I'm So Excited!

Written and directed by Pedro Almodovar, Los amantes pasajeros (I’m So Excited!) is about a group of passengers boarding a flight to Mexico where lots of mayhem ensues during the course of the flight. The film marks a return of sorts to the earlier comedies that Almodovar did in the early 80s after a near-long decade focusing on dramas and suspense films. Starring Javier Camara, Cecilia Roth, Lola Duenos, Raul Arevalo, Blanca Suarez, and special appearances from Almodovar regulars Antonio Banderas and Penelope Cruz. Los amantes pasajeros is a witty yet wild comedy from Pedro Almodovar.

The film revolves around a flight from Madrid to Mexico where something has gone wrong with the landing gear as the plane is looking for a place to land. With the economy class passengers all asleep due to the sedatives that are given, only the pilots, the first-class stewards, and a small number of first-class passengers are aware of the situation as they drink Valencia cocktails with mescaline, endure all sorts of craziness, and tell their own stories while being entertained by the stewards. It’s a film that plays into a world in which stewards, passengers, and pilots deal with themselves as they’re not sure if they will survive.

Pedro Almodovar’s screenplay explores the dynamics of these characters as it includes a bisexual pilot, his sexually-confused co-pilot, three gay stewards, an engaged couple, a TV actor, a famed erotic actress, a securities officer, a virginal psychic, and a bank manager dealing with the financial collapse of his own bank and an airport. All of them are all dealing with issues of their own as the story has a structure that plays into a span of few hours where the characters are dealing with situation about the plane. Some have to use the public phone to call loved ones while others finally face the truths of their own situations and why they’re fleeing to Mexico. It all plays to Almodovar’s approach to humor where these characters all try to handle the situation as everyone starts to loosen up and such while waiting to see where to land.

Almodovar’s direction is very stylized but also intimate as the film is mostly set in an airplane that includes a hilarious dance sequence to the title song by the Pointer Sisters. With some stylish compositions and the use of the widescreen, Almodovar gets the chance to create an intimacy while having the frame fill out inside the plane. Even as he incorporates many silly situations and dialogue about sex and such in the course of the film. While there’s some scenes outside of the plane that involves some minor characters related to the main characters, it would play to some of the drama as well as the humor. While the humor is subtle and the drama low-key, Almodovar still crafts a very entertaining comedy about life in an airplane.

Cinematographer Jose Luis Alcaine does fantastic work with the cinematography from the exteriors set in some of the locations to the more low-key yet colorful scenes inside the plane. Editor Jose Salcedo does excellent work with the editing to play up some of its humor as well as a few stylish jump-cuts for a sequence involving the Valencia cocktail. Production designer Antxon Gomez, with set decorator Maria Clara Notari and art director Federico Garcia Cambero, does amazing work with the look of the airplane from the look of the economy class to the more spacious look of the first class section.

Costume designers David Deflin and Tatiana Hernandez do fabulous work with the costumes from the colorful dresses the women wear to the steward uniforms. Visual effects supervisor Eduardo Diaz does nice work with some of the film‘s minimal visual effects that involve a few scenes shot outside of the airplane. Sound editor Pelayo Gutierrez does terrific work with the sound to play up the atmosphere of the plane including some of the sounds that occur inside. The film’s music by Alberto Iglesias is brilliant as it mostly an orchestral score that is playful at times but also quite somber while its soundtrack includes a rhythmic take on Fur Elise as well as a few pop tunes including the title song by Pointer Sisters.

The casting by Luis San Narciso is incredible for the ensemble that is created as it features appearances from Almodovar regulars Antonio Banderas and Penelope Cruz as two airport employees in the beginning of the film as well as Paz Vega as a mentally-ill lover of the TV actor, Blanca Suarez as a former flame of that actor, Miguel Angel Silvestre and Laya Marti as a newlywed couple, and Agustin Almodovar as an air traffic controller. Guillermo Toledo is excellent as the TV actor Ricardo Galan who is dealing with his own issues with a troubled girlfriend while Jose Maria Yazpik is superb as the security officer Infante who has a crush on the aging actress Norma Boss. Jose Luis Torrijo is terrific as the troubled Sr. Mas as a man trying to run from the law while admitting to his own personal issues.

