Broken EmbracesSpanish auteur Pedro Almodovar (Volver, All About My Mother) re-teams with his favourite muse, Penelope Cruz, in a stylish contemporary melodrama with classic Hollywood and film noir overtones.
Almodovar mines a rich vein of film lore, referencing Rita Hayworth's incandescent close up in Gilda, Catherine Deneuve's glacially cool Severine in Belle de Jour and tipping his hat to Orson Welles.
Knowing auteur references aside, Almodovar's lush romantic drama swirls around a central performance of characteristic allure, charm and tenderness by Cruz.
"Penelope Cruz has been Almodovar's constant muse since Live Flesh (1997). Never has she been more clearly the brush he uses, the canvas he covers, and the subject of his painting" Chicago Sun-Times
