Cinema to See This Weekend: Broken Embraces

By Anna Krutzik


 As you finish reminiscing about the great art you saw Friday evening at Gallery Night, you settle in to your Saturday afternoon and you’re wondering “What movie should we see this weekend?”, remember that you read the Milwaukee Film blog and they recommended Broken Embraces, Pedro Almodóvar’s newest feature film (his 17th film to date, if you’re keeping track) starring Penélope Cruz, Lluís Homar, and a slew of other Almodóvar regulars.

Opening today at the Downer Theatre, Broken Embraces is the story of a writer and film director (Homar) who was blinded 14 years earlier in a tragic car accident that also took from him the love of his life, Lena (Cruz). The story is told mostly in flashbacks, jumping between the two personas of Homar’s character, Harry Caine and Mateo Blanco. The plot twists around the intense love between Lena and Harry/Mateo and the jealousy and betrayal that affect them, incorporating a film-within-a-film and numerous references to Almodóvar’s other features all while keeping a neo-noir theme.

The film has been getting mostly favorable reviews and looks to me like a fun throwback to the noir genre that shows off the best of Almodóvar’s sensibilities: his use of color, strong female characters, unexpected plot twists, and the overwhelming sense of perseverance through it all.

Broken Embraces has been nominated for the Best Foreign Language Film for the Golden Globes, which air this Sunday on NBC beginning at 6pm (CST). So go check out the film and then watch it win! Well, maybe. I don’t actually know the outcome of the Golden Globes, but I do know that Broken Embraces will be going on my list of cinema to see this weekend.