Raul Alveros and Carlos Areces are hilarious in their respective roles as the gay stewards Ulloa and Fajardo as they bring a lot of camp to the film. Javier Camara is amazing as the lead steward Joserra as a man dealing with relationship issues with one of the co-pilots while trying to get everything under control. Antonio de la Torre and Hugo Silva are brilliant in their respective roles as the bisexual pilot Alex Acero and the sexually-confused co-pilot Benito. Lola Duenos is wonderful as the virginal psychic Bruna who says strange things and is eager to lose her virginity while Cecilia Roth is fabulous as Norma Boss as a former erotic film actress who has a hard time dealing with the chaos of the plane while revealing about her own secrets of her life.

Los amantes pasajeros is a very delightful film from Pedro Almodovar. While it’s a pretty light-hearted film that might be considered a minor film from the famed filmmaker. It’s still one that is full of joy and laughs while just playing around a bit without taking things to seriously with some help from his cast and crew. In the end, Los amantes pasajeros is a stellar yet exciting film from Pedro Almodovar.

Pedro Almodovar Films: Pepi, Luci, Bom - Labyrinth of Passion - Dark Habits - What Have I Done to Deserve This? - Matador - Law of Desire - Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown - Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! - High Heels - Kika - The Flower of My Secret - Live Flesh - All About My Mother - Talk to Her - Bad Education - Volver - Broken Embraces - The Skin I Live In - Julieta - Pain & Glory - (The Human Voice (2020 short film)) - (Parallel Mothers)

The Auteurs #37: Pedro Almodovar Pt. 1 - Pt. 2

© thevoid99 2013

Sex & Lucia

Originally Written and Posted on Epinions.com on 2/14/09 w/ Additional Edits.

Written and directed by Julio Medem, Lucia y el Sexo tells the story of a waitress who travels to an island following the disappearance of her lover. Hoping to meet her boyfriend's former lover, she learns more about him which involved tragic incidents that changed the lives of everyone who is connected to the man. A mediation on tragedy, sex, and surrealism, it's one of Medem's most poignant and haunting films. Starring Paz Vega, Tristan Ulloa, Najwa Nimri, Daniel Freire, Elena Anaya, and Javier Camara. Lucia y el Sexo is a gorgeous yet haunting film from Julio Medem.

While working at a restaurant as a waitress, Lucia (Paz Vega) receives a troubling phone call from her writer boyfriend Lorenzo (Tristan Ulloa) as she's worried about his behavior in recent months. When she returns home from work, a phone call about Lorenzo along with a note that he's leaving leaves her distraught and upset. Deciding to leave Madrid to deal with Lorenzo's disappearance, she goes to an island that Lorenzo had been to six years earlier where she stayed at a hotel wanting to be alone. It was on that same island that Lorenzo had an encounter on his birthday with a woman (Najwa Nimri) that would prove to be fateful. Upon his return from the island, Lorenzo is having dinner with his friend/publisher Pepe (Javier Camara) where he meets Lucia for the first time. Lucia is a fan of Lorenzo's novels as she says that they will fall in love.

They do as they engage in a sexual affair that is playful yet loving with Lucia reading his stuff and whatever he's working as their relationship would last for years. At the island where Lucia is dealing with grief, she meets a diver named Carlos (Daniel Freire) who takes her to a place that he's staying. The home belongs to Elena, a woman who is a cook that had just moved away from Madrid several years ago. Lucia stays at the home as she recalls the period where he relationship with Lorenzo began to falter five years after they first met. It was around the time Lorenzo discovered that he has a five-year old daughter named Luna (Silvia Llanos) with the woman he had a one-night stand with six years ago. He also learned her name is Elena as he decides to see Luna for himself. He would meet Luna's nanny Belen (Elena Anaya) whom he would have an attraction with. Belen's mother (Diana Suarez) is a former porn star who had just gotten married while Belen is attracted to Lorenzo as they share a mutual love for Luna.

