Broken Embraces (Los Abrazos Rotos) – What A Way To Kick Start The EU Film Festival

At the end of our last week’s blogger event, we were invited to attend the official opening event of the EU Film Festival.  Later on, on the bulletin board of our Spanish language school, we found out that one could email the embassy to get oneself invited.  I am surprised that we did not meet any of our classmate this evening.  According to the speaker from (I presume) Singapore Film Society, this year’s attendance rate is the highest in the last 20 years.  80% of the tickets for the 20th EU Film Festival have already been sold to the public as of now.  To kick start the festival, the Spanish film “Broken Embrace” was shown at Vivocity starring Penélope Cruz directed by Pedro Almodóvar.

“Broken Embraces” is a story or rather fragments of stories going back and forth in time told by a few main characters.  A story of a blind writer, his agent, the agent’s son, a millionaire, the millionaire’s lover, and his son.  This movie may seem long (129 minutes) but the filmmakers manage to squeeze in a multitude of stories interlinked with one another.  The storytelling technique is brilliant.  Short and sweet.  Tragic yet humorous.  Perhaps with the benefit of narration, some of the missing links can be talked through.  The camera too, is telling a story, by the ways that the scenes are constructed and how they transit.  And like many of the art house movies, there are moments that worth the waiting for.  The casting is talented.  Not only Penélope Cruz, but also the rest of the crew.  As for Penélope Cruz, she has class with or without make-up on.  The most brilliant moment?  At the very end.

Within “Broken Embraces”, there is a movie within a movie, love stories intertwined with each other.  There are plenty of embraces too.  Some inevitably are broken.  Visually and figuratively.