REVIEW: DVD Release: Broken Embraces

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

REVIEW: DVD Release: Women On The Verge Of A Nervous Breakdown

Film: Women On The Verge Of A Nervous Breakdown
Release date: 4th December 2006
Certificate: 15
Running time: 85 mins
Director: Pedro Almodóvar
Starring: Carmen Maura, Antonio Banderas, Julieta Serrano, Rossy de Palma, María Barranco
Genre: Comedy/Drama
Studio: Optimum
Format: DVD
Country: Spain

Director Pedro Almodovar shot to international fame in 1988 when Women On The Verge Of A Nervous Breakdown was released. It was nominated for an Oscar and won numerous other awards, as well as smashing box office records in Spain. It is a stylish black comedy that oozes visual flair and a sharp sense of humour from start to finish.

Women On The Verge Of A Nervous Breakdown tells the story of Pepa and her desperate attempts to contact her former lover Ivan, who has recently left her for an unknown woman.

The plot thickens when Pepa crosses paths with Lucia, Ivan’s ex-wife, who was recently released from a mental hospital and is convinced that he has vanished with Pepa. Then Pepa’s friend Candela arrives to announce that she is on the run after realising that her lover is a Shiite terrorist.

Things get very unhinged as the hysterical hunt closes in on the womanising Ivan…


Right from the very start, Women On The Verge Of A Nervous Breakdown really fetishises femininity. The opening titles are a collage of old photos of female eyes, mouths, shoes and handbags. Throughout the movie, there are frequent close ups of various details of the female form. In many ways, the film creates an exaggerated identity of femininity on the edge, which shows both weakness and strength. The main male character is barely seen on screen, and his son, played by Antonio Banderas, is very much a mother’s boy. As the title suggests, this is very much a film about women.

Almodovar really puts his cast through their paces, and derives some very strong performances. Despite being a comedy, the acting is solemn and emotive, and there are some moments which are very dramatic rather than funny. Pepa constantly looks on the verge of tears, as do most of the characters. We might be having fun, but the characters certainly aren’t! The direction makes the story much more believable and gripping, whilst at the same time funny and entertaining. This is a tough mixture to get right, but its Almodovar’s forte.

The audience is never told when to laugh; this is high comedy, where the strength of the script generates the humour without the aid of canned laughter and comedic reactions. If you have seen any of Almodovar’s other films then you will be familiar with this dry, dark satirical style. Many of his more recent films have several strands of narrative, whereas Women On The Verge Of A Nervous Breakdown is more conventional and linear by comparison.

However conventional it may be, there is a still strong sense of style, which is thematically inherent and distances the film from the mainstream. There is a striking mise-en-scène which bombards us with vibrant, bold colours in almost every shot. There are many conversations where the camera isn’t facing the characters faces, but is set behind them, placing shot composition above narrative norms. Towards the end of the movie, Lucia is framed from the side, above and behind. Every angle but head on! She is framed with scenery in the foreground, obscuring her body, and leaving us with an image of her apparently floating head. This sequence inspires laughter whilst at the same time building upon Lucia’s insanity, but it is very unorthodox.

Further to the vibrant colours and unconventional angles, there is an almost obsessive attention given to fashion and dressing up. We see Lucia don a wig, Pepa changing her outfit, Candela changes her dress, and each item of clothing we see is striking and bold. Just as we saw in the opening titles, femininity itself is being fetishised. The only problem with such a focus on fashion is that fashions constantly change. At the time the film was made, the fashions were very audacious, and the style appears completely outrageous by today’s standards. This makes the film look a bit dated now, but in a strange way, it also makes it funnier - and gives it a certain nostalgic charm.

Women On The Verge Of A Nervous Breakdown also features several of references to sexuality, as with most Almodovar films. There is even a scene where a woman has an orgasm in her sleep! Once again, this sexual exploration is from the female perspective, and serves to construct an identity of modern femininity, particularly in Spain, which was subjected to heavy censorship during the regime of General Franco.

Another prevailing theme is communication breakdown. Pepa and Ivan barely talk face to face and yet the film is all about their relationship. The phone is frequently broken and then repaired. At the start of the film, we see Ivan recording the dubbing for a scene in a movie, but Pepa, who is doing the voice of the woman in the scene, isn’t there - it is almost like what he is saying isn’t getting through. Later on, we see Pepa recording the lines for the same scene, having her half of the conversation separately.

