Director and screenwriter Pedro Almodóvar presents Talk to Her, a Spanish film with English subtitles released on a limited scale in the United States.
The film begins at a dramatic dance performance where Almodóvar presents two patrons, Benigno and Marco, who are entranced by the performance on stage. The piece being performed is so moving that it brings Marco to tears. Benigno, also deeply moved by the routine, would like to tell his chance companion that he too finds the dance moving but doesn’t have the courage to speak up.
The two happen to meet again several months later when Marco’s girlfriend Lydia, a bullfighter, is brought into the medical clinic where Benigno works after Lydia falls into a coma following a freak accident during a bullfighting routine. Benigno is looking after another woman in a coma, Alicia, a talented young ballet student. Spending their days in the clinic, the two form an intense friendship. As the film goes back and forth in time, Almodóvar paints a brilliant picture wherein the relationship between all four characters—Benigno, Marco, Lydia and Alicia—changes and grows unpredictably.
Both Javier Cámara—Benigno—and Darío Grandinetti —Marco—are top notch in the film. They vividly portray the intricate psychological mindset of two characters distinctly affected by their surroundings. Additionally, Almodóvar’s directing and writing are stunning as he jumps back and forth in time to tell this unique and intriguing story.