During a night where Belen invites Lorenzo to the house that Elena lives where Elena and her husband were out, they eat dinner with Luna. Lorenzo tells Luna a bedtime story while Belen wants to seduce Lorenzo where things go well until something horrible happens. Lorenzo becomes withdrawn all of a sudden as his behavior reflects the dark mood that he puts into a new novel he's working on. For Lucia, Lorenzo's behavior causes problems for the relationship as it has become extremely troubled. At the island, Lucia continues to wander off alone while having conversations with Elena about escapism where some mysteries unveiled along with who Carlos really is as he's also dealing with some troubles that he's dealing with. With Lucia and Elena both dealing with their own grief, some surprising developments are unveiled as well as the people involved.

The film is largely about grief in some respects but mostly about the power of sex and all of its complications. It's mostly a dramatic mystery with dabbles of eroticism that Julio Medem sets up throughout the script as it moves back and forth from present time and the past. It's a film that relies on memories as a woman deals with the moment she met this incredible man and how it later falls apart where she is now alone on an island. It's at this island where her boyfriend had a one-night stand with another woman who is now living at this same island where the protagonist and this other woman have a certain connection. The script that Julio Medem is complex where the first act is about Lucia's isolation and how she met Lorenzo and fell in love with him. There is also a subplot about Lorenzo's one night stand with Elena and the conception of Luna where the moon plays a big part.

The second act revolves around Lorenzo's discovery of Luna, his brief affair with Belen, and the tragedy they encounter along with Lucia meeting Elena and Carlos at the island. The set-up and structure Medem creates for the script in the first two acts are brilliant as he creates this dreamy yet mystical film of eroticism and mystery that would later unveil itself in the third act. The third act though plays up with a few twists that doesn't entirely work despite its emotional payoff. Yet, it would reveal the outcome for several characters involved in the film.

Medem's direction is truly dream-like from its opening credits sequence of underwater shots to the scenes he shoots in Madrid and the Formentera section of the Balearic islands. Medem's direction in its emphasis on mood reveals the differing worlds where on the island, the people are there seeking comfort from their grief while in Madrid, it's more troubling and intense in its second act though playful in its first act. The film's approach to sex is more explicit with a lot of Hollywood films as it features full-frontal nudity on both sexes while having actors do things that aren't done in Hollywood features. Particularly scenes involving sex toys and other things where in the most explicit material, Medem had to use body doubles which may seems like a cheat. Yet, it worked to create the emotional mood of the sex scenes while the real actors still display their bodies. The direction overall is truly superb from Medem as he creates a moody, impressionistic film that is haunting yet intriguing.

Cinematographer Ivan Aledo does brilliant work with the cinematography from the low-light looks of the interior and exterior nighttime scenes of the Madrid scenes awash in dark yellow lighting to the daytime scenes where it's more colorful but with heightened, tinted lighting schemes. The scenes on the island are more heightened in its tinted look in the day time exterior and interior scenes to emphasis its tone. The nighttime are more intimate and bluer shots of the moon providing a dream-like look to the photography. Editor Kiko de la Rica does great work with the editing from its emphasis on the script's structure in moving back and forth to rhythmic, jump-cut edits for some of the film's sex scenes to capture its energy and feel. Art directors James David Goldmark and Montse Sanz along with set decorator Victor Molero do excellent work with the look of Elena's guest house in all of its diverse look along with the apartment of Lorenzo filled with books and such to present the contrast of Madrid and the island.

