Penepole Cruz is chopping tomatoes at the restaurant and says to the guy, "Please don't look at me like that. You're making me nervous." She has a right to be nervous. This is the world of Pedro Almodovar where bad men do bad things to good (sometimes) women. At least these horrific acts are not represented on screen. Not only that, not even men are represented on screen. They get a few seconds here and there but that's it.
We do see a lot of women, an ensemble cast that I found entertaining as they try get along in the world, taking care of older loved ones, coping with trauma, doing their jobs, burying dead bodies, dying of cancer, and even coming back from the dead. Maybe. I hope not but because there is nothing like a little Magic Realism to ruin a story. If it's not ruined already. It's hard to tell because Pedro must be fond of games. He really knows how to stack the cards. But I still like it.
The ladies are soft spoken and sympathetic and I liked them. The emotional quality of what they are saying really shows and makes them sympathetic. They hug and kiss each other a lot. The dialogue is quite good. Penelope is staggeringly pretty but I didn't like the song. The arrangement was too complex for such an impromptu gig which ruined it for me. I admit to folly in thinking early on that she was going to serve her dead husband to the film crew. How silly of me, what do I think I'm watching, Hitchcock? As you can see this is my first Almovdovar and I probably don't get it (unless it is a sort of paean to the plight of women ... or something) or at least fully realize the true intent, like everybody else in the world no doubt can.
We do see a lot of women, an ensemble cast that I found entertaining as they try get along in the world, taking care of older loved ones, coping with trauma, doing their jobs, burying dead bodies, dying of cancer, and even coming back from the dead. Maybe. I hope not but because there is nothing like a little Magic Realism to ruin a story. If it's not ruined already. It's hard to tell because Pedro must be fond of games. He really knows how to stack the cards. But I still like it.
The ladies are soft spoken and sympathetic and I liked them. The emotional quality of what they are saying really shows and makes them sympathetic. They hug and kiss each other a lot. The dialogue is quite good. Penelope is staggeringly pretty but I didn't like the song. The arrangement was too complex for such an impromptu gig which ruined it for me. I admit to folly in thinking early on that she was going to serve her dead husband to the film crew. How silly of me, what do I think I'm watching, Hitchcock? As you can see this is my first Almovdovar and I probably don't get it (unless it is a sort of paean to the plight of women ... or something) or at least fully realize the true intent, like everybody else in the world no doubt can.