Red_Identity Unfortunately, I didn't take to this film as well as I had hoped. It's definitely good, but the melodrama threatens to suffocate in ways that Almodovar can sometimes avoid, and sometimes can't. The acting is uniformly good. I am a bit surprised that they campaigned and listed Penelope Cruz first, was the first one billed, when the film and story really aren't about her, and instead I'd says he has a big supporting performance. Regardless, she's very good in this, even if she's actually better in a much smaller, more over-the-top role in Nine (which she makes big and still makes it work). Compared to that performance, this one is relatively subdued. Flaws and all, I still recommend this flick.

Desertman84 Broken Embraces is a Spanish romantic thriller that features an ensemble cast consisting of many Pedro Almodóvar regulars such as Lluís Homar,who portrays as the blind screenwriter from Madrid called Harry Caine,who recalls his tragic love for Lena.She is played by Penélope Cruz, the deceased lead actress in his last directional feature Girls and Suitcases, who was also the mistress of a powerful, obsessive businessman. Blanca Portillo co-stars as his agent Judit.Also included in the cast is Tamar Novas,who portrays her son and Caine's co-writer Diego. The film is written, produced, and directed by Almodóvar.Harry Caine is the name Mateo Blanco takes after being blinded in an automobile accident.As Blanco, he directed a film named "Girls and Suitcases." It was produced by a man named Ernesto Martel. Harry/Mateo hates Martel for reasons that will be explored.One day Caine is visited by Ray X,who despises the memory of his father and wants to enlist him, now a famous writer, to do the screenplay. Perhaps Ray X has hidden reasons for contacting him.Guarding Caine in his blindness is Judit, who was his trusted aide when he could see and has now become indispensable. It is clear, although she has never revealed it to him, that she loves him. We sense her feelings go beyond love, however, into realms he doesn't guess. Years ago, when Martel and Blanco/Caine were preparing "Girls and Suitcases," the producer hired his mistress Lena as his assistant. In the time-honored tradition of such arrangements, in particular when the woman has been a prostitute, a producer will allow such a person to audition, and so Martel arranges for Lena to audition for a role in the new picture. But the director falls in love with her during the screen test.Martel is enraged as only a rich middle-aged man who has purchased love can be. He sics his son on them. Yes, the future Ray X follows them with his camera like a nerdy fan boy. That it's unwholesome to spy on the behavior of your father's mistress goes without saying; can the boy be blamed of growing up to hate Martel? His videos are screened for the father, who combines jealousy with voyeurism, a common enough mixture.The movie is a lush, deeply romantic noir dense with nods to films past, yet it plays as if it sprung fully formed from the director's unconscious. It centers on the making of a movie—of two movies, actually, a feature and a behind-the-scenes documentary. The story is a conventional tragic love triangle. But that frame—with its echoes, parallels—is the true story. While it may not be Almodóvar's greatest work, it still stands well above most other films in terms of intrigue, intelligence and innovation.

Murtaza Ali Pedro Almodóvar's Broken Embraces (2009) is a strange yet intriguing work of cinema. A heartbreaking tale of love, Broken Embraces highlight's the Spanish filmmaker's love for filmmaking as well the medium, which is underlined by the following line spoken by the movie's protagonist: "No, what matters is to finish it. Films have to be finished, even if you do it blindly." Almodóvar is not the first filmmaker to pay homage to cinema. Time and time again, filmmakers have used their films to express their overwhelming love for the medium: be it Alfred Hitchcock, Billy Wilder, Federico Fellini, Jean-Luc Godard, Giuseppe Tornatore, Abbas Kiarostami, Robert Altman, or Martin Scorsese. Broken Embraces (2009) is far from being a masterpiece. In fact, it's not even Almodóvar's best film, but it does have its moments that are enough to make it worthy of a watch. Almodóvar seems to have perfected his unique style by borrowing bits and pieces from the masters of cinema. Those who have followed Alfred Hitchcock's body of work closely would know that sex and humor were two of his major elements. And Almodóvar, a great fan of the Master of Suspense, too relies heavily on these two powerful elements often blending them with an equally potent weapon: social commentary. And like Hitchcock, Almodóvar loves to revisit his old works in an effort to further refine his quaint yet effective ideas. In fact, it is not very difficult for the keen-eyed viewers to spot the recurring patterns in Pedro Almodóvar's films, just like in Hitchcock's. And Broken Embraces is no different in this regard with the ever so ambitious Almodóvar trying to borrow and improvise upon certain ideas from his breakthrough film, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (1988).While the comparisons between Hitchcock and Almodóvar are endless, one similarity that just cannot be overlooked is their insatiable love for technical mastery. There is a brilliant sequence in Broken Embraces that that underlines the remarkable quality of editing (and technical excellence) in Almodóvar's films. In the very scene, a rotating CD can be seen fading into a cylindrical staircase as the movie's protagonist climbs down the stairs. The scene is highly reminiscent of the editing techniques employed by Hitchcock in one of his early masterpieces: Sabotage (1936). Overall, Broken Embraces, at best, serves to be a guilty pleasure. Almodóvar's obsession to experiment with his old ideas in trying to embed them into the new ones ends up overloading the film with at least one excessive plot line. The best ways to savor Broken Embraces is to either treat it as a homage to filmmaking or to look upon it as a exercise in style. Regardless of the excesses, Broken Embraces will prove to be a great film viewing experience for Almodóvar fans and also for those who understand and appreciate powerful world cinema. 7/10For more, please visit my film blogsite:http://www.apotpourriofvestiges.com/

Martin Teller This movie seems to get knocked around a bit as "lesser Almodovar" and I guess I can't disagree. Certainly it's familiar territory and doesn't bring anything new to his ouevre. But I really enjoyed it. Everything about it works... maybe not brilliantly, but it works. It's a solid melodrama with a twisty plot that comes into focus nicely and resolves gracefully. There are a few wonderful little touches like the use of voices over filmed images. The movie could use more of Almodovar's humor, but at least the performances are engaging, especially Cruz and Homar (Ruben Ochandiano as "Ray X" is a little overcooked, though). The references to WOMEN ON THE VERGE OF A NERVOUS BREAKDOWN kinda made me wish I was watching that much better film instead, but I still had a good time.