Rating: MMM+

Review of Spanish auteur Pedro Almodóvar’s latest film, Broken Embraces (Los Abrazos Rotos), starring his current screen muse Penélope Cruz.

Director: Pedro Almodóvar
Starring: Penélope Cruz, Lluis Homar, Blanca Portillo, Tamar Noves, José Luis Gómez
Running time: 127 mins

Broken Embraces marks the fourth collaboration between director Pedro Almodóvar and actress Penélope Cruz and is one with similar themes to their previous outings together All About My Mother and Volver – family, parenthood, sex and love affairs that lead ultimately to danger and heartache. Set in 2008, Broken Embraces centres on blind director/screenwriter Harry Caine (Lluis Homar) who, before losing his sight was a famous film director. However, events in 2008 in the lives of Harry, his personal assistant Judit (Blanca Portillo) and her son Diego (Tamar Noves) bring back past memories and the ghost of a shared trauma that as yet has been left unresolved. Going back 14 years, we see Harry (then known by his real name, Mateo Blanco) embarking on a doomed love affair with his charismatic lead actress Lena (Penélope Cruz), whose infidelity towards her partner (José Luis Gómez) has disastrous consequences.

As much as Broken Embraces’ first half hour is relatively engaging, it lacks the essential clarity of narrative so crucial to the establishing of premise and plot – it seems the easiest way for the audience to really connect with the characters and the action is to let it wash over them instead of attempting to understand it. Although the film is certainly not 21 Grams style anti-chronological, it certainly isn’t the most linear, and sadly this is where its problems lie. The first act sees Cruz and Gómez in 1992 and then in 1994, a series of scenes which seem to be primarily for character development but which do not further the main action, even if they do throw up some vaguely interesting sub-plots. However, the central part of the film is solid and well crafted, with some excellent location photography (look out for the stunning aerial shots of Lanzarote), art direction and classic Almodóvar mise-en-scene with vibrant reds, blues and yellows, and with solitary figures preparing food in kitchens.

It must be said that Pedro Almodóvar really knows how to direct his actors and is a master of casting; Penélope Cruz as ever is mesmerising in terms of both her beauty and performance as the not-always likeable Lena. Fellow Volver actress Blanca Portillo is nuanced and convincing as Judit, as is her Lluis Homar as Harry/Mateo. Although few of the characters generate as much sympathy as other figures in Almodóvar’s films, there is enough charisma and charm between them to keep the audience entertained. However, the narrative problems make Broken Embraces just that little bit harder to engage with – the film loses its way slightly in the deployment of a third act that seems tacked-on and a plot point that those familiar with Almodóvar’s work will see coming and arguably feel cheated by.

A challenging, intelligent, moving and well-crafted drama not without its charm, but not without its problems either.

Rating: MMM+ (add another M if you’re an Almodóvar fan)