Hable con ella

Speak to her, hable con ella, directed by Pedro Almodovar, is stuck somewhere between a classic and an alternative form of cinema. The narrative in Talk to Her was built around characters with definite traits who wanted to achieve specific goals: Benigno wanted to be with Alicia, Marco wanted Lydia to get better, and each character wanted something. By altering Benigno’s mental state, Almodovar strays from the traditional form of cinema where each character usually acts in a logical way. The clash of these characters contrasting traits and conflicting goals propel the story forward, as was the case with Benigno and Marco. But there was not always a step-by-step process of cause and effect. We learned of Alicia’s pregnancy before the cause was determined, yet the plot was still propelled forward. The scenes hooked into each other fairly well minus excluding the flashbacks between Marco and Lydia and also the back story between Benigno and Alicia. They all made sense, even the silent film, even though it wasn’t an obvious part of the featured story, it played a crucial role in understanding Benigno’s complexity. In classical film, the sounds contribute the tempo and the mood of a scene. By using the Portuguese song, Por toda a minha vida, which translates into by all into my life, the message is sent that life is transitive. Also by using a Portuguese song, Almodovar sends the message that one needs to be on the outside to know what is actually happening, it’s evident that Almodovar took a page from Hitchcock in believing that mystery can serve as merely a pretext for intriguing audience. The mystery of Alicia’s pregnancy was only the surface layer of the outcome of Benigno’s fate. The film followed a fairly conventional pattern: an untraditional search, unfulfilled romances, and followed by a journey resulting from awkward romances. While Almodovar uses all the aspects that compose a classical film, they are intermixed in a way that the classical form is unrecognizable. The strict time scheme is also toyed with by using the flashbacks. There was a strong emotional feel because of the several point of view shots that showed subjectivity and were also continuous with sounds and images to get the viewer more invested. Although technically Hable Con Ella qualifies as a classical film, it in no way was traditional.