Talk to Her/Hable con Ella (2002) - Almodóvar's beautiful coma love drama

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+ Best Spanish Movie of the Year 

 

Two beautiful women in contrasting hues of red and blue make up this poster for Pedro Almodóvar's Talk to Her

Two men forge a friendship over their common predicament of having their loved ones be in a coma.

 

Talk to Her is written and directed by Spanish master filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar (Folle... Folle... Fólleme Tim! (1978)), whose 15th feature it is.

It is one of Almodóvar's very finest, delving into themes of loneliness, desperation, abuse, pride and loss, while also dealing with phobias and bullfighting. It is a film of beautiful and unusual content with lovely performances, which is eminently beautifully filmed by cinematographer Javier Aguirresarobe (Goya's Ghosts (2006)), wonderfully scripted by Almodóvar, and heightened by a piercingly beautiful score by Alberto Iglesias (Volver (2006)).

 

Related posts:

Pedro Almodóvar: 2019 in films - according to Film Excess  

Pain and Glory/Dolor y Gloria (2019) - Almodóvar's 8½ 
The Skin I Live In/La Piel que Habito (2011) or, Almodóvar's Extreme Make-Over
Broken Embraces/Los Abrazos Rotos (2009) or, Mysteries in Love and Life

2002 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I] 
Live Flesh/Carne Trémula (1997) or, A Spanish Fix
Labyrinth of Passion/Laberinto de Pasiones (1982) - Sexual mix-ups in screwball Madrileña style 

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: Unknown

Box office: 64.7 mil. $

= Uncertain, but likely a huge hit

[Talk to Her was released 15 March (Spain) and runs 112 minutes. Shooting took place from July - October 2001 in Spain, including Madrid. The film opened #37 to a 104k $ first weekend in 2 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #22 and in 255 theaters, grossing 9.2 mil. $ (14.2 % of the total gross). North America was the film's 3rd biggest market. The 2 biggest were Spain with  The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Spain with 10.2 mil. $ (15.8 %) and France with 9.5 mil. $ (14.7 %). If made on a realistic, lavish 10 mil. $ budget, the film would rank as a huge hit. It was nominated for 2 Oscars; Best Director, lost to Roman Polanski for The Pianist, and Best Original Screenplay, which it won. Spain mysteriously nominated Mondays in the Sun for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar that year over Talk to Her. The film also won a Golden Globe, 2 BAFTAs, a César award, was nominated for a David di Donatello award, won 5/7 European Film award nominations, 1/7 Goya award nominations and 2 National Board of Review awards, among many other honors. Roger Ebert gave it a 4/4 star review, translating to a notch over this one. Almodóvar returned with Bad Education/La Mala Educación (2004). Javier Cámara (Age of Monster/El Tiempo de los Monstruos (2015)) returned in Looking for Chencho (2002, short) and theatrically in Torremolinos 73 (2003); Darío Grandinetti (The Good Boy/Segundo Asalto (2005)) in Final Minute (2000-02) and theatrically in Ilusión de Movimiento (2003); Leonor Watling (Todas Hieren (1998)) in Desire/Deseo (2002); and Rosario Flores (Entreacte (1989)) in Hypnotized and Hysterical (Hairstylist Wanted)/Filles Perdues, Cheveux Gras (2002). Talk to Her is certified fresh at 91 % with an 8.10/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Talk to Her?

Goya's Ghosts (2006) - Forman's under-appreciated last major picture

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+ Best Box Office Disaster of the Year

 

 

Intense stars and the painting element are prominent on this enticing poster for Milos Forman's Goya's Ghosts

Late in the 18th century, Francisco Goya is a popular and controversial artist in Spain, who paints a portrait of a powerful monk, who then takes up a fatal interest in one of the painter's other subjects, the girl Ines, which begins a terrible downfall for her.

 

Goya's Ghosts is written by Jean-Claude Carrière (The Night and the Moment (1994)) and Czech master filmmaker, co-writer/director Milos Forman (Black Peter/Cerný Petr (1964)), whose 12th and final big international film it was. It is a biopic of the real Goya, though with several elements and characters entirely fictional.

Forman does it once again here and creates an outstanding film. Stellan Skarsgård (Dogville (2003)), Javier Bardem (Jamón, Jamón (1992)), Randy Quaid (Cold Dog Food (1990)) and Blanca Portillo (Between Your Legs/Entre las Piernas (1999)) as Queen María Luisa are splendid in what is an intellectually presented, epic tragedy. It truly is a film that transports its audience to a distant era and lets us feel the wingspan of history.

