Robert Gomulka

Dr. Kristen Mirrer

International Film

due:2/16/2018

Talk To Her

1) Relate what was discussed in class or the text to the screening.

The literature had information about Spanish cinema and its beginnings in Barcelona.

With the end of the dictatorship in Spain, censorships was softened and directors began to pursue

more controversial topics. Pedro Almodovar’s movie ​Talk To Her​ is a great example of Spanish

cinema where the story is unconventional.

We also discussed notable actors and actresses from Spain including Antonio Banderas

and Penelope Cruz, who has done many movies with Almodovar. The Academy Award and

Golden Globe winner is well known for working with actresses giving them empowering

characters. For example in the movie Alicia is a dancer and Lydia is a matador who fights 1000

pound bulls breaking gender constructs which seems to be a theme for most of Almodovar’s

works.

2) Find a related article and summarize the content.

The article I chose was a movie review by Elvis Mitchell of the New York Times.

Mitchell goes on summarizing the film saying how it starts off being a movie about sympathy

and with bizarre plot twists leaves viewers with the feeling of empathy for a person you would
never would think of having empathy for. Almodovar has not lost his ability to startle, but is

starting to rely on his relationship of comedy, tragedy, and suspense. According to Mitchell

Almodovar has grown as a director for putting out such a “mature film” with content such as

this.The idea of literal and metaphorical prisons are brought up in the review as well. Flesh also

played a major role in the film being beautifully filmed with such an appreciation in this tragic

love/horror story.

3) Apply the article to the film screened in class.

The article brought up some concepts in which the audience member ride the wave of

emotions as Marco does being loyal and stunned by the end of the film. The article talks about

Almodovar’s appreciation for flesh. The black and white shrinking man skit in the movie is one

part of the film where it beautifully executes a parallel between Benigno and Alicia. The movie

contains a lot of ethical dilemmas on uncharted subject matters. It is amazing how Almodovar is

able to construct such a well made movie about a controversial subject matter. The review gave

me a heuristic look into how the movie played out.

4) Write a critical analysis of the film, including your personal opinion, formed as a result of the

screening, class discussions, text material and the article.

For a director who writes interesting roles for women the character’s in this Both Alicia

and Lydia were women of great physicality being a dancer and a bullfighter only to be reduced

to two women in a coma. A lot of irony is present in the film including Lydia’s fear of snakes

due to her bravery when it comes to much larger animals.

 The way that Almodovar is able to use surreal imagery and cartoon abstract images seem

to cloak the graphic nature of certain scenes are an artistic take to symbolize what happens. I

liked this direction because it does not need to be so cut and dry for a gratuitous actions. When

Alicia becomes impregnated by Benigno we are shown a lava lamp which represents what is

taking place in the film. The reasoning behind these methods could be to soften the effect of a

uncomfortable subject, but I think it was used as an artistic style to showcase an innovative way

of storytelling. The movie is fast paced and gets to the point quickly with transitions including

title sequences which drive the story to important moments. The movie begins and ends in a

theater which was a nice touch to a story and all of its interconnectedness. Two men and two

women with parallel journeys with different endings made for a film I reluctantly enjoyed.
 Works Cited

http://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9B02E5D8153AF931A25753C1A9649C8B63
1) (X) I have not handed in this assignment for any other class.

2) X) If I reused any information from other papers I have written for other classes, I clearly

explain that in the paper.

3) (X) If I used any passages word for word, I put quotations around those words, or used

indentation and citation within the text.

4) (X) I have not padded the bibliography. I have used all sources cited in the bibliography in the

text of the paper.

5) (X) I have cited in the bibliography only the pages I personally read.

6) (X) I have used direct quotations only in cases where it could not be stated in another way. I

cited the source within the paper and in the bibliography.

7) (X) I did not so over-use direct quotations that the paper lacks interpretation or originality.

8) (X) I checked yes on steps 1-7 and therefore have been fully transparent about the research

and ideas used in my paper.

Name: Robert Gomulka Date: 2/15/2018