Broken Embraces

After the success of Volver, Pedro Almodóvar works again with Penélope Cruz in his latest, a noir-style film about memory and hidden identities. Lluís Homar plays Mateo Blanco, a film director who was blinded and lost the love of his life, Lena (Penélope Cruz), in a brutal car accident 14 years earlier on the gorgeous island of Lanzarote. He no longer directs films, but has become a successful writer. He now lives under the pseudonym Harry Caine and no longer answers to the name Mateo Blanco. After his secretary’s son, Diego (Tamar Novas), is injured, Harry takes care of him. When Diego asks Harry about Mateo Blanco, Harry/Mateo tells him the events of 14 years earlier and the film moves backwards and forwards in time.

A Golden Globe nominee for Best Foreign Language Film.

“Leaves the viewer in a contradictory state, a mixture of devastation and euphoria, amusement and dismay that deserves its own clinical designation.” (A.O. Scott, New York Times)

“Mr. Almodóvar's love of movies informs every frame of this beautiful film. When Harry's fingers explore the dotted landscape of a Braille script, they bespeak the writer's unbroken embrace of language and drama.” (Joe Morgenstern, Wall St. Journal)