Talk To
Her
poetically and inspirationally questions life, death, love, and
despair. These questions are posed in a simplistic manner,
which speaks more clearly and directly to the viewer’s heart.
Talk's fantastic writing and acting develop a story that
evokes sympathy, joy, and sorrow from even the most casual
viewer.
The
meeting of four very different people set this story in motion.
Marco Zuloaga (Grandinetti) is a world traveler who has tasted
love’s bitterness but is willing to dip his toe in the water
again. His swimming partner this time is Lydia Gonzalez
(Flores), a tall, dark woman. She is a Matador, taming bulls in
the ring and men outside of it. A tragic twist of fate lands
Lydia unconscious in the hospital with Marco at her side.
Benigno
(Camara) is a quiet nurse who obviously cares deeply for his
patients. He spends nearly every day at the hospital taking care
of comatose Alicia (Watling) whom he has taken care of solely
for four years. These years have been the best of his life, he
explains. He also bathes and massages the beautiful, light
skinned Alicia to the point of raising some eyebrows. Marco has
trouble dealing with the fact the Lydia may never wake. Benigno,
meanwhile, explains that women are still alive and should be
spoken to and treated as if they are. The two develop an
interesting, yet awesomely strong friendship and they both see
each other throughout their difficult times.
Writer-Director Pedro Almodóvar’s screenplay is superb and he
transfers its uniqueness to the screen perfectly. He displays a
wonderful sense for what his characters are feeling and why they
are feeling it. He has a talent for slipping other pieces of
films into his movies. In Talk To Her, he uses a splice
from Shrinking Lover to uniquely convey the climax of the
film to the viewer without alienating us from the characters.
One of the best parts about viewing a movie is to think back on
it and delve deeper into its catharsis. Talk To Her is a
movie that fits right into this category and it only gets better
the more it stews in your head.
Talk To
Her
is an exquisite and moving story. Even though special effects
and cinematography can sell a movie alone, it is a truly
refreshing experience to sit down in a theater and enjoy a movie
that relies on honesty and true emotions.
