contemporary world cinema for salmon arm |
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Broken Embraces (Los abrazos rotos)
Country:
Spain
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Special Presentation of 2009 Toronto International Film Festival Pedro Almodovar's latest film , Broken Embraces features a dense labyrinthine narrative and some complex personal relationships. At the center of this film sits a blind screenwriter and former director who has abandoned his real name, Mateo Blanco, (Lluis Homar) for a pseudonym, Harry Caine, the first sign of the double life he leads. Harry's current reality conceals a fascinating past which Almodovar spends much of his film detailing. The plot is propelled by the arrival of a brash young man, hot on the heels of news that the producer of Mateo's film Girls and Suitcases has died. The film had marked a defining period in Mateo's life, as both he and his producer had fallen madly in love with a girl who was cast in the project. The simmering Lena (Penelope Cruz) had turned both of their worlds inside out. She became the love of Mateo's life while simultaneously leading a double life with the film's producer. But it is the young man on his doorstep that intrigues and troubles the now blind Harry. Almodovar skillfully uncovers the secrets of everyone's various pasts in this steamy, scheming and romantic melodrama. His witty screenplay provides the intricate canvas on which this very Spanish dance of life and death is played out. "Visually, the pic is an exquisite treat. Close-ups are regularly used, particularly of Cruz's hypnotically photogenic features.” J. Holland, Variety |
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