Movie Review: Broken Embraces (2009)

I went in blind and I came out and could see

Earlier this year I did myself a favor and invested some time in the most recent work from director Pedro Almodovar. I missed the bus on the acclaimed director's work to this point (outside of Bad Education) and wanted to remedy the situation somewhat. Of those I watched I was completely floored by Volver to the point I will most likely never watch another Almodovar film the same way as they all now have something to aspire to. Broken Embraces doesn't live up to that 2006 film, but it still contains a magical touch only Almodovar currently seems to be bringing to his features.

This isn't to say Broken Embraces is otherworldly like Volver, but it has a mystical style to it as a 14-year-old story is brought back to life as a film director left blind from a debilitating accident recounts a forgotten life to a captive audience.

Broken Embraces centers on this director, but when we meet him he is no longer directing. We learn his name was once Mateo Blanco, but after he lost his sight he dropped that name and now goes by the name he uses to sign his literary works, scripts and stories… Harry Caine (Lluis Homar).

At the opening of the film the audience, like Harry, is also blind to the details and much of the story doesn't quite fit together. After we stumble around in the dark, Almodovar begins gathering the pieces as faces and names begin to fit within the established time frames. It takes confidence in a director and patience in an audience to rely on such a story-telling technique but within the framework of Broken Embraces you'll be quite impressed. However, to go into further detail would be to deprive you of the joy of putting the story together for yourself.

Everyone turns in stellar work here, including Lluis Homar as Harry, Blanca Portillo as Harry's assistant Judit, Tamar Novas as Judit's son and Harry's assistant Diego and, of course, Almodovar's muse since 1997's Live Flesh, Penelope Cruz as the lovely Lena. Quality performances come as no surprise though; Almodovar has proven he is one of today's true film auteurs and it would be more of a shock if an actor failed to perform in one of his films.

Painted in primary colors and dominated by Almodovar's preference for red, Broken Embraces is as unmistakably an Almodovar film as North by Northwest is Hitchcock. There are very few directors nowadays that can place such a stamp on their work, which makes it all the more invigorating when one can do it and also tell a story as fresh and appealing as this one. It only tells me I need to go even farther back in Almodovar's filmography to see what else I can find.