“It’s actually kind of a pornographic film about a blind man and lots of girls,” said Pedro Almodovar about his new film.
Unfortunately, in the footsteps of “Volver” and “All About My Mother,” “Broken Embraces” is less raunchy than Almodovar would have audiences believe.
The inspiration behind the film is simple—a filmmaker whose greatest passion is making cinema has his sight ripped away from him. The theme eerily hints at the silent fears of every director, including Almodovar. At a press conference to discuss their new film, the auteur and his muse Penelope Cruz elaborated on the film’s production and intent.
Having collaborated countless times, they are clearly devoted to each other. Cruz was effusive about Almodovar’s talent as a director, noting, “It is very rare to find someone who will give you that level of attention and amount of time to find a character.”
“Broken Embraces” is essentially a love story about Cruz’s unadorned beauty—Almodovar seems to build the narrative around opportunities to shoot her in a number of gorgeous close-ups. By making Cruz the subject of the film within the film, “Girls and Suitcases” (Almodovar admits it is clear homage to his earlier work, “Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown”), Almodovar manages to doubly cast his gaze on her.
Just as there is a film within a film in “Broken Embraces,” there is a story within a story. Mateo Blanco, played by Lluis Homar, makes Lena—a character who, as Cruz insisted, “has no freedom” in her life, and whom Almodovar called “unfinished”—the star of his film. As the two fall in love, their worlds start falling apart. After the most tragic event of his life, Mateo becomes his screenwriting nom de plume, Harry Caine, and purposely gives up his true self. Only later in life, with the help of a surrogate son and an unexpected visitor from his past, can he reclaim his emotions, memories, and life’s work.
Almodovar’s original vision, combined with his powerful editing, had the potential to dazzle. His editing is creative and symbolic in its own right, and he even admitted, “the only ... part of the film that I’m completely faithful to is the editing.” This shows in “Broken Embraces,” where the final product never feels as complex as the work behind it.
The film raises questions about love, life, and the art of cinema—and even if these are not necessarily answered, the film will entice devoted Almodovar followers. Almodovar leveled a warning at the audience, “I think that love is always important, but what happens is, people who aren’t dangerous become dangerous. There is nothing more I can say.”
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