Talk To Her Review

Talk To Her
Male nurse Benigno and a sentimental travel writer, Marco, form an unusual friendship due to the fact that their girlfriends are both in comas in the hospital. However, their relationship is tested when Benigno’s ‘relationship’ proves to be a bit on the d

by Matthew Turner |
Published on
Release Date:

23 Aug 2002

Running Time:

112 minutes

Certificate:

15

Original Title:

Talk To Her

Pedro Almodóvar says that, “Women inspire me to write comedies and men, tragedies,” referring to his latest film as a “testicular” story. Here, the women — usually larger than life and centre-stage in his films — are literally silenced, as both central female characters are in comas.

The script, however, makes excellent use of a free-flowing, flashback structure that allows us to get to know them, albeit through the eyes of the male narrators.

Accordingly, Talk To Her ( Hable Con Ella) is a personal film exploring several of Almodóvar’s favourite themes: story-telling, loneliness, friendship and the importance of communication in relationships.

Despite its potentially bleak subject matter, it’s not without the Spanish director’s trademark black humour, evident in its master-stroke — the addition of a saucy, silent film-within-the-film called Shrinking Lover, which here serves a subtly clever purpose.

A resounding si. A superb soundtrack, great performances and just a hint of controversy, this is Almodóvar on top form.
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