Talk to Her (Hable con Ella)

Talk to Her (Hable con Ella)
by Pedro Almod?var

Talk to Her (Hable con Ella)
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DVD details

Actor: Dar?o Grandinetti, Javier C?mara, Leonor Watling, Mariola Fuentes, Rosario Flores
Director: Pedro Almod?var
Brand: Sony
Cinematographer: Javier Aguirresarobe
Writer: Pedro Almod?var
Editor: Jos? Salcedo
Producer: Agust?n Almod?var
Producer: Michel Ruben
DVD: Region Code 99
Audio: Spanish (Original Language); English (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); French (Dubbed)
Format: Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD-Video, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 2.35:1
Running Time: 112 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2003-05-27
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Sony Pictures

DVD Reviews of Talk to Her (Hable con Ella)

DVD Review: A story that cleverly inspires feelings perhaps contrary to what goes on
Summary: 5 Stars

Pedro Almodovar's 2002 film HABLE CON ELLA is one of the film-maker's most elegant achievements. Benigno (Javier Camara) is a nurse in a Madrid hospital taking care of Alicia (Leonor Watling), a young ballerina who has lived in a coma for the last four years. Marco (Dario Grandinetti) is an Argentinian journalist who watches in horror as his torero girlfriend Lydia (Rosario Flores) falls into a coma after a bullfighting tragedy. The two men form an odd friendship, with Benigno's unwavering love for his ward contrasted with Marco's emotional turmoil. HABLE CON ELLA was the film sensation of the year that I moved to Spain, and I watched it many times then and later. After a recent viewing, I decided that I can fairly declare it to be a masterpiece.

HABLE CON ELLA succeeds on several different fronts, from strong acting by this international cast to the bold use of colors and the cinematography. But for me the most memorable are the two psychological tricks Almodovar works in the plot. He inspires such sympathy in the viewer for Benigno, a character who upon rational reflection is arguably monstrous. Then, at the close of the film, he provides what seems like a heartwarming happy ending even when tragedy has unfolded for much of the film. On my recent viewing, I was especially touched by Marco's insightful musings on love in the last flashback scene.

Almodovar's movies are often full of odd sexual twists, a fact with which this reviewer is well acquainted and quite used to. For viewers unused to the Spanish auteur, things may initially seem bizarre, but I would call on everyone who likes art cinema to give HABLE CON ELLA a chance.

DVD Review: Movie with a punch
Summary: 5 Stars

This is an absolutely enticing movie. Very European and very Almodovar, I'd say his best non-comedy movie. The storyline cannot be any more original and an ending that will leave you wanting to share the movie.

DVD Review: A powerful piece of work...
Summary: 4 Stars

In spite of being driven to the top rank of art cinema directors with his critically acclaimed sensation "About My Mother," and being unlike other directors of equivalent status who have been chosen to work within the rootless world of the international co-productions, Almod?var has remained instilled in the rich culture of his native Spain...

In "Talk to Her" the two main protagonists are men, unusually for Almod?var, whose films have been notable for a succession of powerful and striking female roles... Benigno is a male nurse who is employed to care for a dancer (Alicia) in a coma after a car accident... At the private clinic he meets Marco, a journalist who is in love with Lydia, a female bullfighter also in a coma after being gored by a bull... They become friends and Benigno persuades Marco that he must talk to Lydia, even if she cannot hear (therefore the title). But then we lean that the likable and amiable Benigno has raped Alicia, the woman who is in love with her...

European art cinema has a great tradition but an uncertain future in the world increasingly dominated by Hollywood... Almod?var is an ornament of European culture which proved that the form still has much to say about the human condition and can say it with charm, elegance, and attractiveness...


DVD Review: Good, but Depressing
Summary: 3 Stars

I love the absurdity of Almodovar films like Women on the Verge of the Nervous Breakdown. I enjoyed Volver very much; it had a cohesive plot and excellent performances, but also some of the comedy and absurdity of his previous movies. "Talk to Her" was well done, cohesive and excellently acted. I was particularly taken with the performance, in perfect Spanish, of Geraldine Chaplin. Although I enjoyed the movie and it is worth watching, it was not what I expected from Almodovar because all the characters seem to be damaged and have very sad lives. Consequently, it was depressing to me. I would rather be entertained by his films that contain absurd and humorous characters and situations.

DVD Review: unconventional loves
Summary: 3 Stars

Anything by Almodovor is worth seeing, but he does have a weird idea of love. This drama was unexpected for me: most of the time, the love objects are in a coma, with more than half of the action taken up in the static atmosphere of a hospital: one man, unable to form relationships, loves his charge as a nurse to an absurd point; the other spends his time talking to his comatose girlfriend, but befriends the other man and also begins to love his patient.

While the story has psychological depth and a wonderfully consistent mood, I admit that I did not find it very interesting, when compared to his other films. There is little humor in it, the characters are so strange that I wondered why we should be concerned about them for 2 hours, and the emotions portrayed are extremely rarified to say the least.

Description of Talk to Her (Hable con Ella)

The lives of four characters flow in all directions, past, present and future, dragging all of them towards an unsuspected destiny. Golden Globe WINNER: Best Foreign Language Film. Academy Award Nominee: Achievement in Directing. Academy Award WINNER: Original Screenplay. Directed by Pedro Almodovar (All About My Mother, Flower of My Secret, High Heels).
Writer-director Pedro Almod?var makes another masterpiece with Talk to Her, his first film since the wonderful All About My Mother. Marco (Dario Grandinetti) is in love with Lydia (Rosario Flores), a female bullfighter who is gored by a bull and sent into a coma. In the hospital, Marco crosses paths with Benigno (Javier Camara), a male nurse who looks after another coma patient, a young dancer named Alicia (Leonor Watling). From Benigno's gentle attentiveness to Alicia, Marco learns to take care of Lydia... but from there, the story goes in directions that deftly manage to be sad, hopeful, funny, and creepy, sometimes at the same time. The rich human empathy of Almod?var's recent films is passionate, heartbreaking, intoxicating--there aren't enough adjectives to praise this remarkable filmmaker, who is at the height of his powers. Talk to Her is superb, with outstanding performances from all involved. --Bret Fetzer

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