Review: Broken Embraces ***
Article published: Tuesday, August 25th 2009
Dir: Pedro Almodóvar
Starring: Penélope Cruz; Lluís Homar; Blanca Portillo; José Luis Gómez
Almodóvar’s latest drama reunites the director with his Oscar winning muse and, after the success of Volver (2006), has been eagerly anticipated. Cruz once again takes centre stage, playing a secretary-turned-actress struggling in the grips of two obsessive men, Mateo (Homar) and Ernesto (Gómez).
Mateo, an aging film director, has adopted an alternate persona after being blinded in an accident. Through conversations with his young friend Diego we discover Mateo’s true and complicated past: his love affair with Lena, trapped in the snares of the wealthy and powerful Ernesto, who took Lena as his mistress and refuses to be separated from her. Documenting the unfolding drama with his video camera is Ernesto’s gay son, himself an aspiring filmmaker.
Obsession, fidelity, betrayal and jealousy are all familiar Almodóvar motifs revisited here. Identity also figures prominently as the writer/director explores the extent to which we are able to change who we are. While Mateo slips easily into his new identity, changing his name, profession, and whereabouts as he desires, Lena is trapped by Ernesto’s money and authority. Throughout the film we witness her desperate and ultimately futile attempts to assert herself professionally as well as personally.
It is difficult not to compare Broken Embraces to Almodóvar’s previous films. Viewers familiar with the director will undoubtedly recognise elements that echo his earlier work. The film-within-a-film aspect is reminiscent of Bad Education (2004), while Diego’s coma recalls the young ballerina languishing through Javier Camara’s probing in Talk To Her (2002). Many regular collaborators, including Lola Duenas and Chus Lampreave, make cursory appearances. Women fighting to survive in a world that belongs to men is a theme that runs through many of Almodóvar’s films and here, again, the strongest thread is Lena’s struggle to build herself a meaningful existence.
Other similarities are, alas, superficial. While Broken Embraces is entertaining and engaging—due in large part to the exquisitely beautiful Cruz—it lacks Almodóvar’s customary magic. We see no evidence of the director’s affection for his native Spain. All About My Mother (1999) was a visual homage to the city of Madrid, while Volver swept the surrounding countryside and dealt intimately with village life. Pepi, Luci, Bom (1980), Almodóvar’s earliest commercial film, celebrated the vibrant punk scene that blossomed in post-Franco Spain. Aside from a cameo appearance of a blender full of gazpacho, however, Broken Embrances could just as easily take place anywhere; substitute minestrone and you’re in Italy. It is disappointingly devoid of a sense of place and lacks the burlesque glamour that peppers his earlier films.
Broken Embrances leaves the viewer questioning the purpose of the film and wishing for a more coherent ending. Yet, in her performance as Lena, the film’s most dynamic character, Cruz adds a dimension of humanity that ultimately makes it worth the experience.
Alaina Burns
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