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Film: Indie flicks Hearts and comatose minds
By STEVE PERSALL, Times Film Critic
© St. Petersburg Times
published February 6, 2003
Talk to Her (Hable con ella) (R) (112 min.) -- Pedro Almodovar's new film isn't as far "out there" as his previous works, and subtlety suits him better than some admirers may guess. A trace of trademark perversity still runs through a deceptively simple plot, but Talk to Her showcases Almodovar's melodramatic impulses, creating a soap opera lathered by guilty tears.
[Photo: Sony Pictures Classics]
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Benigno (Javier Camara, left) and Marco (Dario Grandinetti, right) are strangers at first, watching a tormented ballet opening the film on a downbeat note. The men have something in common, however: They both are in love with women who tragically lapse into comas. Benigno is a nurse tenderly caring for the object of his affection, a former dancer named Alicia (Leonor Watling) injured in an auto accident. Marco's lover, Lydia (Rosario Flores), a famous toreador, was gored by a bull.
Talk to Her unfolds in flashbacks, as both men recall how they met their respective women, developing their love in different ways, then having it disrupted by fate. For Benigno, fate brought him closer to a woman he knew only from afar. He dotes on Alicia, carrying on conversations and bringing gifts with an assurance he probably wouldn't have if she could respond. Something creepy about this relationship -- nearly necrophilia -- constantly nags at viewers. Marco's relationship with Lydia is more conventional: He's a reporter seeking an interview with a star recently jilted by another bullfighter and is casually enchanted when the woman so fearless around bulls turns out to be phobic about snakes. They become lovers, but after six months the affair is strained, just before Lydia's injury. Marco sits by her bedside, wondering if it was his fault.
The emotional role reversals of Talk to Her -- men displaying unconditional love for stronger women -- are the foundation of Almodovar's film. Each man will get what he deserves in what passes for a happy ending. Only once does Almodovar indulge in one of his outrageous fantasies, when Benigno describes a silent film to Alicia, an oddly erotic story of an incredible shrinking man literally immersing himself into a woman. It's a memorable symbol of Marco and Benigno's quiet devotion, like tacking an exclamation point after a mournful poem.
The central performances are solid, with Flores especially striking. Almodovar also cast Geraldine Chaplin (speaking flawless Spanish) in a terrific supporting role as Alicia's ballet teacher. All of the actors play characters who can't be immediately pegged as what they turn out to be, as flashbacks gradually reveal their rough edges. Talk to Her is a curious tearjerker that may be viewed by some as a sick joke or a somber meditation when it's actually somewhere in the middle, where Almodovar is brilliantly staking out new turf. A
-- STEVE PERSALL, Times film critic
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