FILM REVIEW

Talk to Her

2002/112 minutes/Spain/Spanish

Directed by       Pedro Almodóvar

Produced by    Agustín Almodóvar/Michel Ruben

Written by        Pedro Almodóvar

Starring            Javier Cámara/Darío Grandinetti/Leonor Watling/Geraldine Chaplin/Rosario Flores

Music by          Alberto Iglesias

Cinematography           Javier Aguirresarobe

Editing by        José Salcedo

Talk to Her (Spanish: Hable con ella) is a 2002 Spanish comedy-drama film written and directed by Pedro Almodóvar, and starringJavier Cámara, Darío Grandinetti, Leonor Watling, Geraldine Chaplin, and Rosario Flores. The film won the 2002 Academy Award forBest Original Screenplay and the 2003 Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign-Language Film.

The film's themes include the difficulty of communication between the sexes, loneliness and intimacy, and the persistence of love beyond loss.

In 2005, Time magazine film critics Richard Corliss and Richard Schickel included Talk to Her in their list of the All-TIME 100 Greatest Movies. Paul Schrader placed the film at 46 on his film canon of the 60 greatest films.

Plot

Benigno ("benign" or "harmless" in Spanish) Martin and Marco Zuluaga cross paths when they attend the same concert dance, only eventually meeting again at a private clinic where Benigno works. There, he is the personal nurse and caregiver for Alicia, a beautiful dance student who lies in a coma and with whom Benigno has become obsessed. Marco, a journalist and travel writer, is at the clinic to visit his girlfriend Lydia, a famous matador who is also comatose after being gored by a bull. As the men stand vigil over these women, the story unfolds in flashbacks, giving details of the two relationships. Marco leaves Lydia in the hospital when her previous lover informs him that they had reunited a month before Lydia's accident. He travels to Jordan to write a tourist guide; while there he reads in a newspaper that Lydia has died in her coma.

Meanwhile, Alicia is discovered to be pregnant. Benigno, who believes his relationship with the comatose Alicia is a mutual love affair, is accused of raping her and is sent to prison in Segovia. Marco returns to Spain and begins trying to help Benigno. He finds out that Alicia had awakened during or sometime after giving birth, but the baby was stillborn. Following Benigno's lawyer's urging, he does not tell Benigno about her unexpected recovery. Desperate, Benigno ingests a large quantity of pills to try to "escape" and reunite with Alicia. He dies of an overdose. Meanwhile, Alicia has begun rehabilitation to recover her ability to walk and dance.

The film ends with Marco, sitting two rows in front of Alicia at a dance concert, turning around and smiling at her for a moment, and then turning back around. The screen lists Marco y Alicia as the next act.