Talk to Her (2002) from C2000 , Scoop, and Tuna

Three thumbs up. C2000's comments in white.

Two men watch a performance of "Café Muller" by the Pina Bausch company in the opening scene of Pedro Almodovar's latest film. One, Marco (Dario Grandinetti), a best selling travel writer, is moved to tears by the performance - two women wandering in a stupor while two men clear obstacles in their path. The other, Benigno (Javier Camara) is a male nurse who cares for Alicia (Leonor Watling), a beautiful young dancer in a coma. The pair meet again at an elite clinic when Marco's lover Lydia (Rosario Flores), the leading female matador, is gored by a bull and left in a coma. The two men are brought together by the absolute love they feel for their comatose women. Benigno advises Marco to "talk to her", to his Lydia, as he does regularly to Alicia during the four years she has been comatose. Notwithstanding the title, the essence of the movie is the conversations between the two men, the friendship that develops between them and the impact they have on each other.

During the film there is a silent black and white short movie "The Shrinking Lover" in which a scientist's lover swallows a portion that shrinks him. The little man explores the scientist's body before, in a unique form of penetration, disappearing into her vagina. The sequence is shown in full but is significantly less gratuitous than the robot muff diver sequence involving Victoria Abril in "Tie Me Up, Tie Me Down", as a model is substituted for the actress. The sequence is hilarious and communicates to the audience an act Benigno is later discovered to have perpetrated.

Benigno is a disturbed individual, the result of twenty years caring for his mother at the expense of outside human contact. He is more comfortable in the presence of a comatose woman than a living one, and deludes himself into believing that she reciprocates his love. In many ways Marco is more deserving of sympathy. He doesn't wish to be in love with a comatose woman. Benigno, on the other hand, considers it the richest period of his life. Marco's love would seem purer because he can pursue a life away from Lydia but chooses not to, whereas it becomes clear Benigno has no life absent Alicia. Yet, the film elicits sympathy and understanding for Benigno that is not lost even when he commits an unforgivable act. By establishing his objectification of Alicia, one is left with the feeling Benigno would consider his act a form of worship, and expounding his flaws, Almodovar manages to marginalise the revulsion felt towards Benigno. This is partly aided by the unforeseen life enhancing benefit Alicia derives, but is largely because of the manner in which his character has been developed.

This could be tagged a male buddy film or a tragicomdrama but ultimately it's a story - a wonderful, moving, thoughtful story about life, love, relationships and friendship. It draws you in early on and keeps you enthralled to the end. The film opens and concludes with dance sequences that capture the mood of the characters. In the opening dance they are in limbo while at the end they look back with sadness and look forward to the future in hope.

The two leads do a fabulous job in bringing to life their characters as does Leonor Watling who has the difficult task of spending much of the movie in a coma yet manages to look stunning. Following "Y Tu Mama Tambien", yet another foreign language film proves a great film and great nudity are not mutually exclusive.

I agree with everything C2000 said.

Miscellaneous thoughts:

Almodovar is a refreshingly warm blast of compassion in a cold and jaded world. While many filmmakers try to find the ugliest side of people and events which seem beautiful on the surface, Almodovar does the opposite. He tries to find the beauty in the ugliest deeds and the worth of society's lowest rejects, thereby revealing the essential commonality of human behavior across castes and classes, among life's winners and losers. Even if he were not so good at so many other things, we should treasure Almodovar simply for possessing such a generous heart in an often miserly world.

Almodóvar's Hable con ella (2002), or Talk To Her, is every bit as good as C2000 and Scoopy indicated.

It is ostensibly about two men united by the fact that the loves of their lives are in a vegetative state, and not expected to recover from the coma. Benigno's love is a ballet dancer (Leonor Watling) injured in an auto accident. Marco was getting serious about Rosario Flores, a bull fighter, when she was gored by a bull. The two men meet in an exclusive hospital. The title comes from Benigno's advice to Marco, "Talk to her."

The film is really about the friendship that develops between the two, and even more, the nature of friendship, and of true love. While many tragic events occur, the film is not depressing, because Almodóvar finds the good in his characters, rather than dwelling on their errors. I can't recall a weak performance in the entire film, and the narrative slowly reveals the present and the past, effortlessly switching time frames. This lack of a linear frame of reference de-emphasizes the plot, and allows the relationships to come to the foreground. The script, in fact, won an Oscar.

The score was also outstanding, and even song choices, including a personal favorite, Cucurrcucu, Paloma, were also brilliant.

Oddly enough, this won the Golden Globe for best foreign film, but lost the Goya to "Mondays in the Sun". That must be a hell of a film.