Review of Talk to Her (2002) by Stephens. — 18 Apr 2003
[**Potential Spoilers**] With this mature Almodovar work, gone is the glitz of ten years ago, but not the subversion. If you want a movie that neatly mirrors your own set of prejudices, forget about Talk to Her.
The attraction of Almodovar is that he tempers outré sensibilities with the exhausting disciplines of the true cineaste. Suspect situations that would turn to mush in most hands are transformed by the precise emotions elicited from loyal ensembles of actors.
The contrivance here is the unlikely friendship struck up by two fellows watching over their comatose loved ones at a hospital. Of course, they?ve already met by chance, at an avant-garde Pina Bausch performance, the one (Benigno) having been struck by the other?s (Marco) tears of feeling.
If Almodovar has been esteemed for his depictions of women, here the men?s deepening friendship takes centre stage, filmed against masculine red-earth hues. Marco is infuriated when Benigno wants to wed the apparently brain-dead woman he nurses every day, even more so by his moderate suggestion that they would get along as well as most married couples.
Nonetheless, he stands by his (disintegrating) man to the bittersweet end. The most outrageous gag is the reworking of The Incredible Shrinking Man as the ultimate back-to-the-womb fantasy. The subtle joke occurs when the ashen doctor first emerges from the suite of Marco?s girlfriend, gored senseless while bullfighting.
In every other movie, he?d break the bad news in the time-honoured fashion. Almodovar?s twist is that the hapless medic can?t get a word in edgeways, as his intended audience of loved ones dissolves into a Spanish maze of side-conversations.
This review of Talk to Her (2002) was written by Stephens. on 18 Apr 2003.
Talk to Her has generally received very positive reviews.
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