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.
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.