An Appreciation – Talk to Her

Almodovar spends the first half of the film building the dynamic between Benigno and Marco, and then spends the second half testing their resolve in arguably the worst way possible. Hints of what happens are sprinkled throughout. Benigno, as told through flashback, falls in love with Alicia almost at first sight, and spends much of his time before her accident simply observing her and wanting to somehow meet. His obsession with her increases at an alarming rate, and we’re never quite sure exactly what he would do if they were to run into each other face to face. This is an uncertain set-up, but Almodovar counteracts Benigno’s faults with traits that are seen as good. He is well-respected among his peers, he’s good at his job, he’s never committed a crime, and he appears to truly care about other people. Benigno spent much of his days in nursing school caring for his dying mother, and treats each of his patients as if they were his own family. When he visits Marco in Lydia’s hospital room, he does what he can to make sure she is comfortable as well. And yet, underneath the well-meaning intentions, there is a part of Benigno that is very unnerving—not necessarily dangerous at first, but something that makes us feel that not everything is right as it should be with him. At one key scene (perhaps the one everyone will remember after seeing the film), Benigno describes to Alicia a silent movie that he recently watched. I won’t describe what happens in that film-within-a-film, but I will say it involves actress Paz Vega, and her character’s lover becoming a part of her in way that—for a lack of a better term—is “all in.”

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So what does the inclusion of this silent film mean? That becomes clear as soon as a terrible crime is committed, with Benigno becoming the one and only suspect, which lands him in jail. What he supposedly does is shocking, without a doubt, to the point of being incomprehensible. Thankfully, Almodovar never shows the crime being committed, and he doesn’t need to, because the effect of the crime is what truly matters. We gradually see the development of a friendship between Benigno and Marco, and how Benigno helps Marco work through his experience with Lydia. Now here they are, with Benigno in jail and Marco left confused. How can the person whom he calls a friend make such a terrible decision, perform an action that many others would describe as psychotic? With that, Almodovar reveals his true intentions of the film. The audience is very much meant to see this world through the eyes of Marco; his perspective is ours. We come to believe that Benigno is portrayed in a certain light. Yes, he may be a bit eccentric, but we can understand why the two would become associates. Can the two still be friends and still have respect for each other, even after Benigno is convicted of his crime? I don’t think it’s accurate to say that Benigno is simply a despicable character. Yes, the crime was clearly wrong, but what we learn of his background and how we see him interact with Marco paints him as more complex than just “bad.” In the end, he is a catalyst for us to examine ourselves and our own feelings toward his character.

Almodovar has created a film that feels lush and vibrant without being overwrought, which is a technical achievement. He does not populate the film with directorial touches that call attention to themselves. Rather, his efficiency behind the camera is used to lift the emotion of the piece. Colors are bright throughout, splashy with his signature reds, yellows, and blues that populate nearly all of his films. The camera moves with the weightlessness of an unseen observer participating within the scene, creating moments that we can easily recall. I remember the shiny gold of Lydia’s costume, and the beautiful moments of her in slow motion in the midst of her profession. The music of the film has a rhythmic sensuality, with a delicacy that does not burden scenes with heavy-handedness. One of the best scenes in the film involves a flashback of Marco and Lydia simply watching musician Caetano Veloso singing the song “Cucurrucucu Paloma.” The combination of the music, scenery, and composition creates an incredibly romantic tone, perfectly encapsulating the feelings that Marco and Lydia had together at the time. If there is something that can be said about Almodovar’s films, it is that they are aesthetically beautiful, and because of that they enhance the hidden, darker levels that they may contain.

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Talk to Her went on to win the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, and I believe part of the reason is the challenge it presents to the viewer. The characters are presented in such a way that we may not have a complete grasp on them, even after seeing the film. It’s a fascinating and immensely engaging study of human interaction, questioning why we connect with certain people, and how we would react if those people were to do something that went against our moral beliefs. We may love or even hate the characters once we see Talk to Her, but they are all complex and the problems that they face are not always so easily answered. When one sees a Pedro Almodovar film, they may know what to expect, but more often than not his success is his ability to surprise us over and over again with his stories. He lays a foundation that we are familiar with, but then twists it and turns it into something new and very different.

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Allen is a moviegoer based out of Seattle, Washington. His hobbies include dancing, playing the guitar, and, of course, watching movies.

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