Costume designer Estibaliz Markiegi does wonderful work with the sexy dresses Paz Vega wears along with the lingerie that Elena Ayana wears in a seduction scene along with contemporary clothing for the rest of the actors. Special effects supervisor Juan Ramon Molina with digital effects supervisor Alfonso Nieto do great work with the film's minimal visual effects sequence including recreations of the moon and the clouds that provide symbolism for the film. Sound editor Santiago Thevenet and designer Agustin Peinado do excellent work in capturing the sound of locations, notably the island with the waves and winds to provide the atmosphere for the characters and its setting. The film's music from Alberto Iglesias is wonderful for its array of moods and presentation from flute-like music to emphasize its melancholia, ambient textures for its mystery and drama, to more orchestral flourishes for more heightened, dramatic scenes.

The casting by Sara Bilbatua is excellent for its small ensemble that features Diana Suarez as Belen's ex-porn star mother and Silvia Llanos as Luna, the daughter of Elena and Lorenzo. Javier Camara is very good as Pepe, Lorenzo's friend and publisher who provides the connections and secrets that Lorenzo needed to know about Elena and Luna. Elena Anaya is really good as Belen, Luna's nanny who is attracted to Lorenzo as she tries to seduce him that would lead her to guilt over what happens as she becomes withdrawn. Ayana has a great moment in a scene where she's wearing lingerie with ass-less underwear that is just to die for. Daniel Freire is excellent as Carlos, a mysterious man who helps Lucia deal with her grief while carrying some secrets of his own.

Najwa Nimri, who previously appeared in Medem's Los Amantes del Circulo Polar, is great as Elena, a woman dealing with her own grief who takes in Lucia while helping her unveil the mystery of Lorenzo. Nimri's understated performance really shines as she is the performance that really ties the film together. Tristan Ulloa is brilliant as Lorenzo, the man everyone is connected to as he starts off as a playful, fun writer who later discovers a shocking secret that would impact his writing and life. Ulloa's performance is phenomenal for its sense of guilt and withdrawn state as he and Paz Vega have great chemistry. Finally, there's Paz Vega in her international breakthrough performance as Lucia. The woman dealing with grief while exploring her relationship with Lorenzo through good and bad times. Vega's subtle yet playful performance is intoxicating that often featured nude throughout the film while displaying the kind of vulnerability that her character is carrying throughout the film.

Lucia y el Sexo is an excellent, dream-like film from Julio Medem featuring superb performances from Paz Vega, Tristan Ulloa, and Najwa Nimri.  It's a film that is sensually intoxicating and filled with mysteries and moods that will captivate audiences. Fans of Spanish cinema will no doubt consider this film as one of the finest despite its flaws while audiences discovering Paz Vega will see her in one of her better performances away from her lackluster work in American films. In the end, for audiences that want to see a film that is dreamy yet seductive, Lucia y el Sexo is the film to watch.

(C) thevoid99 2012

Talk to Her

Originally Written and Posted at Epinions.com on 2/19/04 w/ Extensive Revisions.

One of the most enduring and seminal figures in post-Franco Spanish filmmaking, Pedro Almodovar has always been considered one of the greatest international filmmakers of the past 25 years. His offbeat, energetic, and provocative films with colorful textures made him standout among his peers in his native Spain and Europe. From comedies like Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown to sex films like Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! and High Heels. Almodovar also explored different genres in the elements of drama and family with films like Kika, The Flower of My Secret, Live Flesh, and All About My Mother. The success of Almodovar's film not only reached a wide international audience around the world but also became a cult figure to American film critics, moviegoers, actors, and filmmakers who often cited his work as profound and intriguing, particularly since most of his subjects were about women. In 2002, Almodovar decided to shift gears a bit to explore the relationships of straight men caring for the women they love who are both comatose due to tragedies in the film Talk to Her (Hable con Ella).

