Los abrazos rotos (2009)

Director:

Pedro Almodóvar

Writer:

Pedro Almodóvar (writer)

Release Date:

18 March 2009 (Spain)

Genre:

Drama | Romance | Thriller

Plot:

Harry Caine, a blind writer, reaches this moment in time when he has to heal his wounds from 14 years back. He was then still known by his real name, Mateo Blanco, and directing his last movie. |

Plot Keywords:

Writer | Female Nudity | Car Crash | Filmmaker | Blind Person

Awards:

Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 4 wins & 11 nominations

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Penélope Cruz	...	Lena
Lluís Homar	...	Mateo Blanco / Harry Caine
Blanca Portillo	...	Judit García
José Luis Gómez	...	Ernesto Martel
Rubén Ochandiano	...	Ray X
Tamar Novas	...	Diego
Ángela Molina	...	Madre de Lena (Lena's Mother)
Chus Lampreave	...	Portera (Concierge)
Kiti Manver	...	Madame Mylene
Lola Dueñas	...	Lectora de labios (Lip Reader)
Mariola Fuentes	...	Edurne
Carmen Machi	...	Chon
Kira Miró	...	Model
Rossy de Palma	...	Julieta
Alejo Sauras	...	Álex

Also Known As:

Broken Embraces (International: English title) (UK) (USA)
Broken Hugs (USA) (literal English title)

MPAA:

Rated R for sexual content, language and some drug material.

Runtime:

127 min

Country:

Spain

Language:

Spanish | English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Ireland:15A | USA:R (certificate #45474) | Argentina:16 | New Zealand:M | France:U | Portugal:M/12 (Qualidade) | Netherlands:12 | Finland:K-11 | UK:15 | South Korea:18 | Japan:PG12 | Singapore:M18 | Mexico:B15 | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:14A (British Columbia/Ontario) | Hong Kong:IIB

Filming Locations:

Arucas, Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, Spain

Company:

El Deseo S.A.

Trivia:

Cameo: [Agustín Almodóvar]Pedro Almodóvar's brother, and the film's producer, appears as an employee of Ernesto Martel, in the scene where Lena returns from hospital. Agustín has cameos in 15 of the 17 films which Pedro Almodóvar has directed.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: When the movie goes back to 1992, Ernesto Martel speaks from his office about getting a contract to build Caracas' Metro. This Metro was built more than 10 years earlier than that.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "The Culture Show: (2009-08-05)" (2009)

Soundtrack:

Werewolf

A far cry from its typical genre, Los Abrazos Rotos is a bridge of destiny between a Love Triangle and a Dual Family Disaster

Harry Caine is a blind scenarist and an outdated film director, whose life is broken down due to a traffic accident 14 years ago in 1994. While he was directing his movie "Girls and Suitcases" he was having an affair with his leading actress Magdalena(Lena in short) playing by Penélope Cruz. New make-ups and new hair designs every other scene, Cruz stands out brightly at all the scenes that she's involved. She came to the spot at the 7th minute of the theatrical cut, left 15 minutes earlier than everybody else in the movie.

This excellent work of storytelling in such a melodramatic plot worths to be vigorously applauded. It never becomes a melodrama even within in the crying scenes of Cruz nor the scenes of Mateo Blanco reminiscing Lena. The psychological trauma constituents enrich the focus of the movie right in position. Pedro Almodovar is known for using a script supervisor at his film set; and this surely brings the dialogues to perfection. Beefing up the storyboard via the scene connections, the time gap between 1994 and 2008 is used very wisely. You can still find a couple movie mistakes in anachronisms or factual errors -like mixing GBH and MDMA liquid drugs one after another, which will cause to golden hit and kills you, instead of giving you a girlishly fainting- yet the plot has no serious flaw as far as I realize.

Mainly together with 4 supporting actors and actresses, the film drew 6 different schemes for each character. Among all, Rubén Ochandiano played the toughest role as Ernesto Martel Junior decoding a gay person's characteristic development in a 14 years of period.

A traffic accident in which the lovers involving changed the lives of 6 people. This was the main idea here, reminding the Crash and David Lynch's Mulholland Drive with this concept and it deserves to be recognized with awards like them. Not advised to watch for a family movie due to mature subject matters, female nudity, drug usage, scenes of violence and mild language.