| Front Cover |
Actor |
|
| Javier Cámara |
Benigno Martín
|
| Darío Grandinetti |
Marco Zuluaga
|
| Leonor Watling |
Alicia
|
| Rosario Flores |
Lydia González
|
| Geraldine Chaplin |
Katerina Bilova
|
| Mariola Fuentes |
Rosa
|
| Roberto Álvarez |
Doctor
|
| Adolfo Fernández |
Nino de Valencia
|
| Fele Martínez |
Alfredo
|
| Paz Vega |
Amparo
|
|
|
| Movie Details |
| Genre |
Comedy; Drama; Romance |
| Director |
Pedro Almodóvar |
| Writer |
Pedro Almodóvar |
|
| Language |
Spanish |
| Running Time |
112 mins |
| Country |
Spain |
| Color |
Color |
|
| Plot |
Male carer Benigno looks after Alicia day and night as she is in a coma. He talks to her constantly and feels like this relationship is one of the best times of his life. Into this situation comes Marco, who's bullfighter girlfriend has been put into a coma. Marco doesn't want to talk to his girlfriend in this state and is also haunted by something she needed to say to him that she can now not say. He gets to know Benigno as he helps him to learn to talk to the girls, however can an one sided relationship really be love?
I didn't know what this was about when I went to see it and coming out, to be honest, I'm still unsure. The film looks at love and loneliness in the lives of two men, both in different states at different times. It sounds simple but it's hard to grasp – I'm still not sure what it was getting at. Benigno appears to be the likeable one in his relationship with Alicia (despite being a little weird), while Marco appears a little weird and distant when Lydia goes into a coma. However this is switched when it is suggested that Benigno's relationship is not as harmless as it is suggested – then he becomes the weird one and Marco appears to be the one holding it all together.
It's all a bit sad and challenging but is it really all it seems. I too suspect that Marco was prehaps the weird one while Benigno's idea of love really was one of innocence and talking. It is suggested that Marco is a talker and his relationship with Lydia seems to be all him talking and her repressing, also he admires Alicia and admits to looking at her breasts. The final twist in the film where Marco begins to repeat the way in which Benigno falls for Alicia (with more success) also hints that he has had a desire for her and envies Benigno's relationship for her and, now that she out of her coma, wants to have that same relationship by going the same route. This changes the whole tone of the film for me and makes it much more deep.
On the surface the film appears disturbing, eerie and challenging. It certainly doesn't seem very cheerful and is very sad – all the more so by the haunting score. However the strength of it is that it makes you think and it'll create plenty of thought long after it has finished. It is slightly funny but to be honest it isn't really the focus and I found it to be darkly amusing rather than funny.
Cámara is very good indeed as Banigno – he doesn't let him become retarded but he does bring out innocence and naivety. However he also manages to keep him likeable throughout. Grandinetti is intense but it doesn't always come off. He does a good job with a difficult role but he occasionally does that art-house thing of staring into the distance while smoking a cigarrette. The female roles, usually the main roles of Almodóvar, are literally silenced and the film is carried by the two male roles. Almodóvar's direction is excellent – great shots but also very clever shots that will only serve to add to your debate after the film has ended.
Overall this is not an easy film to watch but is worth putting the effort in for the reward of using your brain. On it's surface it seems like the last thing on earth you'd want to see but, if you're willing to think then you'll find this rewarding.
***
Jsme diváky taneční kreace souboru Piny Bauschové. V hledišti sedí dva muži: jeden pláče, druhý se dívá. Touto symetrií, zprvu absurdní, posléze logickou, začíná film. Od prvního obrazu víme, že budeme sledovat dva příběhy, které se protnou v tomtéž stavu čekání. Mladý ošetřovatel Benigno už několik měsíců pečuje o mladou tanečnici Alicii, která po nehodě upadla do kómatu. Zamiloval se do nehybné a němé mladé ženy, vypráví jí o všem, co dělá. Na téže klinice potká svého souseda z divadla. Marco je spisovatel, přítel toreadorky Lydie, která je rovněž v komatu poté, co ji nabral na rohy býk. Oba muži čekají, zda se ženy probudí: jeden tajně miluje dívku, jež by za normálních okolností byla pro něj nedosažitelná, druhý nemusí svou lásku skrývat, ale tuší, že je ztracená. Jeden věří a doufá, druhý pochybuje. Almodóvar přechází od jednoho ke druhému zaznamenávaje banální rituály nemocniční péče, než dospěje k překvapivému rozuzlení. |
| Personal Details |
| Seen It |
Yes |
| Index |
78 |
| In Collection |
Yes |
| Links |
IMDB
|
| Czech title |
Mluv s ní |
|
| Product Details |
| Format |
Divx |
| Subtitles |
Czech |
| Packaging |
CD |
| Audio Tracks |
Spanish |
| Nr of Disks/Tapes |
1 |
|
|