Written and directed by Almodovar, the film carries the offbeat tone of his earlier work while channeling the richness and textures of modern Spain. Easily categorized as a drama, Almodovar plays with structures with elements of flashbacks and ambiguous storylines about the film's central male characters. Along the way, Almodovar pays tribute to the age of Silent films while giving the film's moments and characters are linear to Almdovar's Oscar-award winning screenplay. With a cast that includes Javier Camara, Dario Grandinetti, Rosario Flores, Leonor Watling, and Geraldine Chaplin, Talk to Her is one of Pedro Almodovar's richest and mesmerizing films to date. 

Two men are watching a ballet as they're both moved by what they're watching as neither knew each other.  One of them is a male nurse named Benigno Martin (Javier Camara) who spends his life taking care of a young, beautiful woman named Alicia (Leonor Watling).  Alicia has been comatose for four years following an accident as talks to her about the ballet and the man he was sitting with.  The other man is a journalist named Marcos Zuluaga (Dario Grandinetti) who is working on a profile on a female bullfighter named Lydia (Rosario Flores) for his Argentinian newspaper.  They meet where they start a relationship where it goes well until a fateful moment would have Lydia in a coma during a bullfight.

During Lydia's hospitalization, Marcos meets Benigno whom he recognized from the ballet as he wonders about the way Benigno cares for Alicia.  Benigno suggests that Marcos should still talk to Lydia despite her comatose state as a friendship grew.  The two men reflect on their lives as Benigno reveals he met Alicia years ago when she practiced ballet in a building across from where he lived.  Wanting to meet her, he learns that her father (Helio Pedregal) is a therapist as he decides to meet him pretending he needed a session.  After learning about her accident, he decides to take care of her while befriending her teacher Katerina Boliva (Geraldine Chaplin).  Marcos is intrigued by the story as he reveals his own issues with Lydia due to the fact that he was trying to get over a previous relationship with a woman named Angela (Elena Ayana).

With Benigno and Marcos becoming closer as they help out their comatose women, Marco learns from Lydia's old boyfriend/bullfighter Nino de Valencia (Adolfo Fernandez) about the news Lydia wanted to tell on that terrible day.  Marcos realizes what happened as he finds himself leaning towards Alicia for company.  Benigno meanwhile, is haunted by a silent film he saw as Marco is bewildered by his strange behavior.  Even worse is when a nurse finds out that Alicia is pregnant with Benigno suspecting of raping her.  Months after the incident, Marcos learns about what happened to Benigno and Alicia along with some other news prompting him to return to Spain.  Visiting Benigno, who is now in prison, Marcos tries to comfort his friend while he learns some shocking revelations about what Benigno might have done that would eventually lead to tragedy.

The dramatic tone surrounding Talk to Her is extremely complex in its plot and characters. The genius of Almodovar's work is for the fact that he doesn't play things easy while not trying to bore anyone. This offbeat is the reason why his films are so appealing and in Talk to Her, it's no exception. The brilliance of the film is in its script as Almodovar brings flaws and human enlightenment to the characters while as a director, knows when to build up moments of suspense, comedy, and melodrama.

For that, he's a master at what he does and is one of the rare international filmmakers who consistently experiment with new ideas and rehashing old ideas to be refreshed. In the silent film sequence, Almodovar brings a sense of comedy and drama that plays well to the film without making it inconsistent or distracting. Here, he uses it as part of the story for Benigno to tell the comatose Alicia about it. It's by far an enriching story that shows Almodovar taking heavy drama with being overly-sentimental nor melodramatic.

The film's look is also exquisitely rich in its use of color and the world of Spain. Cinematographer Javier Aguirresarobe brings a look that is breathtaking not just in the countryside of Spain but the look of the hospital by making it real and clean as well as the city of Madrid and the bullfighting scenes. Along with the art direction and production design by Antxon Gomez, the film is exquisitely ravishing; even in the ballet scenes with a lovely set decoration by Federico G. Cambero as it brings up life and emotions to the film and the response from its leading characters. Helping in the presentation is longtime editor Jose Salcedo whose tight cutting and perspective is masterfully crafted. Another lovely aspect of the film is the score by Alberto Iglesias who brings in traditional, Spanish flamenco-style music to the forefront as well as an orchestra that enlightens the film's richness and tone.

