Films must be finished; even if you do it blindly

#13: Broken Embraces

This is the latest film from director Pedro Almodóvar, his most recent with Penelope Cruz, and I don't really feel up to the task of reviewing it. I've not seen all of Almodóvar's films and the ones I have seen I've found enjoyable enough although I have never understood the cult-like status of him as auteur. He is capable of sketching interesting characters with compelling if not wholly credible emotional lives and can keep the slapstick moving when the scene calls for it. He is adept with quirky material. I love and respect the tastes of people who love Almodóvar's work but, well, I just don't get his buzz. I don't think I can do justice to this film because I'm afraid it is my movie destiny to find the charm of his films elusive.

Furthermore, I must admit that I have never liked Penelope Cruz as an actor. My dislike of her runs so deep that I have actually avoided her recent work. She sucked so bad in Vanilla Sky that I'm not sure she can, or should, ever be redeemed. I have seen neither Volver nor Vicky Christina. My favorite Penelope Cruz production is her characterization in this episode of Family Guy. But I do have a soft spot for Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown.

The conceit of this current film is that in 1992 a Spanish director found himself directing a Women on the Edge of a Nervous Breakdown kind of farce with a leading lady with whom he is obsessed and who is the mistress of a real estate mogul who has maneuvered himself into the role of producer of the film. Justifiably suspicious about the relationship between his mistress and her director, the producer gets his son to videotape the production and hires a lip reader to decipher what the two are saying to each other on set. Broken Embraces is set in 2008 and the story of the old film is told in long, unbroken flashbacks from the perspective of the director, now blind and living under a new name as a screenwriter. Between the flashbacks and bits of contemporary action and drama, the film pieces together the emotionally complex and convoluted story of how the director abandoned his art for love only to lose everything, his love, his sight, in a completely random moment.

I liked this film more than I expected I would. I was most surprised by Cruz's performance. Did I mention that she is not among my favorite actors? But here she is impressive, shifting her character between authentic emotions and her two acting jobs--one on the movie set and one in the bedroom with her sugar daddy--managing to make them all seem charming and real. Her character is so persuasive it is difficult to tell where her opportunism and/or duty ends (it is difficult to figure out how she sees her own situation) and her real life begins until well into the flashbacks. I can't pin down what it is about this movie that is so seductive. But the texture of daily life, the color palate of the production, even the pacing of the scenes makes me want to embrace this movie. Its last five minutes draw an explicit contrast between this film and WOTENB and the comparison enhances both films.

I'm sure this film is littered with worthy allegory: the blind director, Cruz's seamless transformation from actress--prostitute--secretary--mistress--actress--lover suggesting they all deploy the same basic skill set, etc., etc. But, as I said, I don't think I'm up to the task and part of me fears that trying too hard to figure out what it all means might just diminish its effects.