Talk to Her

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Talk to Her
English Poster for Hable con ella
Directed by	Pedro Almodóvar
Produced by	Agustín Almodóvar Michel Ruben
Written by	Pedro Almodóvar
Starring	Javier Cámara Darío Grandinetti Leonor Watling Geraldine Chaplin Rosario Flores
Music by	Alberto Iglesias
Cinematography	Javier Aguirresarobe
Editing by	José Salcedo
Distributed by	Sony Pictures Classics (USA) Warner Sogefilms (Spain) 20th Century Fox (Argentina) Pathé (France)
Release date(s)	15 March 2002 25 December 2002 (limited) 25 December 2002
Running time	112 min.
Country	Spain
Language	Spanish
Budget	n/a
Gross revenue	$51,001,550 (worldwide)
Allmovie profile
IMDb profile

Talk to Her (Spanish: Hable con ella) is a 2002 film written and directed by the Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar, starring Javier Cámara, Darío Grandinetti, Leonor Watling, Geraldine Chaplin and Rosario Flores. It won the 2002 Academy Award for Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen 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, secrets and infidelity, and the persistence of love beyond loss.

Contents 1 Plot 2 Awards 2.1 Won 2.2 Nominations 3 External links

[edit] Plot

Benigno (literally meaning "benign" or "harmless" in Spanish) and Marco cross paths when they both attend the same dance performance, only to eventually meet again at a private clinic where Benigno works. There he is the personal nurse and caregiver of Alicia, a beautiful dance student who lies in a coma and with whom Benigno has become obsessed. Marco, a journalist and travel writer, is at the clinic to visit his girlfriend Lydia, a famous matador who is also comatose after being gored by a bull. As the men stand vigil over these women, the story unfolds in a flashback and flash forward motif, telling the lives of the four with respect to their relationships. Marco leaves Lydia when her previous lover informs him that they had reunited a month before Lydia's accident.

Marco leaves Spain for Jordan to write a tourist guide, where he reads in a newspaper that Lydia has died in her coma.

Meanwhile, Benigno is accused of raping Alicia, who is discovered to be pregnant, believing their contact to be love. It is not revealed whether Benigno is guilty of raping her, but it is strongly implied. Benigno is put into prison for this, and a short time later he ingests a large quantity of pills to try to put himself into a coma, thus reuniting himself with Alicia. However, the pills kill Benigno. Ironically Alicia wakes up during or sometime after childbirth. The baby is stillborn, and Alicia begins rehabilitation to recover her walking ability. The film ends with Marco, sitting two rows in front of Alicia, turning around and smiling at her for a moment, and then turning back around.

The play "Trenches", by Alicia's dance teacher, mirrors the events that unfold in the movie. In the play, whenever a soldier dies, a ballerina rises from the body. In the movie, when Benigno dies, Alicia (a ballerina herself) is reborn and rises.

[edit] Awards

[edit] Won

• Academy Awards:
  • Best Original Screenplay (Pedro Almodóvar)
• Argentinean Film Critics Association ("Silver Condor"): Best Foreign Film
• BAFTA Awards:
  • Best Film Not in the English Language
  • Best Original Screenplay (Pedro Almodóvar)
• 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
• César Awards: Best European Union Film
• European Film Awards: Best Film, Best Director (Pedro Almodóvar), Best Screenwriter (Pedro Almodóvar)
• 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 - 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

[edit] Nominations

• Academy Awards:
  • Best Director (Pedro Almodóvar)

[edit] External links

• Hable con ella at the Internet Movie Database
• Review by Ed Howard at Only The Cinema
• Review and discussion at kamera.co.uk
• Interview with Pedro Almodóvar about Talk to Her

v • d • e Films directed by Pedro Almodóvar Pepi, Luci, Bom (1980) • Labyrinth of Passion (1982) • Dark Habits (1983) • What Have I Done to Deserve This? (1984) • Matador (1986) • Law of Desire (1987) • Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (1988) • Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! (1990) • High Heels (1991) • Kika (1993) • The Flower of My Secret (1995) • Live Flesh (1997) • All About My Mother (1999) • Talk to Her (2002) • Bad Education (2004) • Volver (2006)

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Preceded by No Man's Land	Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film 2003	Succeeded by Osama
Preceded by Amores Perros	BAFTA Award for Best Film Not in the English Language 2002	Succeeded by In This World