Talk to Her (Spanish: Hable con ella) is a 2002 Spanish drama written and directed by Pedro Almodóvar, and starring Javier Cámara, DarÃo Grandinetti, Leonor Watling, Geraldine Chaplin, and Rosario Flores. The film won the 2002 Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay and the 2003 Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign-Language Film.
The film's themes include the difficulty of communication between the sexes, loneliness and intimacy, and the persistence of love beyond loss.
In 2005, Time magazine film critics Richard Corliss and Richard Schickel included Talk to Her in their list of the All-TIME 100 Greatest Movies. Paul Schrader placed the film at 46 on his film canon of the 60 greatest films.
Plot
The story unfolds in flashbacks, giving details of two separate relationships that become intertwined with each other.
During a dance recital, Benigno MartÃn and Marco Zuluaga cross paths, but the two men are no more than strangers. Still, Benigno notices that Marco cries.
Marco is a journalist and travel writer, who happens to see a TV interview of Lydia González, a famous matador. He thinks that an article on the female matador would be interesting and, on the instructions of his editor, he contacts her in a bar, where she asks him to take her to her house. As they talk, she elaborates on the fact that she broke up with her boyfriend “el Niño de Valenciaâ€, another matador, something that has been all over the tabloids. As Marco confesses that he knows nothing of bullfighting and that he is a journalist, she becomes angry and leaves his car without saying a word. As he drives off, he hears a scream inside her house and stops; Lydia rushes off and climbs back into his car: she asks him to kill a snake that she found in her house. He does so and comes out of the house crying. With that new confidence established between them, they become friends and, later on, lovers. Marco attends a wedding in Toledo and is surprised to find Lydia there too, since she had said that she did not want to go. The wedding turns out to be that of Marco’s former fiancée, Angela, who had the same phobia to snakes as Lydia; Marco was very much in love with Angela and had a very hard time getting over her (which was the reason for his constant crying over things he could not share with her). Lydia says that she has something important to say, but she prefers to wait until after the bull-fight that afternoon; but she is gored and becomes comatose. Marco does not leave her side at the hospital and finally befriends Benigno, who recognized him from the dance recital. Marco is told by the doctors that people in a coma never wake up and that, while there are miracle-stories of people who have come back, he should not keep his hopes high.
Benigno is a personal nurse and caregiver for Alicia Roncero, a beautiful dance student, who lies in a coma; but Benigno sees her as alive and he talks his heart out to her patient, and brings her all kinds of dancing and silent black and white film mementos. As it turns out, Benigno had been obsessed with Alicia for a while, before she was in a coma, since his apartment is in front of the dance studio where she practiced every day. At first, his obsession is only from a distance, since Benigno takes care of his possessive mother, who seems to be immobilized. For that reason, he became a nurse and also a beautician. After his mother died, free to move about, he finally picked up the courage to talk to Alicia, after she dropped her wallet on the street. As they walk together to her house, they talk about her discovery of mute black and white films and about dancing. When she walks into her building, Benigno notices that she lives in Dr. Roncero’s house, who is a psychiatrist. Benigno makes an appointment to see the doctor and talks about his unresolved bereavement over his mother. But it all is a ruse to gain access to the apartment, where he steals a hair-clip from Alicia’s room. That night, Alicia is run over by a car and becomes comatose. By mere chance, Benigno is assigned to Alicia, much to the surprise of her father. But since Benigno’s services are the best, he hires him and a colleague permanently to tend for Alicia. Benigno also lies to Dr. Roncero that he is homosexual, so Alicia's father wouldn't suspect his love to her.
Benigno keeps telling Marco that he should talk to Lydia, because, despite the fact that they are in a coma, women understand and react to men’s problems. Eventually, Marco learns from el Niño de Valencia that Lydia and el Niño had decided to be together again, and that she intended to tell Marco. So Marco finds himself alone again. As he is about to leave, he comes into Alicia’s room, looking for Benigno, but he instead finds himself opening his heart out to her, despite his scepticism over Benigno’s theories. Benigno and Marco leave the hospital and, in the parking lot, Benigno tells Marco of his plans to marry Alicia: Marco is taken aback, telling his friend that Alicia is basically dead and cannot express her will in any manner. But Benigno does not hear any reason. During a routine review at the hospital, the supervisors notice that Alicia has missed several periods; since this is a common occurrence with people in a coma, they do not think twice over it. However, Alicia is pregnant and an investigation ensues where Benigno is the main suspect.
