Broken Embraces
Director: Pedro Almodovar
The latest recipient of the Best Supporting Actress Oscar, Penelope Cruz, who won for her Latina-spitfire turn in Woody Allen’s otherwise decidedly so-so Vicky Cristina Barcelona, returns to cinema screens in Broken Embraces, her fourth collaboration with writer-director Pedro Almodovar after Live Flesh (1997), All About My Mother (1999) and Volver (2006). However, whereas the latter two were genuine masterpieces and Live Flesh a more-than-diverting little thriller, Broken Embraces is a very rare dud from Spain’s leading auteur.
A twisty, knowingly self-referential tale of amour fou set in the world of film-making, it’s the story of a blind writer, Mateo Blanco (Lluis Homar). When a millionaire former associate of Blanco dies, the messy aftermath unearths long-buried secrets involving events from a decade before, which we observe via a series of lengthy flashbacks. Back then, Blanco was an acclaimed director working on a movie in which the millionaire’s mistress Lena (Cruz) was cast in the central role. Romantic, criminal and creative complications ensue.
There’s a long cinematic tradition whereby coincidence-ridden soap-opera-style melodrama is used as a vehicle to explore social, psychological and even philosophical issues. Almodovar himself has often worked within this sub-genre, usually with dazzling results. But for some reason Broken Embraces never really feels much more than a soapy melodrama with lofty pretensions, lacking the invention, imagination and audacity that one expects from this particular camp.
Despite the endless talk of intense passions and the dangerous power of cinema, Broken Embraces comes across as an oddly inert, underpowered sort of enterprise with only occasional flashes of wit and a characteristically vibrant production design to keep us going through what turns out to be a decidedly taxing two hour-plus running time.
Like Almodovar, Cruz is on something akin to autopilot here. She’s stuck in what’s essentially a supporting role and is never given anything like the opportunities to dazzle that she grasped so strikingly in Volver or even, unlikely as it may seem, in the underwhelming Woody Allen picture.
Neil Young
