I really like Pedro Almodóvar films. I’m not sure I’ve loved many, some perhaps, but mostly I like them. They have style and challenging characters. There’s a distinctive tone and that’s certainly true here. Ingrid (Julianne Moore) is an acclaimed writer living in New York. Her old friend Martha (Tilda Swinton) is also in New York, fighting cancer. As they catch up after not seeing one another for years, we learn of Martha’s life as she reflects on a daughter she had on her own at an early age, how she met Ingrid and her time as a war correspondent. That’s the top line, but there’s a thread of tragedy and intrigue that underpins it all. Martha needs to share her story, and it’s quite a story. An estranged daughter, who never forgives her for her father not being around. War time trists between photographer friends and the clergy. A shared lover in Damian (John Turturro). Time is running out, Martha knows this and has a plan. One she’d like Ingrid’s help with, but it’s a big ask. It’s a deep and dark film, but it doesn’t look it. Quite the opposite, every frame is beautifully composed. Almodóver’s love of vibrant colour ever present. A melancholic tone seeps through it all though, with the help of a luscious score from Alberto Iglesias. Martha’s situation soon becomes Ingrid’s world as they retreat to a stunning house outside the city, but it’s not a world Ingrid is prepared for. Both Moore and Swinton are magnificent. I’ve come to expect it of Swinton and she really is a force here. Moore though is equally brilliant, maybe even more so. Martha is complicated, but is on a path she’s controlling. Ingrid though is along for the ride and Moore has her work cut out portraying the rollercoaster. Turturro is used sparingly, but effectively. In Damien he provides Ingrid’s a sometimes logical, often bleak outlet. It’s an odd film to describe as enjoyable, but it is. It’s gripping too, with a perfectly paced tension that we feel through Ingrid’s emotions as she navigates at deftly poetic tale of death.
8/10

Comentarios