"Broken Embraces" (The Chelsea)
Though "The Book of Eli," opening today in multiplexes near you, looks like an interesting take on the currently worn out genre of post-apocalyptic tales, my movie recommendation for the week is "Broken Embraces," Pedro Almodovar's latest collaboration with Penelope Cruz. Almodovar is one of the most important living directors in the world, the cinematic author of masterpieces such as "Talk to Her" (2002) and "Live Flesh" (1997), and I have been anxiously awaiting the opening of this limited release film in Chapel Hill. He is widely considered to be a "woman's director" because his films' most intimate struggles typically center on his female protagonists and victims. He also uses bright, feminine color palates that compliment his female leads. "Broken Embraces" promises to be both in this vein and totally outside of it, a neo-noir love-thriller (yet with colorful flair) about dangerous romance. It's brief and enigmatic trailer has a mysterious quality reminiscent of the confusions of identity and murder in 2004's "Bad Education," albeit heterosexual this time. It is even said to border on hard-boiled detective styles, which will be an interesting masculine change that no Almodovar fan should miss. Look for good performances from usual Almodovar collaborators Cruz and Lola Duenas.
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