The film's cast is utilized to perfection with its small standout roles for its nurses and doctors to the families of the coma victims along with appearances by Elena Ayana as Marco's ex-girlfriend, Ana Fernandez as Lydia's sister, and Paz Vega as the woman in the silent film. Of the supporting cast, no one stood out more than Geraldine Chaplin, daughter of screen legend Charlie. Chaplin goes miles away from her usual role of an English woman to play a Spanish dance instructor with such grace and poise while being sympathetic to her student and Benigno's feelings towards her. Rosario Flores' performances as Lydia is spellbinding as a headstrong woman trying to prove herself in the chauvinistic sport of bullfighting while doing a great job playing a comatose victim. Leonor Watling is enchanting as Alicia where most of the time, she plays quietly in her comatose state while she's alive in the flashback scenes, she brings a sense of innocence to her character that is missed throughout.

In the roles of the two central male performances, Javier Camara and Dario Grandinetti are brilliant in their scenes together in the respective roles. Here, we see performances of straight men at their most vulnerable and torturous. Camara's performance is extremely complex as the audience is feeling he's mentally ill for his love for Alicia although he plays the role as if we'rethinking that but there's way more to that. In the end, Camara makes the audience sympathize with his feelings and all he's really doing is taking care of the woman he loves. Grandinetti is the straighter arrow of the two bringing in a harrowing performance as Marco, a man who is guilty of his wrongdoings and love for Lydia and Alicia. Grandinetti doesn't make his character pathetic but allow himself to be extremely vulnerable in what is definitely a remarkable performance.

***Updated DVD Tidbits 10/4/06***

The Region 1 DVD of Hable con Ella presents the film 2:35:1 aspect ratio in the widescreen format in high-definition along with 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround Sound in Spanish & French along with subtitles and trailers to films from Sony Classics. The DVD also includes weblinks to the film's official website and Almodovar's own official site. The only real special feature is a commentary track from Almodovar and Geraldine Chaplin which is done in Spanish but includes subtitles. Almodovar, sporting a sore throat, discusses the themes while admitting that he's not a technical director as Chaplin recalls the film's premiere in Paris where everyone was emotionally overwhelmed as she and Jeanne Moreau got into a discussion. Overall, it's a fine DVD from the masterful Almodovar.

***End of DVD Tidbits***

Talk to Her is a lush yet complex film from Pedro Almodovar with great performances from Geraldine Chaplin, Rosario Flores, Leonor Watling, Javier Camara, and Dario Grandinetti. Fans of his films will no doubt, find this to be another classic while newer fans will definitely be interested in this and look for his earlier work. Talk to Her is a film that transcends the boundaries of foreign films and it's kind of insulting to call it foreign. Really it's a film that has wide appeal regardless of language and country. It's really an international film people can relate to and the credit really goes to Pedro Almodovar for finding new ways to enlighten an audience. In the end, Talk to Her is a rich and emotional film from one of Spain's greatest filmmakers.

Pedro Almodovar Films: Pepi, Luci, Bom - Labyrinth of Passion - Dark Habits - What Have I Done to Deserve This? - Matador - Law of Desire - Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown - Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! - High Heels - Kika - The Flower of My Secret - Live Flesh - All About My Mother - Bad Education - Volver - Broken Embraces - The Skin I Live In - I'm So Excited! - Julieta - Pain & Glory - (The Human Voice (2020 short film)) - (Parallel Mothers)

The Auteurs #37: Pedro Almodovar Pt. 1 - Pt. 2

© thevoid99 2011