Courtesy of Sony Picture Classics
Penélope Cruz, framed by a colorful Almodóvar set.
How will you spend your Thanksgiving break?
"Broken Embraces," writer-director Pedro Almodóvar's long-awaited new film, quenches our thirst for beautiful imagery and tells a dark tale of jealousy, multifarious love and secrets.
The tangled love story follows Mateo Blanco (Lluís Homar), a former film director who takes on the full identity of his writer's pseudonym, Harry Caine, after a traumatic accident.
Mateo didn't just lose a portion of himself in the accident — he also loses the love of his life, Lena (Penélope Cruz), as well as his sight. Now he lives the complicated life of a blind screenwriter, assisted by his former lover and production manager (Blanca Portillo) and her son. Throughout the film, Caine leads us through repressed memories of his past life as Mateo, unraveling long-kept secrets and eventually arriving at essential truths about himself.
Almodóvar's visionary eye assures that the camera depicts simple actions in the most artistic way, which results in beauty and suspense. Numerous crisp reflection shots through a glossy closet door and a young girl's eye relay the significance of sight while presenting a different perception of everyday occurrences. Delicately framed embraces and sex scenes further define the film's characters, conveying the triviality of sex without love, the tension of desire and the coldness of withdrawal.
Cruz fully inhabits the role of a struggling young woman who transforms into a stunning actress, adapting to the character's secretive and desperate nature. Homar's performance as both a blind man in denial and a dangerously obsessed director is exceptionally believable, while Portillo shines amid the melodrama as a real and grounding character.
There are a few superfluous moments in "Broken Embraces," but Almodóvar's compelling story of desperation and abused power is undoubtedly worth seeing. The imaginative direction and deeply drawn characters move us toward a recognition and acceptance of vivacity within everyday life. It's an exceptionally moving film.