Goya's Ghosts does not take the easy route but sticks to the importance of truth, (although paradoxically a substantial part of the story is made up.) Forman's genius shines through several times.

Natalie Portman (Knight of Cups (2015)) is possibly not mature enough for the double part she has here, - but she gives a worthy performance, even if she may probably be miscast.

Related posts:

Milos Forman: 2006 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]

2006 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]

Top 10: The best biopic movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
Top 10: The best big hit movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
Amadeus (1984) or, The Fool Genius and his Teacher  

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) - Forman's 1970s gold-rimmed classic 

Watch a short clip from the film here

Cost: 50 mil. $

Box office: 9.4 mil. $

= Box office disaster (returned 0.18 times its cost)

[Goya's Ghosts premiered 8 November (Spain) and runs 114 minutes. Forman cast Portman upon noticing her likeness to the girl in Goya's painting Milkmaid of Bordeaux. Skarsgård and Quaid were each paid 1 mil. $ for their performances. Shooting took place in Spain from September - December 2005. The film opened #32 to a 159k $ first weekend in 49 theaters in North America, where it only diminished from there, grossing 1 mil. $ (10.6 % of the total gross). North America was the film's 3rd biggest market. Biggest was Spain with 2.1 mil. $ (22.3 %) and Italy with 1.1 mil. $ (11.7 %). The film was nominated for 3 Goya awards (Spain's Oscar). Roger Ebert gave the film a 3/4 star review, translating to a notch under this one. Forman returned with A Walk Worthwhile/Dobre placená procházka (2009), co-directed with his son Petr Forman. Bardem returned in No Country for Old Men (2007); Portman in My Blueberry Nights (2007); and Skarsgård in Guilty Hearts (2006). Goya's Ghosts is rotten at 30 % with a 4.80/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Goya's Ghosts?

My Life Without Me (2003) - Life ends prematurely in Coixet's drama

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Wild praise accompanies star Sarah Polley doused by rain on this poster for Isabel Coixet's My Life Without Me

A 23 year-old cleaning lady and mother of two daughters gets an unexpected notice that she has metastatic ovarian cancer that will cause her death soon. She neglects to tell anyone about her situation, while she secretly gathers some last experiences in her still young life.

My Life Without Me is written and directed by Isabel Coixet (Demasiado Viejo para Morir Joven (1989)), based on the short story collection Pretending the Bed Is a Raft (1997) by Nanci Kincaid (Eat, Drink, and Be from Mississippi (2009)).
The film may be a hit for depressed, younger women, who look for a story to weep over, but for me My Life Without Me's humdrum pace and very female-centric plot wsa too distant and still for me to become immersed. Activities observed include doing laundry, washing and combing hair, cleaning, doing laundry (again), tending children, worrying, - and a romance which seems designed to make the tragedy even sadder.
One can't rob My Life Without Me of a certain poetic force as well as a fine cast, (which among others reunites two of the peripheral stars of Pulp Fiction (1994), Amanda Plummer (Ken Park (2002)) and Maria de Medeiros (Mar (2018)), though without giving them a scene together here either), - but this pasty downer wasn't my cup of misery tea.

 

Related posts:

 

2003 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II] 

2003 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]

 

Watch a scene from the beginning of the film here

Cost: 2.5 mil. $
Box office: 9.7 mil. $ - 12.2 mil. $ (different reports)
= Big hit (returned 4.40 times its cost)
[My Life Without Me premiered 10 February (Berlin International Film Festival) and runs 106 minutes. No less than 15 companies and governmental support bodies were involved in financing and making the film. Shooting took place in British Colombia, including Vancouver. The film opened #60 to a 40k $ first weekend in 7 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #53 and in 39 theaters (different weeks), grossing 0.4 mil. $ (4.1 % of the total gross, - betting on the 9.7 mil. $ gross listed at Box Office Mojo.) The film's 3 biggest markets were Japan with 5.3 mil. $ (54.6 %), Spain with 2.4 mil. $ (24.7 %) and North America. The film won a prize in Berlin, was nominated for 2 European Film awards, won 2/5 Goya award nominations, among other honors. Roger Ebert gave the film a 2.5/4 star review, translating to a notch higher than this one. Coixet returned with 3 other projects (a documentary, a segment and a video) before her theatrical return with The Secret Life of Words (2005). Sarah Polley (Trigger (2010)) returned in Dermott's Quest (2003, short) and theatrically in Luck (2003). My Life Without Me is fresh at 65 % with a 6.30/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of My Life Without Me?