One thing that really makes the comedy work around the drama is the abundance of personality and quirkiness in just about every character. There is a taxi driver who drives ‘mambo taxi’, a receptionist with a loudspeaker, a Jevoha’s Witness concierge, and an elderly news reader who is actually played by the director’s mother. There is colour not only in the visuals but also in every character, and they will keep you laughing whenever the situational comedy wanes.


It is easy to see why this film was so successful and why Pedro Almodovar has become such a cult icon. Women On The Verge Of A Nervous Breakdown, although slightly dated, has an incredible amount of charm, a great sense of visual style and a quirky wit that makes it a very enjoyable movie. If you are new to Almodovar, then this is the best film to introduce you to him. Women On The Verge Of A Nervous Breakdown is undeniably a grand landmark in Spanish film. DOB

REVIEW: DVD Release: All About My Mother

Film: All About My Mother
Release date: 28th February 2000
Certificate: 15
Running time: 97 mins
Director: Pedro Almodóvar
Starring: Cecilia Roth, Marisa Paredes, Candela Peña, Antonia San Juan, Penélope Cruz
Genre: Drama
Studio: Pathe
Format: DVD
Country: Spain/France

Winner of the 1999 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, All About My Mother is considered to be Spanish director Pedro Almodovar’s best work. It is a celebration of all that is taboo, an inversion of ‘normality’ handled with his usual compassion for all those who tread the borders of acceptable society. During the ‘90s, he was one of Spain’s best-known filmmakers and he remains one of their most loved. He is also credited with introducing international audiences to such household names as Antonio Banderas and Penelope Cruz.

The film opens with Manuela, a single mother who works full time as a Transplant Coordinator to support her son, Esteban. She has left her own dreams of becoming an actress behind to feed his artistic aspiration of becoming a writer. Their relationship is close and nourishing; they share the same interests and like the same films. As parent child relationships go, it is almost perfect.

While watching the movie All About Eve one quiet evening, Esteban starts penning what he jokes will be his future Pulitzer Prize winner, All About My Mother, and here, in his omission, lies hidden the only darkness in their happy world - the lack of a father.

On his seventeenth birthday, Manuela finally decides that her son is old enough to hear the truth, and as they wait in the rain after a showing of Streetcar Named Desire, she tells him as much. Placated, he runs out to get an autograph from the shows star, Huma Roja, but, in his rush, he fails to notice a car speeding towards him. Fate has its way, and steals Esteban away from his mother when he is still little more than a child. The only way that Manuela can think to carry on with her life is to search for the boy’s father and tell him that he had a son, and that his son is dead.

Manuela travels from Madrid to Barcelona and begins the complicated process of tracking down her ex-husband Lola, a drug using transsexual prostitute…


All About My Mother is its own intertext, and the intermingling of art and life is a common theme throughout. The film appears self-consciously aware that there are no new stories to tell, only new ways in which to express them. If it were not for Almodovar’s unusual choice of characters, the plot alone may have appeared re-hashed. That is not to say that the characters were chosen for this reason alone, nor that they appear token or stereotypical, instead their existence is normalised by the well-worn circumstances in which they find themselves.

This is reflected in the film’s cinematography. During Manuela’s first night in Barcelona, she takes a taxi to ‘The Field’ to look for Lola. This innocently named place is a patch of scrubland on the outskirts of town where prostitutes tout for trade. As they drive off, unsuccessful, two women are seen crouched down to the left of the car playing pat-a-cake - it is as fantastically mundane as it is explicit.

The lighting is also used notably, and to great effect, in expressing character. Whenever Huma, the actress from Streetcar, is present, the scene takes on a theatrical look, lit as if it were a stage; often menacing and mysterious, moving towards lighter spectrums as her character becomes more fulfilled.

Life is seen as a series of premonitions. All the major action in the film is foretold; before Esteban dies and Manuela has to donate his organs, he has already been to the hospital she works in to watch her role-play the event as part of staff training. Again, when she plays the part of Stella in Streetcar, having befriended Huma, she knows the lines because she originally learnt them when she played the part in an amateur production, during which she met Lola for the first time.

And it is relationships that are central to this film, especially those between women, or people who have chosen to live their lives as women. When Manuela reaches Barcelona, she discovers Agrado, a woman born a man who has kept her male genitalia as it helps her find work as a prostitute. She is Manuela’s umbilical cord to the past, yet together they help each other move towards the future.

