Talk to Her (2002)

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

Talk to Her (2002) – P. Almodóvar

Almodóvar may be an acquired taste – his work can be filled with subtlety and humanistic questioning or it can be broad and outrageous and even crass.  His best work is unpredictable, character-driven, and thought-provoking, even when leavened with comedy. Talk to Her finds Almodóvar in serious mode, following two men who care for women in comas and charting their developing relationship.  He tracks backward to show us events in their lives that led them to their current present day situation (including information that might ordinarily reduce our sympathy – but somehow not here).  Then he allows the narrative to move forward to a somewhat shocking climax (Almodóvar is never one to shy away from melodrama) and a fanciful abrupt denouement.  Along the way, the director includes a surreal “silent film” excerpt that sees a shrinking man climb into a giant vagina.  Well, you can’t be serious all the time. He also shows us the similarities between ballet and bullfighting (copping some flak for emphasising the latter), with a guest role for Geraldine Chaplin as a dance instructor.  Despite the sometimes jarring changes in tone, everything holds together and the resulting feeling is that we have been exposed to real life in all of its sometimes problematic weirdness, sadness and joy. Digging a little deeper, it seems clear that Almodóvar is also raising some questions about male-female relationships where the "perfect" relationship for one man is when the woman is powerless. The powerful woman just happens to be afraid of "snakes" and might be willfully trying to escape a relationship where the man "talks AT her" rather than "to" her . More here than at first glance...