodovar once again concentrates the main theme of his movie on women, and they are the strongest part of the story, even being both in a coma. Everything revolves around them. "Talk to her" is a big drama, with some funny moments, but a big undisguised drama nonetheless. There are no revolutionary direction techniques, the acting is good, but plain, and the sound score is boring.
The best thing about "Hable con ella" is that you leave the movie in a "thinking mood". You keep thinking about what would you do if you were Benigno, or Marco; you keep wondering if what they have done is right, under the circumstances, or just plainly condemnable.
I thing Almodovar has made better films than this one, like "Carne tremula" (Live flesh) or "Ata-me" (Tie me up, tie me down).
Grade 8.5/10 (barely made 5 stars)
It's about a male nurse, a writer, a ballerina and a bullfighter named Lydia, and the ballerina and the bullfighter are both in a coma during much of the movie.
But "Talk to Her," although it has an unusual premise and moments of great humor, is not a long, bad joke; it is, in fact, one of the most moving and satisfying films of the last year.
The nurse, Benigno (Javier Camara), is pudgy, plain-faced and perhaps a little too friendly to fully trust. Day after day, he carefully dotes on Alicia (Leonor Watling), a dancer who was thrown into a coma by a car accident.
In a bed down the hospital hall, Lydia - who has been critically injured by a bull - is watched by a travel writer, Marco (Dario Grandinetti). Marco loves Lydia but as her condition fails to improve, his sense of despair increases.
"Talk to her," advises Benigno as the two form an awkward friendship.
"Her brain has been turned off," Marco tells him.
"How are you so sure?" asks Benigno. "A woman's brain is a mystery, and in this state even more so."
But Benigno often has the ability to sound wiser than he actually is, and Marco's realization of this fact makes up much of the film's drama.
Spanish director Almodovar (who, on Tuesday, was nominated for an Oscar for directing "Talk to Her") loves to build movies from disparate elements: his plots, structure and style often seem borrowed from soap operas and 1950s melodramas, but his characters, and the situations they find themselves in, are decidedly edgier stuff.
His best known film, "Tie Me Up, Tie Me Down," is at heart an old-fashioned romance which just happens to occur between an escaped mental patient and an adult film star; the mother in "All About My Mother" (for which Almodovar won the 2000 Oscar for best foreign film) is actually a drag queen who has fathered a child with a nun.
"Talk to Her," while slightly tamer, is still a racy outing, and it isn't going to be everybody's cup of tea. But moviegoers who are looking for an unconventional story and don't mind flawed characters will enjoy some amazing scenes: A lovely, musical dream sequence; a series of shots in which Marco helps Lydia into her bullfighter's outfit; a bizarre and severely bawdy silent film imagined by Benigno; and a surprisingly happy ending that seems to come out of nowhere but, in retrospect, makes perfect sense.
Prior to making this film, Almodovar lobbied to direct an adaptation of Michael Cunningham's novel, "The Hours," and was rejected. Clearly, the book remains on his mind
