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Film: Broken Embraces
Release date: 1st February 2010
Certificate: 18
Running time: 124 mins
Director: Pedro Almodóvar
Starring: Penélope Cruz, Lluís Homar, Blanca Portillo, José Luis Gómez, Rubén Ochandiano
Genre: Drama/Romance/Thriller
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Format: DVD
Country: Spain
Acclaimed Spanish director Pedro Almodόvar reunites with his long-time collaborator Penélope Cruz for his 17th full-length feature in a tale that explores themes of vision, identity and betrayal. Released to great acclaim, Broken Embraces was selected to compete for the Palme d’Or at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival and garnered various other international awards, including a number of BAFTA nominations.
Set in 2008, the story focuses on the life of the blind writer and director Mateo Blanco (played by Lluís Homar) who lost his sight in an accident fourteen years previously. Discarding his original name following the accident, and the subsequent end of his directing career, he adopts the name of Harry Caine – possibly a subtle reference to the hurricane of events that led to this change of name – and spends his days writing scripts and stories. His closest friends are his agent and former production manager Judit (Blanca Portillo) and her teenage son Diego (played by Tamar Novas).
Upon learning of the death of infamous businessman Ernesto Martel (José Luis Gómez), Caine is visited by a young aspiring filmmaker called Ray X, who asks him to write a screenplay about a man who can only rebuild his life after the death of his detested father. Caine, with the encouragement of Judit, turns him down, quickly sussing out Ray X’s identity as Martel’s son.
Ray X’s appearance re-awakens the memories of the events that changed Caine’s life in 1994. When Diego suffers an accidental drug overdose, Caine takes him under his wing while Judit is away, and tells Diego of his previous life as a film director on a film titled Girls And Suitcases. In a series of flashbacks, we learn how Caine gave the lead role to the beautiful Lena (Penélope Cruz), with whom he was having a love affair, and who happened to be the Ernesto Martel’s mistress. Devastated by Lena’s betrayal, Martel plots his revenge, and sets into motion a series of events that can only end in tragedy...
Broken Embraces does not mark new terrain for Almodόvar. The film explores similar themes to some of his previous work, and the director’s shift towards the stylistic reference points of film noir, in particular, was evident in Bad Education. However, Broken Embraces boasts magnificent central performances by Cruz as the doomed Lena and Homar as the remorseful Caine/Blanco that prevents the narrative from feeling tired or repetitive. Cruz’s on-screen charisma is central to the film, and allows the love triangle between Lena, Harry Caine and Ernesto Martel to be both believable and intriguing. José Luis Gómez also puts in a strong performance as Ernesto Martel, carefully treading the line between odious and pathetic in his lust for Lena.
Whereas Broken Embraces is imbued with many of Almodόvar’s typical stylistic touches – primary colours, snappy dialogue, and oddball characters – what sets it apart is the manner in which it makes reference to cinema as a medium. Reprising the film-in-film technique established in the aforementioned Bad Education, Almodόvar spends a significant portion of Broken Embraces showing us people being filmed, filming others, or watching their loved ones betray them on film. Some of the most entertaining moments in the film involve Caine directing a movie that is essentially Almόdovar-lite (the fictional Girls And Suitcases is clearly a nod to his earlier work such as Women On The Verge Of A Nervous Breakdown and Pepi Luci Bom), while trying to shake off the young Ray X who is simultaneously shooting a documentary on the making of Girls And Suitcases. Almόdovar presents cinema as the purveyor of truth and fiction throughout Broken Embraces, with the medium being used to destroy one moment (as in the case of the released cut of Girls And Suitcases) and reveal truths the next. In one telling scene, a distraught Martel is watching Lena confess her infidelity on-screen as she enters the room. As she stands behind him repeating her confession, Martel sits transfixed by her on-screen image, never once turning to face her.
Disappointingly, the film’s final third fails to live up to the fascinating premise. Lena’s departure robs the film of one of its most interesting characters, and the film does not succeed in carrying the momentum it held through to its conclusion. A number of revelations towards the end of the film fall flat and do not have the emotional impact one would hope for. Furthermore, various plot strands are tied up in increasingly implausible manners, and Harry Caine’s final transformation appears more of a casual afterthought than the exorcising of demons Almόdovar hopes it to be. The web of intrigue that the film has built up throughout its opening ninety minutes is never unravelled in a satisfying manner and leaves the viewer with a sense of dismay. “Films have to be finished, even if you do it blindly,” observes Caine during the film’s closing scene. Unfortunately, it feels as though Almόdovar heeds that advice too closely.
