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"Talk to Her"Ìýbegins where the acclaimed "All About My Mother"Ìýended, with the camera framed upon a pair of gold and pink theatrical curtains.
We're at aÌýmodern dance production, arranged by the German choreographerÌýPina Bausch. Sitting next to one anotherÌýin the audience are two strangers, male nurse Benigno (Cámara) and Argentinean travelÌýguide author Marco (Grandinetti), who's moved to tears by the spectacle.
Months laterÌýthe paths of the two men cross again at a private medical clinic. Benigno is devotedly caring for a comatose young ballet student Alicia (Watling), whilst Marco is visiting his bullfighter girlfriend Lydia (Flores), gored so badly in the ring that she has been reduced to a persistent vegetative state.
An unexpected companionship begins whenÌýthe strangely childlike Benigno suggests to the grieving Dario: "Talk to her".
Almodóvar's 14th feature is an effortlessly accomplished and richly resonant work.
ItÌýexplores the pain ofÌýloneliness and loss, observes the difficulties of emotional communication between the sexes, but simultaneously celebrates theÌýjoy of friendship andÌýart.
The film'sÌýcomplexÌýnarrative, which is divided into three unequal sections as well asÌýshifting forwards and backwards in time, is interspersed withÌýa number of scintillating sequences.
There's the eroticism of Lydia beingÌýfitted into her ceremonial costume, the open-air, night-time recital ofÌýBrazilian singer Caetano Veloso, and the clever seven-minute silent film "The Shrinking Lover", where the diminutive protagonist explores the contours of his lover's anatomy. (The female body belongs here to "Sex and Lucia" actress Paz Vega).
Shot in warm, vivid tones by cinematographer Javier Aguirresarobe, Ìý"Talk to Her"Ìýis a film ofÌýexceptional compassion and generosity.
In Spanish with English subtitles.
