Talk to Her

This was my first Pedro Almodovar film and it proved perplexing to watch and dissect. Despite the central tragedy - by the end of the film two key characters have committed suicide, one impaled by a bull's horns, the other taking an overdose of pills to join the love of his life he believes to be dead - there is a serene, almost tepid air in the film. It is as if the characters know they are on a path towards destruction but won't remove themselves from what is set up to be inevitable. Marco's stifled early years of staying at home looking after an invalid mother seem to pave the way for his dangerous obsession with Alicia and eventual crime.

The opening sequence of the play - a man runs around knocking chairs out of the path of a sleepwalking woman - seems to echo the self-destructiveness of the characters in the film. Benigno carries Lydia by protecting and supporting her, but avoids confrontation of any kinks in their relationship. As a result he allows her to crumple into self-doubt and infidelity. He also decides to hide the truth about Alicia from Marco, resulting in his giving in to despair as well.

When examined in this light, the film does remind me of movies such as Closer (two men and two women engage in a seemingly pointless web of romance and betrayal that becomes so tangled that its clearest motive would be to depict man's base tendency towards obsessive possession) and Mystic River (three childhood friends react in separate and disturbing manners to a death, the mood is thick with mistrust and implies that this dark climax is inextricably tied up with an incident of rape that involved the three to different extents when they were children).

Yet we can't cleanly examine parallels between these movies because of Almodovar's choice to not approach any theme directly, but insists on coming at it from the side. As we discussed in class, Marco is placed in an innocent light - we are treated to shot after shot of his reverent and gentle treatment of Alicia's comatose, often naked body - such that it is difficult for us to condemn him entirely even when it becomes clear that he is the one guilty of raping her. And of course there is the ambiguous ending where Benigno and Alicia exchange an enigmatic smile. The film doesn't end on a neat, Oscar-friendly note - rather than a winding up of the terrible events they've experienced, we receive a hint of a happy ending (the remaining pair end up together?) that is at the same time rather disturbing and a trifle forced. But this does seem to be Almodovar's speciality.