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I appreciate that many reviewers who have enjoyed and praised other Almodovar have felt the door was open to dislike "Broken Embraces."
For my part, though, I have to say first that I feel pretty confident that any film Almodovar would make would by definition be interesting and beautifully crafted. That's true of "Broken Embraces," too.
I don't mind that the central or genetic conceit of the film—"what would happen if a filmmaker ever encountered a version of a film he had made, but assembled out of the takes he had rejected"—requires a convoluted melodramatic plot to bring it into being. In a similar vein, there is something touching and even understated (unusual in melodrama) about the revelation scene showing the filming of the accident, that is, that the timing of a kiss could be just the right length to ensure that the lovers were killed or otherwise destroyed in the crash.
To return to your first question, who are we to sympathize with—I think the answer is, as if often the case in work that is more than merely melodramatic, that we are to sympathize with everyone. And I'm not sure what role a moral criticism of the sexual lives of the characters has when we try to think through the virtues or the flaws of the film.
So Who Saw What Last Week? (me - nada) {nm} Jan 04, 11:20
Vantage Point- B {nm} Jan 04, 11:23
500 Days of Summer - B-, Changeling, - A, Up in the Air - B+, Squeakquel - B {nm} Jan 04, 11:28
The Lovely Bones - B, Universal Soldier: Regeneration - B-, {nm} Jan 04, 11:37
Up In the Air: A, Princess and the Frog: A-, Avatar (again): A, The Young Victoria: B- {nm} Jan 04, 11:37
Midnight (1939) A , The Palm Beach Story (1942) A , Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers: Paris 1959 B + , and... Jan 04, 11:38
It's complicated. B+ {nm} Jan 04, 11:46
Nine, B+; Paul Blart - Mall Cop, C; Emipre of the Sun, B+ {nm} Jan 04, 11:50
Ocean's 13 (B)...Inglorious basterds (B)...Aliens (A) Jan 04, 11:57
UPAIR A-, Brothers B, The Road B, Sherlock Holmes D for Dreck, A Serious Man (A), Out of the Past (A), Eyes Without a Face (A) Jan 04, 12:01
! You're the only one besides myself that I've seen put a D on Holmes. I'm more of a Jeremy Brett guy, though. {nm} Jan 04, 15:34
i didn't see it cuz it looked like poopoo but in no way should Sherlock Holmes be mixed up with Steampunking... {nm} Jan 04, 19:38
Steampunk/Steampunking.. What does it actually mean? I didn't get the reference... {nm} Jan 04, 21:52
Nevermind, I googled it - that wasn't hard... {nm} Jan 04, 23:30
Avatar A+, The Road B, Tron C- (hasn't held up well over the years). {nm} Jan 04, 12:08
Charlie Wilsons War B, The ( J. Lewis ) Bellboy C+, Conf. of a Shopaholic B, Let the right one in ( 2nd viewing ) A- {nm} Jan 04, 12:47
Hurt Locker, A // Up In The Air, B+ // I Love You Beth Cooper, B // Ghost Town, B- // Invention of Lying, B+ {nm} Jan 04, 13:05
9 (not Nine) B; Forrest Gump A+; Blind Side B+ ; Invictus FAIL {nm} Jan 04, 13:41
Nine, Sherlock Holmes and Avatar all in one evening. Triple Bill !! {nm} Jan 04, 14:01
looks like a lot of people had very good movie weeks, nice :) Hopefully I will have time to catch one this week {nm} Jan 04, 15:23
I have big beefs with Broken Embraces. Jan 04, 17:13
I appreciate that many reviewers who have enjoyed and praised other Almodovar have felt the door was open to dislike "Broken Embraces." Jan 04, 18:56
Well, okay, good and serious answer, but Jan 04, 21:33
A couple of years ago I gave a talk on the courtesan / prostitute who was the model for the hero... Jan 04, 22:06
More excellent, informative and valuable points, but Jan 04, 22:25
The French researcher was Alexandre Parent (aka Parent-Duchatelet). Concerning the imdb.com negative consensus you describe... Jan 05, 05:48
A couple of things there (one spoiler) Jan 05, 09:41