Broken Embraces (2009, Dir: Pedro Almodóvar)

I’m still not quite sure what to make of Almodóvar. The first film of his I watched was Bad Education (2004), and that almost put me off him for life: a melodramatic tale about sex abuse and the roots of homosexuality, it’s an understatement to say that it didn’t really push my buttons. I then caught the likeable Volver (2006), a deeply dark and funny film with Penélope Cruz in the lead role. It seems Almodóvar likes Cruz, as he’s cast her again here in his latest film, their fourth collaboration.

Thematically, Broken Embraces falls somewhere between its two predecessors. We have another melodrama, played out in aching suspense with just a touch of Hitchcock; and two time-periods, with the events of the mid-1990s slowly explaining the unspoken circumstances of the present day.

Like Bad Education though, Broken Embraces didn’t really intrigue me, as I simply didn’t care enough about the characters. Cruz is perfect as Lena, as is Lluís Homar as the male lead who propels the story forward; but Almodóvar seems to work so hard at keeping certain details under wraps that he forgets to give the audience enough to go on. The net result is that instead of empathising with the characters, you’re just left feeling slightly dismayed. I felt like I had been overlooked by a friend when the introductions were made at a party.

Once we learn everybody’s motives – or at least who’s side everyone leans towards – the film steps up a notch. I’m not sure it was Almodóvar’s intention, but one of his darker characters, Ernesto Jr. (Rubén Ochandiano) caused so much amusement to the audience in the screening I saw, that every time he popped up in the 1990s scenes, his mere presence would induce fits of giggling around me.

Once Almodóvar finally gets around to his big reveal, and about time too, given that it’s his longest feature yet, you’re just overwhelmed by the nagging feeling that the journey just isn’t worth it. To say that Almodóvar makes a mountain out of a molehill is an exaggeration; it’s just that after such a long build-up, the pay-off is an anti-climax.

There is one thing worth watching Broken Embraces for, and that’s Penélope Cruz. This film adds to the arguement that her Spanish work beats her Hollywood output hands down. Almodóvar fleetingly puts her in a platinum wig at one point (a shot used heavily in the promotion for the film), and things definitely dazzle when she’s on screen.