Broken Embraces
Spain 2009, 128 mins
Director: Pedro Almodovar
Starring: Penelope Cruz, Lluís Homar
Director: Pedro Almodovar
Starring: Penelope Cruz, Lluís Homar
A man (Homar) writes and loves in darkness. Fourteen years ago, he was in a car crash on the island of Lanzarote. Not only did he lose his sight, but he also lost Lena (Cruz), the love of his life.
He had two names: Harry Caine, a pseudonym with which he signs his literary works, and Mateo Blanco, his real name, with which he signed the film he directed. After the accident, the only way he could cope with not being able to make films was to imagine that Mateo died with his beloved Lena.
Screened to considerable acclaim at Cannes, BROKEN EMBRACES solidifies the director's working relationship with Penélope Cruz, who gives a complex, moving performance. This sensuous and exuberant film within a film is strikingly rendered by DOP Rodrigo Prieto (LUST, CAUTION).
