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Hable con Ella (2002)

Drama | 112 minutes
3,73 1.488 votes

Genre: Drama

Duration: 112 minuten

Alternative title: Talk to Her

Country: Spain

Directed by: Pedro Almodóvar

Stars: Javier Cámara, Leonor Watling and Darío Grandinetti

IMDb score: 7,9 (119.505)

Releasedate: 15 March 2002

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Hable con Ella plot

The film tells the story of two men who fall in love with two different women, but find themselves in the same situation. Benigno is in love with Alicia, whom he takes care of when she falls into a coma. Marco falls for Lydia, who also ends up in a coma. This extreme situation results in different reactions from the men: Benigno is happy to be with the woman he loves, but Marco is deeply depressed because he cannot communicate with Lydia, and thus does not know what she really thinks about him.

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avatar van Fisico

Fisico (moderator films)

  • 9770 messages
  • 5310 votes

Hable con ella has become a very special film about two women who end up in a coma after an unfortunate accident. Their two lovers get to know each other better in the hospital. One, Benigno is a strange man, living opposite the dance hall where he watches his great unattainable love Alicia. He is a voyeur, a voyeur and it even leans towards stalking. Through her accident - represented by flashbacks - he manages to find a way to be with her every day.

The love - or should we call it obsession - is great and it is touching how coma patients are cared for. Perhaps a bit naive of me, but I had to conclude that life goes on while you are in a kind of hibernation. You keep menstruating eg and you can even get pregnant and give birth? In the beginning you create a certain sympathy for Benigno's surrender. Later, I rather developed a distaste for his sickly obsessive acting. The plot twist only confirms this. Marco deals with his love very differently when she ended up in a coma. He has a hard time accepting the situation. Still, he doesn't just drop her.

The film will stay with me because of two very strong scenes. On the one hand you had the fictional silent movie scene in which the rape is symbolically portrayed. That was a nice original approach. And on the other hand, the scene where Marco sees Alicia again at the end of the movie was very strong and emotional. She carries a past with her, but she has no idea what. Marco struggles with whether the truth is the best solution for both Benigno and Alicia.
Hable con ella is a nicely balanced film that is worth watching. One that continues to resonate with its beautiful script and editing.

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avatar van IH88

IH88

  • 9365 messages
  • 3148 votes

Hable con Ella

Dark and idiosyncratic film by Almodóvar. The Spanish director's films are always eccentric, absurd and very dark, and Hable con Ella is no exception. The "rape scene" is a very powerful and actually terrible scene, but in the hands of Almodóvar it's also pretty weird.

The problem with the film is that I didn't really go along with the inextricable bond between Benigno and Marco, and I think that's mainly because they are both so unsympathetic. The acting is excellent, but the characters the actors play are pathetic and self-pity wallowing little children. I think this was also Almodóvar's intention, and especially as a story about obsession and men with mental health problems, Hable con Ella succeeded.

dutch flagTranslated from Dutch · View original

avatar van Dievegge

Dievegge

  • 3080 messages
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A recurring theme at Almodóvar is the traditional gender roles between man and woman, and their reversal or confirmation. In this case, we are introduced to a female bullfighter and a male nurse - a reversal of gender roles. Opposite this are the dancer and the snake slayer - a confirmation. There is confusion about Benigno's sexuality, for example when he describes Marco as a beautiful man. However, it turns out that he is obsessed with the dancer Alicia and spies on her like a voyeur.

The passionate color red is emphatically present, especially in the corrida, although the bull is lured with a pink cloth. Light blue and white are the clinical colors. There are some nice aerial shots of the Andalusian maquis and of Spanish architecture, but the main scenes are set indoors. The chronology is broken several times for flashbacks, a dream and a cine mudo. This black-and-white clip features actors in the 1920s style, with excessive make-up and a Frankenstein-like laboratory. This scene is a veiled way of showing the rape of the comatose Alicia. I expected a surprising denouement: Marco did it, Benigno takes the blame. However, it is not like that; the obvious suspect did. However, this one shows no sense of guilt..

There are quite a few familiar faces in a secondary role: Geraldine Chaplin as the dance teacher, Lola Dueñas as Alicia's sister, Elena Anaya as Marco's ex, brother Agustín Almodóvar who blesses her marriage as a priest. Marisa Paredes has a cameo audience with Caetano Veloso, who sings a Mexican song imitating the cry of the weeping dove.

dutch flagTranslated from Dutch · View original