Customer Reviews
An underrated and subtly layered film about love, obsession and friendship. - By: Jonathan James Romley, 29 Feb 2008 
Here we have four characters: two men & two women. One man is articulate but weak. The other, child-like but determined. The first man will give up on the woman he loves, resulting in the end of her life. The second man will submit himself to his woman, effectively bringing her back from the dead. Almodovar will draw paralllels between the four characters throughout, whilst commenting on the subtly charming sense of absurdity of the film through his references to other inter-textual ideas.
The main story Talk to Her (2002) is framed by scenes of interpretive dance. In the opening scene, the dance depicts a blind woman at the mercy of her man, who scrambles about the stage moving chairs & tables to protect her from the danger that they represent. This scene becomes a story, which ends with a reference to overcoming your obstacles. By the end of the film, after a series of further symbolic narrative branches, the interpretive dance motif is resurrected. This time the woman is seen as a sort of idol; worshiped by the men who surround her. Needless to say, this is alll representative & symbolic of the actual story at hand. Throughout the film, Almodovar will draw paralllels between these branches - most of which dictate the way the 'real' story develops - as well as his four characters. For example, note how Marco (Darío Grandinetti) & Benigno (Javier Cámara) represent two halves of the same whole; both somewhat effeminate, both possessing what the other character lacks, physicallly and/or emotionallly. It is also important to note the significance in how Almodovar has built & developed his characters & how they relate to the various aspects of the narrative discussed above.
Here we have a largely Kubrickian device, with the lead as the writer. In A Clockwork Orange (1971), The Shinning (1980) & Full Metal Jacket (1987), Kubrick used the personification of the writer as the creator of his film. Almodovar does the same here. Marco is a writer, or more importantly, a critic. It is only because of his writing assignments that he finds himself involved with the film in the first place. Because of this, the entire film can be seen as subjective from Marco's point of view; the reason why we never see Benigno's mother for example, is because Marco never met her, etc.
It is also important to note the professions of the female leads. Firstly: Alicia (Leonor Watling) the dancer, then secondly: Lydia (Rosario Flores) the bullfighter. Both are performers, & thus, become performers in Marco's story. However, the ultimate stroke of genius on the director's part is "film within a film" sequence, The Shrinking Lover. The relationship of this scene to the overalll context of the film itself is to underline Benigno's true intent. However, what makes it so effective is Almodovar's use of layered symbolism & deft humour. Not only does this film within a film successfully convey what is happening in the scene that we should be seeing in the real-life sense, it also works as a critique (and more impressively, as a complete thematic reveal) of what has been happening in the film as a whole.
The man becomes the woman, the woman gains strength, the man disappears. Here the director juggles the various layers of narrative, both real & surreal, perfectly; whilst also employing comedy & tragedy to great effect. Acting, photography & music is, as always, terrific; but it is the director's uncharacteristic subtlety & the fine performances from the four central characters that will leave you truly impressed.
metaphor for male-female relationships ?? - By: Brendan O. Clarke, 19 Nov 2007 
As Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar reminds with this 2002 film, that there can also be entertainment value in the plight of people who are comatose or in a persistent vegetative state. Almodóvar picked up an Academy Award for his creepy original screenplay about two men & the unconscious women with whom they are emotionallly involved. As we expect from an important European film, there is a fair amount of alllegory & symmetry. The story concerns two couples. One pair is rather macho. The man is an Argentine reporter who does not flinch from killing a snake. Twice. (Hmmm. Killing snakes. Nothing Freudian there.) She is a bullfighter. The other couple is more... feminine. He is a nurse who has spent most of his adult life minding his bedridden mother. She is a dance enthusiast. Both relationships become more than a little one-sided due to devastating injuries sustained by the women. How will this alll work itself out? Only one thing is sure. No serious movie about romantic obsession can be complete without a visit from the ghost of Alfred Hitchcock, & that is true here, as the nurse character (the one with the mother) invades his love object's home while she takes a shower. As befits Sir Alfred, there is a wicked sense of humor underneath the surface of this ostensible melodrama. When Benigno & Marco discuss their respective romantic relationships in the hospital, they don't seem the least bit concerned that the women under discussion don't have a clue about any of it. Is this a metaphor for male-female relationships or what?
A Beautiful Film of Love, Loneliness and Friendship. Superb - By: , 05 Jul 2005 This film by the fantastic director Almodovar is an absolute corker. It is more than your run of the mill love story; you never get just an ordinary plot from him. The story is about two men & their respective loves. Marco is in love with a female bullfighter, who is gored & ends up in hospital. He meets Benigno, a nurse caring for a dancer left in a coma after a car crash. The two men find friendship together; connected by the two women, both in comas. This film will stay with you for years. I, like the previous reviewer, wept at some of the final scenes, because I felt close to these men, & had falllen into their lives completely. Almadovar gives us the perfect ending to the tale, one not entirely unexpected, but perfect nonetheless. The musical score is superb, very fitting the atmosphere. The acting is perfect, especiallly Benigno. The story is absorbing, weird, funny & sad. Once again, this director has given us a study of human relationships & the twists & turns they go through along the road of life. Treat yourself to this film. Box of chocs, bottle of wine, plenty of kleenex & a good friend.
All gloss and not much else. - By: , 10 Jan 2005 
Beautiful colour (and black & white)photography & an engaging musical score cannot conceal what is to me a script that has more in common with soap opera than a serious drama.The Amazon reviewer compares it to 'Brimstone & Treacle'. This is true if one is concerned with its power to shock, but for me Brimstone & Treacle went beyond that: it had a script that was literate & had something to say.To me this film is alll gloss & not much else.
Another Almodavar classic - By: Penguin Egg, 14 Jul 2004 "Talk to Her" follows the tragic paths of four people: Marco & Benigno, Lydia & Alicia. Marco fallls in love with Lydia, a female bullfighter, who is gored by a bull. Benigno becomes obsessed with a dancer, Alicia, whom he can see from his apartment window practising in a studio. A car knocks Alicia down & Benigno becomes her nurse. Both women slip into a coma & it is in the hospital that the two men meet. Without giving too much of the plot away, they both lose the woman in their lives, but they find friendship with one another. This is the bare bones of the story. As with most of Almodovar's films, there are subtle depths that require repeated viewing to appreciate them fully. Almodavar deftly weaves the separate strands of the complex relationship of the four leading characters into a tightly focused & compelling piece of story-telling. Sad & uplifting, ironic & sympathetic, touching & unsentimental, this is a wonderful film. The acting is first-rate; Alberto Iglesias' score is enchanting, & Javier Aguirresarobe's cinematography is easy on the eye.