All About My Mother still stands out as unusually accepting in its portrayal of diverse sexualities, and is refreshingly real compared to its overtly emotional Hollywood counterparts. It is a film that applauds people’s unique circumstances and life choices. The only things that are truly frowned upon are judgement and conformity, and although heavy drug use and prostitution should in no way be encouraged, in many ways it would not be the worst piece of art for life to imitate.


Almodovar has successfully created a drama of misfits without reducing his characters to clichés. What comes across most clearly is the joy of being different, if you can accept yourself and revel in your individuality then you can make, and even become, beautiful art. EM

REVIEW: DVD Release: Volver

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

REVIEW: DVD Release: Bad Education

Film: Bad Education
Release date: 27th December 2004

Certificate: 15

Running time: 106 mins

Director: Pedro Almodóvar

Starring: Gael García Bernal, Fele Martínez, Daniel Giménez Cacho, Lluís Homar, Francisco Maestre

Genre: Drama

Studio: Pathe

Format: DVD

Country: Spain

For those who don’t know much about the work of Almodóvar, Bad Education may come as a bit of a shock. Although rated 15, it is a daringly blatant criticism of the Catholic faith, with child abuse, homosexual lust, drugs and sex galore. It is also a compelling mystery with an astounding plot.

It would be wrong, and probably impossible, to try to summarise the plot, as the delight of viewing this film lies principally in its intrigue. Instead you need to take into account the bold characters and daring approach which make it so unique. The film is quite demanding on the audience - emotionally and intellectually - as we try to unravel the threads that link the characters and their secrets. As the story develops it flits between three time settings: childhood in a Catholic boarding school, 1970s Valencia and 1980s Madrid, which provides the present day setting and starting point of the film.

Here we meet Ignacio, who prefers to be known as Angel, and Enrique, two former school friends, now in their thirties, who have not seen each other since boyhood. Angel has written a script – ‘The Visit’ - detailing the secrets of the former friends’ Catholic schooling, and so we are transported to this period. We learn, with few details spared, about the restraints and suffering imposed during an upbringing under these circumstances in Franco’s Spain. We also understand just why the boys were so close, what united them, and what threw them apart. This is an attack on strict religion, showing that not only did it lead to suffering, but was hypocritical coming from the priests. Besides, it did not have the desired impact on the boys, as Enrique claims at a young age ‘I’m a hedonist’…


Theirs is a complex relationship, made even more so by the ending of ‘The Visit’, in which the young Ignacio has become ‘Zahara’, a quick-witted, stylish, confident and drug dependent transsexual who seeks revenge on the church, and in particular on Father Manolo, for the repression and abuse caused in Ignacio’s childhood. It becomes difficult to distinguish fact from fiction, as the sinister and sad Father Manolo is all real, but if Ignacio became Angel, then where did Zahara come from? Back to 1980s Madrid and Angel is an aspiring actor, and Enrique a director. In Angel’s desire to play the part of Zahara, it seems he is willing to go to extreme lengths, leading to suspicion on Enrique’s part about what really happened in the intervening years. He finds the answers to some of his questions by visiting Ignacio’s mother and uncovering another key character, Ignacio’s brother Juan.

However, it becomes clear that it is Father Manolo who is in control, as he held the keys not only to the boys’ freedom and futures, but now also to each of the intricately woven plots from each time setting. When he appears on the set of ‘The Visit’, Enrique and the audience will find the answers to all the questions raised throughout the film. Who is Ignacio? Why did he become Angel? What happened to Zahara? And where does Juan come into this?

Bad Education is at once intricate and extravagant, bold and beautiful, shocking and touching. It is a story of unparalleled loyalty and downright deceit. It is a sad, brave and honest portrayal of misplaced love and eroticism, and confused identities.

Everything about this film, from the truly phenomenal performance by Garcia Bernal, to the intriguing storyline complete with obligatory transvestites, screams Almodóvar. The audience is treated to his trademark stylish madrileño setting and some stunningly beautifully composed scenes, and costume design by Jean Paul Gaultier. Its triumph, however, is the plot, which successfully combines a myriad of characters, time settings, and the relationships between each. Whoever said there are only seven possible plot-lines had not contemplated this!


Bad Education is not for you if you are easily shocked, or if you like a predictable ending - and it does take some concentration if you are to follow it properly. Persevere, and you will be amazed. Bad Education is a masterpiece.