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Lydia (Rosario Flores) is a female bullfighter in search
of love in Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar's
heartfelt drama Talk to Her.
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Love. Passion. Obsession. These are the recurring themes that connect writer/director Pedro Almodóvar's 20 years of feature filmmaking. His 1986 film, The Law of Desire, is a campy cult movie at best. Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (1987), while being his first worldwide hit, emphasized laughs over storytelling. Kika (1993) was a culmination of his comic kinkiness. The Flower of My Secret (1995), a tale of a romance novelist in search of her own romance, finally showed Almodóvar's potential for melodrama. All the acclaim and the enormous success of his women's ensemble, All About My Mother (1999), including a Best Foreign Picture Academy Award, put the spotlight on his newfound emphasis on characters. One would think that All About My Mother would remain the highlight of Almodóvar's career, but Talk to Her is equally rich, a heartfelt companion to his previous drama and proof that his best work remains ahead of him.
To describe Talk to Her almost makes it appear silly or superficial. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Marco (Dario Grandinetti) is a journalist who first becomes attracted to Lydia (Rosario Flores), a female bullfighter, while watching an interview with her on a bad TV talk show. Lydia has just ended a tortuous love affair with a famous male bullfighter, and she is in need of companionship.
Marco wants to interview her for a magazine article, but he really just wants to meet her. Lydia is initially wary of Marco, but before long, they are together. That is, until she suffers a horrible accident in the bullring and is taken to the hospital in a coma. At the hospital Marco meets and befriends Benigno (Javier Cámara), a special nurse who has a close relationship with his comatose patient, Alicia (Leonar Watling).
The friendship between Marco and Benigno grows. They both love a woman who cannot speak with them. When Benigno gets in trouble for serious indiscretions at work, Marco remains his true friend.
Almodóvar's use of color is not as explosive in Talk to Her. The humor is not as blatant as his early films. It's less screwball comedy than human drama, and while Almodóvar is one of the best directors of screwball comedy around, Talk to Her is better for its serious treatment. There are moments of intense love here, and Marco and Benigno are complex and richly portrayed.
Talk to Her is essentially about loneliness, and no moment articulates this better than a party scene with musician Caetano Veloso. The heartfelt sounds of his voice offer a warm and emotional interlude midway through the movie. Real-life extras like Marisa Paredes and Cecilia Roth listen to Veloso's words, and it's impossible not to be moved by his beautiful singing.
Late into Talk to Her, a comical silent film reveals exactly what Benigno has been doing at the clinic in a sly manner. The context is slapstick funny, but his actions are disturbing. What's worth noting is that Almodóvar never makes light of Benigno's actions -- they're taken seriously, and the film is richer for it.
Talk to Her is essentially about intense feelings of love for women, but it's the relationship between Marco and Benigno that resonates. Grandinetti boasts a rock-solid presence as Marco, whose macho exterior slowly dissolves to reveal his warm, emotional spirit. Flores is appropriately larger-than-life as the female bullfighter. Watling makes an impact as Alicia, a difficult role that calls for silence for most of the film.
Cámara is the true face of Talk to Her, and he brings Benigno to life with all the characters' dark complexities intact. Like many trademark Almodóvar characters, Benigno is a colorful eccentric, but Cámara's performance makes him richer and more lifelike.
His round face and cushy body makes Benigno seem average. Cámara portrays Benigno like a regular guy, someone who lives a life not all that different from our own. We relate to his feelings of loneliness and when his life takes a darker turn, our sympathy for him remains.
Talk to Her contains the rich colors and cool fashion sense of Almodóvar's earlier films, but the photography is less glossy. The heartfelt kinkiness remains, but it takes a backseat to characters.
Human drama takes precedence over the adult sexiness and the cruel physical comedy of past Almodóvar films. The film moves seamlessly across gaps of time and a variety of situations. Its scale is fairly epic, but Almodóvar keeps the story focused on its characters and their emotions.
Basically, he continues to leap forward as a storyteller with Talk to Her, and the results are impressive. Watching this film leads to one simple question: What will Almodóvar do next? Personally, I can't wait to find out.
I've always been impressed that Almodóvar lived a full life before he began making movies. He was a writer for underground magazines in Spain, performed in the theater and played in a Punk Rock band. It's important to note this, because Almodóvar's personal richness reflects the characters he creates and the stories he tells. He's lived a life outside movies, and his movies are better for it.
Another thing becomes clear after watching Talk to Her: Almodóvar is Spain's most significant working filmmaker, and world cinema would be an emptier place without him. He's been making films for over 20 years, and the evolution of his work is impressive. I'm convinced there's no limit to what he's capable of doing.
The tears are honest in Talk to Her, and if that's not a sign of a filmmaker's growth, I don't know what is.
CityBeat grade: A.
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