http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/talk-to-her-2002 He is better with words than I am.
I don't think Almodovar had an agenda. He is just showing us what happened, not judging his characters. And the cinematography seemed quite good to me.
I don't think he was trying to be artistic either. I'm not saying you're wrong, but consider that most people like this film, myself included. It seems like you've made up your mind about this film fairly quickly. If you just try to take these "artistic" scenes at face value, or look for symbolism, you might be better off. Instead of deciding they're pretentious right away.
The Skin I Live In is Almodovar's best film in my opinion. Much less melodramatic and his darkest to date.
I'm going to find it and I'm going to destroy it. I don't know how yet. Possibly with dynamite.
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Gregorioshoplateia
9 years ago
First I have to thank you for being polite. Quite unusual for imdb ;)
I did try to watch the film with an open mind ( I always try to find the good before the bad ) but I simply did not enjoy the movie - symbolism included. Ebert's words exactly show what I did not like about the movie:"Conventional morality requires us to disapprove of actions that in fact may have been inspired by love and hope." Which is kind of the point the movie tries to make.
I did not find the actions of the protagonists to be inspired by love. They were on the contrary inspired by a lack of love. If Benigno truly loved her he would not rape her while she was in a coma. He also would not stalk her as people in general do not like to be stalked. These actions come from desperation not from love and this desperation is self-inflicted. And having hope about things out of your control is a foolish thing. If you want to be in a relationship with someone you have to work on achieving that and in a way that respects that other person as a separate existence and not just as a projection of your desires and hopes. Because hope unfulfilled builds resentment - towards other people or towards oneself - and resentment is the breeding ground for sickness.
I do not try to judge the characters as in hating them because of their actions but I do try to put myself in their shoes to see how I would judge myself if I was doing what they were doing and if I was thinking what they were thinking. And yes I find judgment of this kind to be a necessary aspect of humans as discrimination between different states of being is possibly the greatest tool we have.
But I think that we can watch a movie from different positions and perhaps you find symbolism and meaning to it which I simply do not. Perhaps I got Almodovar wrong which is why I will probably watch The Skin I Live In.
Have a nice day!
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