Broken Embraces is a touching, romantic and entertaining film for the most part, which stumbles just when it should be hitting its stride. The excellent central performances and interesting premise manage to save it from a clumsy and convoluted final third, yet it does not succeed in reaching the heights of Almόdovar’s previous work. NBO
Film: Jamon Jamon
Release date: 27th December 2000
Certificate: 18
Running time: 90 mins
Director: Bigas Luna
Starring: Penelope Cruz, Javier Bardem, Anna Galiena, Stefania Sandrelli, Juan Diego
Genre: Comedy/Drama/Romance
Studio: Tartan
Format: DVD
Country: Spain
Amidst the barren landscape of rural Spain, the silhouette of a bull sways in the breeze. Echoes of vintage motorcycle engines and tinny radios fill the air, while bull-fighting and steamy passion seem a hallucination. One third of Bigas Luna’s Iberian Trilogy, Jamón Jamón indulges audiences in a passionate tale of love and lust blended with an abstract and farcical portrayal of masculinity against a contemporary Spanish background. The film juggles the themes of the stereotypical Spanish machismo, the motif of food (ham, omelettes and, oddly enough, garlic) and sexual magnetism, thus resulting in a film that is invigorating, comic, and tragic.
The film follows the lives of the seemingly star-crossed lovers Silvia (Penelope Cruz) and Jose Luis (Jordi Molla), who have plans to marry. However, Silvia’s mother Carmen (played by Anna Galiena) is the local prostitute, while Jose is heir to a fortune, the business of selling ‘Samson’ underwear.
With this connection fuelling her dislike of Silvia, Jose's malicious mother Conchita (Stefania Sandrelli) makes it her mission to end their relationship. To add insult to injury, Carmen had a previous relation with Conchita’s husband and Jose’s father Manuel (Juan Diego).
Sly and manipulative, Conchita goes behind their backs and employs the assistance of a young and fiercely attractive Javier Bardem, whose early appearance in this film portrays Raul, a cocky delivery man set in the trajectory of Silvia’s affections…
Causing chaos and confusion in every scene, Raul proves to personify the stereotypical Spanish macho-man while providing comic relief in an otherwise dense narrative. The intricate web of relationships leads to an uncontrollable spiral of carnage and melodrama.
Opened to the public in 1992, Luna had chosen an important and socially pivotal year for the hedonistic and complex Jamón Jamón to be released, which happened to be during the decline of the socialist government and, at the time, of the famous Expo’ 92. It also marked the beginning of a change in the stylistic direction of contemporary Spanish cinema, seeing the Spanish film industry become more self-regulating and independent, an increase in the amount of co-productions being made, and a merging of the styles of art film and commercial cinema.
Jamón Jamón mirrors the ambiguous identity not only of Spanish cinema, but of the Spanish stereotypes most human (macho man Raul) and symbolic (the bull shaped billboard once a symbol for Veterano brandy). Bardem’s performance is passionate and strong, while Penelope Cruz introduces us to her delicate yet irresistible style of acting. The pair bring to Jamón Jamón the same on-screen chemistry which is present in Woody Allen’s 2008 film Vicky Cristina Barcelona.
The film is lusty and intriguing, presenting the audience with explicit scenes of passion and illicit affairs exempt of morals. Such a succession of partner-swapping allows plenty of openly erotic moments, partnered with the absurdity and humour that makes up the package of the film. It flawlessly combines melodrama with tragedy, jarringly switching from an energetic and sexually carefree farce ending in a collision of coincidences with grave results.
The themes concerning masculinity and femininity are clear, and are presented in a strong and fearless fashion. However, aside from the brash sexual representations and exploration of the male image, the film does not have many other factors which standout from the rest. It poses a stimulating and lively script, and the acting is admittedly impressive, but at no point during the film are the audience given the chance of relating to the characters due to the abstract and absurd nature of the plot. As mentioned before, the characters are not put forward to the audience to impose any morals or ethics; they are simply vehicles for a representation of what it is to be tangled in one of the most warped-love situations Spanish cinema has ever had to offer.
