Raimunda is a hardworking mother who has the teenage Paula and husband Emilio to look after. She also cares for her elderly aunt in a nearby village. Raimunda cannot understand how her aunt can look after herself so well considering her age and sight but believes that neighbour Agustina is the hep, ignoring her aunt's babbling about Raimunda's long-dead mother looking after her. Their aunt dying brings Raimunda's sister Sole back to the village while Raimunda has another crisis of her own. When Sole is confronted by the ghost of her mother, she takes her into her house to allow her to take care of the unfinished business she left behind.
Lacking the graphic nature and challenging material of some of his other films, this film is perhaps a more accessible Almodóvar film for a wider audience base. It is a shame though that this appears to have happened at the expense of the narrative drive and the film's passion hell, since when has incest been so light-hearted? Despite lacking bite and major emotional impact, the narrative is still a solid flow from start to finish, built on future and past echoes through the three generations of women from the same family. For the first half a lot happens and the story flies along however in the second half the emphasis comes off the story a little because you can see where things are going generally long before they get there. This knocked the mystery and intrigue out of it but the interest in the characters was still there and this help me till the end. The film deals with some dark subjects but again Almodóvar seems unwilling to shock or push things because the subject is played out in the characters past rather than the present. The usual streak of well-observed humour also makes it feel lighter than perhaps it is as Almodóvar writes humour into the dialogue and also puts nice visual touches into the film that have hints of absurdity.
The film may not generally be as strong as I would have liked but in terms of performances it is impressively strong. Cruz has been rightly praised for her turn because she is natural, convincing and delivers a range of emotions. She is very attractive here and it speaks volumes about her performance that I rarely saw her on this superficial level. However the praise lavished on her in professional reviews has meant that her co-stars have been ignored even though several are just as good. Maura is good in her role although the script gives her a very stable base in comparison to the others. She works well with Dueñas and the pair bring out a gentle relationship with nice humour between the two of them. Portillo is strangely asexual and that distracted me for a while but otherwise she gives a good performance although it was a shame that the script didn't do more with her. Cobo was wonderful natural and totally convincing for a girl who has grown up with a very friendly and close mother/daughter relationship.
Overall this is a good film but I can understand why some Almodóvar fans will feel like it is lacking somewhat. Indeed it is strange that the subject of incest is handled without being more gutting or shocking, however the story and the characters are good enough to carry the film even though any mystery burns out long before the end. Well worth a look for reasons beyond and including the roundly strong performances.
Lacking the graphic nature and challenging material of some of his other films, this film is perhaps a more accessible Almodóvar film for a wider audience base. It is a shame though that this appears to have happened at the expense of the narrative drive and the film's passion hell, since when has incest been so light-hearted? Despite lacking bite and major emotional impact, the narrative is still a solid flow from start to finish, built on future and past echoes through the three generations of women from the same family. For the first half a lot happens and the story flies along however in the second half the emphasis comes off the story a little because you can see where things are going generally long before they get there. This knocked the mystery and intrigue out of it but the interest in the characters was still there and this help me till the end. The film deals with some dark subjects but again Almodóvar seems unwilling to shock or push things because the subject is played out in the characters past rather than the present. The usual streak of well-observed humour also makes it feel lighter than perhaps it is as Almodóvar writes humour into the dialogue and also puts nice visual touches into the film that have hints of absurdity.
The film may not generally be as strong as I would have liked but in terms of performances it is impressively strong. Cruz has been rightly praised for her turn because she is natural, convincing and delivers a range of emotions. She is very attractive here and it speaks volumes about her performance that I rarely saw her on this superficial level. However the praise lavished on her in professional reviews has meant that her co-stars have been ignored even though several are just as good. Maura is good in her role although the script gives her a very stable base in comparison to the others. She works well with Dueñas and the pair bring out a gentle relationship with nice humour between the two of them. Portillo is strangely asexual and that distracted me for a while but otherwise she gives a good performance although it was a shame that the script didn't do more with her. Cobo was wonderful natural and totally convincing for a girl who has grown up with a very friendly and close mother/daughter relationship.
Overall this is a good film but I can understand why some Almodóvar fans will feel like it is lacking somewhat. Indeed it is strange that the subject of incest is handled without being more gutting or shocking, however the story and the characters are good enough to carry the film even though any mystery burns out long before the end. Well worth a look for reasons beyond and including the roundly strong performances.