By Katelan Cunningham
Pedro Almodovar’s film “Broken Embraces” (“Los Abrazos Rotos”) stars Penelope Cruz in some of her most stunning and evocative work. Almodovar’s film about a film is structured in flashbacks as you piece together the photos of the main character, Harry Caine’s past.
Mateo Blanco is a writer and filmmaker who falls in love with the producer’s girlfriend Lena (Penelope Cruz). The scars of this love have left him blind and reminiscent of his passion for Lena and a person from his past has him recounting 14 years that he had stuffed away in a drawer. He abandons the name Mateo Blanco and goes by his pen name, Harry Caine.
This film is impossible to categorize into one genre. Almodovar has thrilling scenes that honor Hitchcock, smart comedy and a heart-wrenching love story tying it all together (with a touch of noir).
The plot is not muddied by the flashbacks. Each one makes Harry Caine more dynamic and real. Caine’s lifelong companion Judit has built a life on lies until her son’s questions disturb the surface some truths that change the past.
Harry Caine is casting for his first comedy “Girls and Suitcases” and instantly falls for Lena; she is cast as the lead. As Caine and Lena try to hide their love from her boyfriend and the film’s supporter Ernesto Martel, it becomes more difficult as Martel’s son follows their every move in attempt to make a documentary about the making of the film.
Cruz’s character makes painful sacrifices for love. Cruz is strong and beautiful, and Almodovar paints her in the best light. This passionate mystery is a lot to digest, but worth every minute.
The film will be released November 20 in New York and December 11 in Los Angeles.