If it’s romance and happy endings you’re looking for, you’d be well advised to keep on looking. Luna brings diversity to the age-old tale of forbidden love with a touch of the grotesque and the result is fascinating. With passionate performances and enough comic relief to keep you from digging your tongue through your cheek too much, Jamón Jamón is a wonderfully lusty piece of filmic escapism. ES
Film: Volver
Release date: 13th August 2007
Certificate: 15
Running time: 116 mins
Director: Pedro Almodóvar
Starring: Penélope Cruz, Carmen Maura, Lola Dueñas, Blanca Portillo, Yohana Cobo
Genre: Comedy/Crime/Drama
Studio: Pathe
Format: DVD
Country: Spain
Penelope Cruz and director Pedro Almodovar come together once again, this time exploring the lives (and death) of six women in his acclaimed drama, which won Best Screenplay at Cannes in 2006.
Volver opens with a wonderful sweeping shot of women cleaning graves, where sisters Raimunda (played by Cruz) and Sole (Lola Dueñas), with Raimunda’s teenage daughter Paula (Yohana Cobo), attend to the grave of their parents, who died in a fire four years earlier. More is revealed about this later in the film, but in the meantime we begin to learn about the lives of these incredible female characters.
The sisters grew up in a village in La Mancha, where Almodovar himself spent his youth, and now live in Madrid. Raimunda is a hardworking mother, whom you immediately warm to when you meet her layabout boyfriend Paco (Antonio de la Torre), who sits in front of the TV recounting how he has lost his job, while she seethes in the kitchen. After Paco makes sexual advances towards her daughter, a threatened Paula reacts in self defence and Raimunda returns to the house to find Paco stabbed to death on the kitchen floor. Cue amusing shots of Raimunda attempting to clean up the mess with kitchen towel and a mop, then answering the door with a splash of blood on her chest (the problem? “Women’s troubles,” of course – and not entirely inaccurate). The cover-up operation follows as she works out what to do, all the time insisting that she will take the blame for the incident.
Divorced elder sister Sole, meanwhile, has had an unsettling vision of their mother as a ghost (an appearance by Carmen Maura after a long break from working with Almodovar) when the girls go to visit their wonderful, slightly senile aunt. The mother’s appearance will prove significant both for the sisters and the character Agustina, as she returns to reconcile issues from beyond the grave - fulfilling the title Volver, which literally means ‘to return’ in Spanish...
What carries this film are the outstanding performances by the lead actresses, an ensemble female cast that won a joint Best Actress prize at Cannes. United through family, friendship and love, the strength of these characters shines through. The sheer determination of Raimunda, who is ultimately the movie’s heroine, is eminent. She is clever and resourceful, opening up a neighbour’s restaurant to serve food to a nearby movie crew to earn much needed cash. Even in scenes where she is wrestling with Paco’s corpse to try and manoeuvre it into the freezer (where it stays for while as she runs the restaurant), you are completely rooting for her.
Many of Almodovar’s movies deal with tough issues, such as death, illness and torn relationships, which could make a film downbeat and depressing in the hands of other directors. But it is the warm-hearted friendships, family ties and, most importantly, humour which resonates in Almodovar’s work. This is illustrated in his earlier film All About My Mother, where Penelope Cruz plays a nun who becomes both pregnant and HIV positive after a relationship with a transsexual. Yet despite the subject matter, the film is surprisingly uplifting, and the same can be said for Volver, arguably even more so. Watching Volver leaves you feeling that these characters could conquer the world.
Penelope Cruz, in particular, really stands out in the film, and not just because of her stunning looks and prosthetic bottom. Cruz and Pedro Almodovar really seem to bring out the best in each other. She has starred in four of his films to date, and has been widely quoted saying Almodovar inspired her to start acting. Besides great performances, the strength of the film also lies in the intricate plot, which gradually unfolds as the movie draws on. The director rarely reveals too much of the plot at once, instead giving you hints of a narrative, and then cleverly pulling it all together at the end - usually with some kind of unexpected twist.
It’s gripping stuff, as well as warm, funny and genuinely uplifting. A highlight from an incredibly talented director who just seems to get better and better with each release. KB
