{"id":1792,"date":"2009-08-27T11:30:52","date_gmt":"2009-08-27T10:30:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thecliffedge.com\/blog\/?p=1792"},"modified":"2015-03-29T09:38:13","modified_gmt":"2015-03-29T09:38:13","slug":"cruz-dazzles-in-almodovar%e2%80%99s-sumptuous-%e2%80%98broken-embraces%e2%80%99","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thecliffedge.com\/?p=1792","title":{"rendered":"FILM REVIEW: Penelope Cruz in Almodovar’s ‘Broken Embraces’"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"penelope<\/a>By Ray Bennett<\/p>\n

LONDON \u2013 Aside from the fact that one is a genuine film artist while the other is an annoying twerp, the difference between the sublime Pedro Almodovar and the ridiculous Quentin Tarantino can be seen in their latest films.<\/p>\n

With \u201cInglourious Basterds\u201d, the American director has made a rubbish movie based on other rubbish movies whereas the Spaniard has drawn on the classic influences of Alfred Hitchcock and Douglas Sirk for his sumptuous melodrama \u201cBroken Embraces\u201d (Los Abrazos Rotos).<\/p>\n

\"penelope<\/a>Received warmly at the Festival de Cannes in May, \u201cBroken Embraces\u201d opens in the United Kingdom on Aug. 28 from Warner Bros.\/Pathe, It’s a treat for movie lovers. Not as tightly focussed or significant as Almodovar classics such as \u201cAll About My Mother\u201d or \u201cVolver\u201d, it is a sprawling picture that mixes romance, mystery and suspense.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s laughter, betrayal and murder in a tale about a now blind filmmaker who recalls his days as a director and the circumstances that led to his loss of sight. The film makes the most of Penelope Cruz, who appears in several different guises in flashbacks to films within the film in which he plays Audrey Hepburn (left) and dons a blonde wig to play Marilyn Monroe (below) and she\u00a0is never less than stunningly gorgeous. It helps that she also is a great actress.<\/p>\n

Almodovar with his superb crafts team \u2013 production designer Antxon Gomez, Art Director Victor Molero, cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto, and editor Jose Salcedo \u2013 makes the most of it. Composer Alberto Iglesias tops it off with a simply lovely score.<\/p>\n

I agree with Peter Bradshaw, who said in his review of \u201cBroken Embraces in The Guardian, \u201cI defy anybody to watch it without a tingle of pure moviegoing pleasure.”<\/p>\n

\"broken<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Ray Bennett LONDON \u2013 Aside from the fact that one is a genuine film artist while the other is an annoying twerp, the difference between the sublime Pedro Almodovar and the ridiculous Quentin Tarantino can be seen in their … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,14],"tags":[55,133,310,4170,946,964,966,995,1231],"class_list":["post-1792","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-film","category-reviews","tag-broken-embraces","tag-los-abrazos-rotos","tag-alberto-iglesias","tag-festival-de-cannes","tag-pathe","tag-pedro-almodovar","tag-penelope-cruz","tag-quentin-tarantino","tag-warner-bros"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecliffedge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1792","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecliffedge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecliffedge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecliffedge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecliffedge.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1792"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/thecliffedge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1792\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6431,"href":"https:\/\/thecliffedge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1792\/revisions\/6431"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecliffedge.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1792"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecliffedge.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1792"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecliffedge.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1792"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}