Wonderful character development!

Truly Dreadful Film

brilliant actors, brilliant editing

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

The picture was competently directed by Pedro Almodovar in his usual style, being produced by his brother Agustin Almodovar and their production company , El Deseo . Interesting and agreeable drama by Almodovar plenty of passions , love , death , twists and great performances . In Madrid , Harry Caine (Luis Homar) is a blind screenwriter and ex-filmmaker , long time ago was still known by his real name , Mateo Blanco , he is helped by Judit (Blanca Portillo) and her son Diego (Navas) . Harry attempts to heal his injures from 14 years back when he had a car accident along with his sweetheart . But the past comes rushing in when Harry to be aware the death of Ernesto Martel (José Luis Gómez) , a powerful producer , and Ernesto's son (Ruben Ochandiano) pays Harry a visit . In a lot of flashbacks we watch how Mateo , falls in love with Ernesto's mistress, Lena (Penélope Cruz) , and casts her in a picture , which Ernesto produces . Later on , the disturbing Ernesto sends his son to film the making of the movie, to follow Lena and Mateo, and to give him the daily footage , then things get awry . The picture is narrated by a series of flashbacks to the 1990s containing intense drama , passion, twists , obsession , jealousy, guilt , and surprises . The movie has an autobiographical dimension, but that is indirectly, through the weird characters . Almodóvar told about ¨Abrazos rotos¨ or ¨Broken embraces¨ the following : ¨ I believe it is the most complex script I've ever written and during the writing of this film and also during the shoot, I did find myself in a different place. The way of making the film, the way of telling the story, the actors' tone and the way of editing was, you could say, a departure from some of my previous films. The film is much more balanced between the female characters and the male characters. This is also something new for me. I do feel that this film is a true declaration of love for cinema. I could almost say that cinema perfects all the irregularities, or the imperfections, of life¨ . And about Penélope Cruz : ¨Penélope was born to be an actress. She is someone who is extremely emotional, and if she was not an actress it could be a problem for her. It's luck she has chosen a profession that allows her to express something that would be too much for a normal person. Otherwise she would suffer a lot. And even now maybe she suffers too much¨ . The main cast is frankly extraordinary , as Luís Homar as a blind writer who reaches this moment in time , but the sad past returns ; Penélope Cruz as the gorgeous Lena ; and José Luis Gómez as the jealous and obsessive Ernesto. The support cast is pretty good , such as : Blanca Portillo , Ruben Ochandiano , Lola Dueñas , Ángela Molina , Kiti Mánver , Mariola Fuentes , Carmen Machi ,Rossy de Palma , Alejo Sauras , Kira Miró and Chus Lampreave , Pedro's ordinary . Sensitive and enjoyable soundtrack by Oscar Winner Alberto Iglesias , Almodovar regular. Colorful and evocative cinematography by Rodrigo Prieto . The motion picture was well directed by Pedrro Almodóvar , considered to be the most internationally acclaimed Spanish filmmaker since Luis Buñuel .He often uses symbolism and metaphorical techniques to portray circular storylines .His films often portrays strong female characters and transsexuals and he has directed one Oscar nominated performance: Penélope Cruz in Volver (2006) . His first films were in low budget and had certain success , such as Pepi, Luci, Bom y otras chicas del montón , Entre tinieblas , Laberinto de pasiones , What Have I Done to Deserve This? . Pedro subsequently made several hit movies . He spent 10 years writing the script for La mala educación (2004) (a.k.a. "Bad Education"), during which time he made such acclaimed films such as Todo sobre mi madre (1999) (a.k.a. "All About my Mother") and Hable con ella (2002) (a.k.a. "Talk to Her") , the script is based upon a short story he wrote as an adolescent, which was based upon his experience at a Catholic boarding school . Pedro has got a lot of hits with dramatic films as Talk to her , Volver , The flower of My secret , The sin I live in, Carne Trémula, Tacones Lejanos , Ley Del Deseo , Matador and many others.

Almodovar's latest film is one of his weakest ones in recent times. It has elements of his previous directorial brilliance, but it doesn't have the clarity and freshness of past scripts. The main reason of the film's failure is the superposition of two stories, past and present but related, which are barely linked narratively and poorly edited.I liked the dramatic romance of the past -the one on which Almodovar should have focused- in which we see, once more, his masterly at directly actors, and at creating classic personal and glamorous atmospheres and soundtracks.Penelope Cruz is always great under Almodovar's direction, a greatness that we rarely see in her Hollywood roles. She's believable as Lena, a hypocritical sexy and cheating rich wife. Ernesto, her rich and madly in love husband, is played by a terrific José Luis Gómez, who shines over everybody else in this movie. Blanca Portillo is OK as Judit, too. I did not like Lluis Homar as Mateo at all, as he seems to play always the same role.A detail that caught my attention in the scene in which Lena is going to leave Ernesto. The scene visually focus on Pe's beautiful red stilettos, but, hey, the shoes are a size bigger than they should be, so, when she walks you can see that. I thought that was an unforgivable mistake in a scene in which Pe's feet are the star.The dull pointless modern story is a bad counteract to the past story. It doesn't add anything to the film, really. A waste of time and of footage. It is silly, meaningless, superfluous and pretentious. In addition, the film opens with a sex scene that doesn't add anything to the character or to the movie, and that is not even daring or sexy at all.If Almodóvar had a little more humility and less conceit in recent years would see again the great director he is, with captivating provocative stories and exquisite productions. He seems to be getting lost in his own grandeur, unfortunately.

In my eyes this is one of Almodovar's best, just coming in behind Bad Education and talk to her, It has his usual brilliant directing and shot making, with his usual outstanding, hand and feet ahead, slightly over the top story, that follows through. It also has his usual bright and vibrant character and sets.One of those instant classics. A Spanish masterpiece, one for all to see and one of those 8.5/10 scores.It is not given the right justification in the trailer, and is much better than I had even expected, yet I know he is the Best Director(in my mind). It also has my favourite actress Penelope Cruz and also brilliant acting by all of the wrest of the cast, with a particularly outstanding performance by Lluís Homar.

TTechnically beautiful, and well acted by the leads (some of the supporting cast is less than stellar), but there's a bit too much in this film-noir/comedy/romantic tragedy that feels over- the-top, for it to be a great film. And the homages to Hitchcock, Sirk, Amodovar's younger self, etc. walk the line between amusing and distracting. That said, this did improve on a second viewing, and became a more emotional and satisfying experience. A now blind writer remembers his past as a director with a different name who had a great love affair with his leading lady (Penelope Cruz, beautiful and wonderful as always), much to the fury of her powerful, industrialist sugar-daddy. Never boring, often enthralling, but somehow ultimately just a tiny touch less than the sum of its parts.