Marco has left Spain to write a book about travelling. Months later, in Jordan, he reads in a newspaper that Lydia has finally died, having never awakened from coma. He phones the hospital, looking for Benigno, only to hear that Benigno does not work there anymore. Marco manages to talk to another nurse whom he had befriended. Rosa tells him that Benigno is now in prison for the alleged rape of Alicia. Marco returns to Spain and visits Benigno, who asks him to hire a new lawyer and find out what happened to Alicia. Marco stays in Benigno’s apartment and sees that Alicia has awakened during or sometime after delivering a stillborn baby. Following Benigno's lawyer's urging, Marco does not tell Benigno about Alicia's unexpected recovery. Desperate, Benigno writes a farewell letter to Marco and ingests a large quantity of pills, to try to "escape" into a coma, thus reuniting with Alicia. He dies of an overdose.
Meanwhile, Alicia has begun rehabilitation to recover her ability to walk and dance. The film ends in the same theatre where it began, where Marco and Alicia meet by chance.
Cast
- Javier Cámara as Benigno MartÃn
- DarÃo Grandinetti as Marco Zuluaga
- Leonor Watling as Alicia
- Rosario Flores as Lydia González
- Mariola Fuentes as Rosa
- Geraldine Chaplin as Katerina Bilova
- Pina Bausch as 'Café Müller' dancer
- Malou Airaudo as 'Café Müller' dancer
- Caetano Veloso as Singer at party as "Cucurrucucú paloma"
- Roberto Ãlvarez as Doctor
- Elena Anaya as Ãngela
- Lola Dueñas as Matilde
- Adolfo Fernández as Niño de Valencia
- Ana Fernández as Lydia's sister
- Chus Lampreave as Caretaker
- Paz Vega as Amparo (in silent film)
Reception
Talk to Her received positive reviews, as it currently holds a 92% "fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes; the consensus states: "Another masterful, compassionate work from Pedro Almodóvar." On Metacritic, which uses an average of critics' reviews, the film holds an 86/100, indicating "universal acclaim". Despite the film's success, Talk to Her wasn't submitted as Spain's pick for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Film. Mondays in the Sun was selected instead.
The film was a commercial success, grossing $9,285,469 in the United States and $41,716,081 internationally for a worldwide total of $51,001,550.
Awards and nominations
- Wins
- 2002 Academy Awards:
- Best Original Screenplay - Pedro Almodóvar
- Argentine Film Critics Association ("Silver Condor"): Best Foreign Film
- 2003 BAFTA Awards:
- Best Film Not in the English Language
- Best Original Screenplay - Pedro Almodóvar
- 2003 Bangkok International Film Festival ("Golden Kinnaree Award"): Best Film, Best Director - Pedro Almodóvar
- Bodil Awards: Best Non-American Film
- Bogey Awards: Bogey Award
- Cinema Brazil Grand Prize: Best Foreign Language Film
- Cinema Writers Circle Awards (Spain): Best Original Score - Alberto Iglesias
- Czech Lions: Best Foreign Language Film
- 2003 César Awards: Best European Union Film
- European Film Awards: Best Film, Best Director (Pedro Almodóvar), Best Screenwriter - Pedro Almodóvar
- French Syndicate of Cinema Critics: Best Foreign Film
- 2003 Golden Globe Awards:
- Best Foreign Language Film
- Goya Awards (Spain): Best Original Score - Alberto Iglesias
- Los Angeles Film Critics Association: Best Director - Pedro Almodóvar
- Mexican Cinema Journalists ("Silver Goddess"): Best Foreign Film
- National Board of Review: Best Foreign Language Film
- Russian Guild of Film Critics ("Golden Aries"): Best Foreign Film
- Satellite Awards: Best Motion Picture: Foreign Language, Best Original Screenplay - Pedro Almodóvar
- Sofia International Film Festival: Audience Award â€" Best Film
- Spanish Actors Union: Performance in a Minor Role: Female - Mariola Fuentes
- TIME Magazine: Best Film
- Uruguayan Film Critics Association: Best Film (tie)
- Vancouver Film Critics Circle: Best Foreign Film
- Nominations
- 2002 Academy Awards:
- Best Director - Pedro Almodóvar
- British Independent Film Awards: Best Foreign Film â€" Foreign Language
- Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards: Best Foreign Language Film
- Chicago Film Critics Association: Best Foreign Language Film
- David di Donatello Awards: Best Foreign Film
- European Film Awards: Best Actor (Javier Cámara), Best Cinematographer - Javier Aguirresarobe
- Satellite Awards: Best Director - Pedro Almodóvar
References
External links
- Talk to Her at the Internet Movie Database
- Talk to Her at AllMovie
- Talk to Her at Box Office Mojo
- Talk to Her at Rotten Tomatoes
- Talk to Her at Metacritic
- The MacGuffin film appreciation piece
