For me this film captured all too accurately why partners of domestic abuse stay and find it so hard to break free. It takes you through the very emotions and feelings which make domestic violence so complex.
Through the interaction between Pilar and her husband, Antonio, the film shows us how slowly but surely her confidence has been eroded until she has become emotionally dependent on someone who is destroying her. Not just the bouts of violence, but the everyday conversation where he belittles her at every turn. While the scenes of violence themselves are shocking, so too is the way Antonio chips away at her confidence in an attempt to bolster his own. The scene where she gives herself to him (I give you my eyes) is heartbreaking, it demonstrates his need to possess her, but also her need at that moment to be possessed and give herself to him again, even though she is terrified of him.
The film is not black and white. It does not paint the violent husband as a monster without reason, but gives us an insight as to his motivations. Antonio's lack of self-worth when he compares himself to his brother, his admission that he has no dreams of his own. The only power he feels he can have is over his wife, and he is caught between needing that power and yet understanding that he is destroying those he holds dear. In the end he cannot change and perhaps the reason he finally lets her go is because he recognises this for himself.
The plot and writing are strong, without 'preaching' to the audience, and the acting is excellent. The looks on Pilar's face reflects exactly what it feels like to feel the fear of what is coming next in an abusive argument. I have seen his film twice now, and I found it just as raw and compelling the second time.
Through the interaction between Pilar and her husband, Antonio, the film shows us how slowly but surely her confidence has been eroded until she has become emotionally dependent on someone who is destroying her. Not just the bouts of violence, but the everyday conversation where he belittles her at every turn. While the scenes of violence themselves are shocking, so too is the way Antonio chips away at her confidence in an attempt to bolster his own. The scene where she gives herself to him (I give you my eyes) is heartbreaking, it demonstrates his need to possess her, but also her need at that moment to be possessed and give herself to him again, even though she is terrified of him.
The film is not black and white. It does not paint the violent husband as a monster without reason, but gives us an insight as to his motivations. Antonio's lack of self-worth when he compares himself to his brother, his admission that he has no dreams of his own. The only power he feels he can have is over his wife, and he is caught between needing that power and yet understanding that he is destroying those he holds dear. In the end he cannot change and perhaps the reason he finally lets her go is because he recognises this for himself.
The plot and writing are strong, without 'preaching' to the audience, and the acting is excellent. The looks on Pilar's face reflects exactly what it feels like to feel the fear of what is coming next in an abusive argument. I have seen his film twice now, and I found it just as raw and compelling the second time.