Talk to Her (2002)

A Disappointing Continuation

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

This film so intensely dehumanizes comatose women and so romanticizes and apologizes for rapists that you see all these nauseating reviews applauding it. People get so sucked in that they are not even realizing what they are watching - the rape of patients in comas. Read that again. This is manipulative filmmaking at it's WORST. Sickening and insulting to abuse victims.

If you've seen any of Pedro Almodóvar's movies, then you should know that he tends to focus on relationships and how the relationships can affect the people involved. "Hable con ella" ("Talk to Her" in English) looks at a most unusual kind of relationship: a four-way relationship between a pair of men caring for comatose women. As always, Almodóvar makes sure to create multidimensional characters, especially the female characters (contast that with Michael Bay's movies, wherein the women are just eye candy). The storytelling in flashback reminded me of Almodóvar's more recent "Broken Embraces", which told the story of damaged relationships. But however the story gets told, we have here one of the most profound and intellectually stimulating movies of the 21st century; not that I would expect otherwise from Spain's most famous director. In case you doubted that Almodóvar likes to push the limit, check out the movie-within-a-movie. Seriously, not even John Waters has ever come up with that! I highly recommend it. Outstanding direction and performances from all the cast members.

Good film including interesting drama , colorful cinematography , sensitive score and nice interpretations by all-Spanish-star-cast . Almodovar successful melodrama about two comatose women and the men who love them , including his ordinary rare characters , twisted situations and eccentric events . Two men Benigno (Javier Camera ,this role is based on Pedro Almodóvar's close friend Roberto Benigni) , and Marco (Dario Grandinetti) share an odd friendship while they care for two women , Alicia (Leonor Watling) and Lydia (Rosario Flores) in very different ways , who are both in deep comas .Agreeable film full of feeling , outlandish characters full of desire and love , haunting mood-pieces , unforgettable as well as outrageous images , and sense of style . The picture deals with off-the-wall/intense drama , loneliness familiar absurdities , superb scenes , a haunting meditation on love with dysfunctional roles and many other things . Here deals with existences of the four peculiar roles : a nurse , a ballerina , a writer , and a bullfighter , whose fates will flow in all directions, past , present and future , dragging all of them towards an unsuspected finale . A silent segment , played by Paz Vega and Fele Martinez , is awesome with shocking as well as funny images . This strange as well as excessive melodrama could only have been made by Almodovar . The picture is pretty well and turns out to be superior to Almodovar's previous entries such as or ¨Live flesh¨ , ¨The flower of my secret¨ , ¨Kika¨ , ¨High heels¨ , ¨Atame¨ and ¨Entre Tinieblas¨, all of them strong and outlandish dramas . The result is undiluted scabrous flick , plenty of crazy strings of plots and sharp images with enjoyable situations . I liked everyone in the excellent cast, and the male and female actors , especially Leonor Watling , were all very attractive . Furthermore , a notorious support cast such as Lola Dueñas , Roberto Álvarez , Elena Anaya , Chus Lampreave , Adolfo Fernández , Ana Fernández , Jose Sancho , Carmen Machi , Loles León , Fele Martínez and other delightfully played roles . In addition , spectacular dancing carried out by Pina Bausch and her professional dancer group . And a lot of cameos : Cecilia Roth, Marisa Paredes: frequent Pedro Almodóvar actors appear briefly when Caetano Veloso is singing . As usual in most of Pedro Almodóvar's movies, there is a small role for Agustín Almodóvar, his brother and producer of the film, who plays the priest conducting the wedding is the producer of the film . Rousing musical score by Alberto Iglesias , Almodovar's ordinary ; including some marvelous songs . Colorful and luxurious cinematography in Panavision , beautifully photographed by Javier Aguirresarove . This one-of-a-kind picture was realized in his peculiar style by Pedro Almodovar ; he often uses symbolism and metaphorical techniques to portray circular story lines though here he directs a special melodrama , including his ordinary touches . He won an Academy Award for Best Original screen-play and it was chosen by "Les Cahiers du cinéma" as one of the 10 best pictures of 2002 . Almodovar directs throughout with splendid zip and he usually portrays strong female characters and transsexuals and along his career getting some important international prizes . His first feature film, Pepi, Luci, Bom (1980), was made in 16 mm and blown-up to 35 mm for public release . In 1987, he and his brother Agustín Almodóvar established their own production company : El Deseo, S. A. The "Almodóvar phenomenon" has reached all over the world , making his films very popular in many countries . Oscar-winning Spanish director Pedro Almodovar who made successes such as Labyrinth of passions , Law of desire , Women on the verge of a nervous breakdown , Bad education , All about my mother , Broken embraces , The Skin I Live In , Volver and many others . The latest from acclaimed Spanish director , Pedro Almodovar's I'm So Excited (Los Amantes Pasajeros) competing for the inaugural best European comedy honor during the upcoming 26th edition of the European Film Awards

Pedro Almodóvar follows his international success All About My Mother with an offbeat drama that explores the friendship of two men brought together under unusual but strangely similar circumstances. Benigno (Javier Camára) is a male nurse whose apartment overlooks a dance studio run by Katerina (Geraldine Chaplin); he often sits on his balcony and watches one of Katerina's students, Alicia (Leonor Watling), and he finds himself becoming infatuated with her. When Alicia is severely injured in an auto accident that leaves her in a coma, Benigno discovers she has been admitted to the hospital where he works, and he spends his days caring for a woman he now deeply loves but has barely met. Marco (Darío Grandinetti) is a journalist who was assigned to interview Lydia (Rosario Flores), a well-known female bullfighter whose on-the-rocks romance with another toreador, "El Niño de Valencia" (Adolfo Fernández), has made her the focus of the tabloid press. During Marco's interview with Lydia, he goes out of his way to treat her kindly, and she appears to return his attention. During the bullfight which follows, Lydia is gored by the bull, and is now in a coma; Marco is certain his interview broke her steely concentration, and he spends most of his days at the hospital, convinced her injuries are his fault. Alicia and Lydia are both housed in the same ward of the same hospital, and in time Benigno and Marco become close friends, bonding in their shared devotion to women who cannot return their affection.