Broken Embraces
Broken Embraces (Spanish: Los abrazos rotos) is a 2009 Spanish romantic drama film written, produced, and directed by Pedro Almodóvar. Led by an ensemble cast consisting of many Almodóvar regulars, it stars Lluís Homar as a blind Madrilenian screenwriter who recalls his tragic love for Lena, played by Penélope Cruz, the deceased lead actress in his last directional feature Girls and Suitcases, who was also the mistress of a powerful, obsessive businessman (José Luis Gómez). Blanca Portillo co-stars as his agent Judit, while Tamar Novas portrays her son and Caine's co-writer Diego.
| Directed by | |||
| Produced by |
|
||
| Written by | Pedro Almodóvar
|
||
| Screenplay by |
 screenplay by
|
||
| Story by |
story by
|
||
| Based on |
based on
|
||
| Starring | |||
| Narrated by |
narrated by
|
||
| Music by | |||
| Cinematography | |||
| Edited by | |||
| Animation by |
animation by
|
||
| Layouts by |
layouts by
|
||
| Backgrounds by |
backgrounds by
|
||
| Color process |
color process
|
||
| Production company | |||
| Distributed by | |||
| Release date |
|
||
| Running time | 128 minutes
|
||
| Country | Spain
|
||
| Language |
|
||
| Budget | $18 million
|
||
| Box office | $37.4 million
|
ADDITIONAL DETAILS
| Type | |||
| Class |
|
||
| Theme |
|
||
| Tone |
|
||
| Mood |
mood
|
(in Spanish, quoting English subtitles)
Modelo: What's your name?
Mateo Blanco: Harry Caine.
(voiceover)
Mateo Blanco: I used to be called Mateo and I was a film director. I was always tempted by the idea of being someone else, as well as myself. Living one's life wasn't enough, so I invented a pseudonym, Harry Caine, an adventurer who, as fate would have it, became a writer. I had him sign all the scripts and stories I wrote. For years, Mateo Blanco and Harry Caine shared the same body, mine. But a moment came when suddenly I could only be Harry Caine. I became my pseudonym. A self-made writer made by himself. There was just one unforseen detail. Harry Caine would be a blind writer.
- In an interview with El País in March 2009, Pedro Almodóvar revealed that the idea for the lip reader played by Lola Dueñas came from watching the wedding of the Prince and Princess of Asturias on Spain's Telecinco, where the services of a lip reader were employed by the channel to relay what the couple were saying to each other as they stood at the altar.
- The photograph featured in the film of Harry and Lena embracing on Golfo Beach in Lanzarote has its roots in a real life photograph Pedro Almodóvar took of Golfo Beach whilst there in 2000. When he had the photograph developed, the director saw at the bottom of the photo a couple he hadn't noticed on the day embracing. "I felt that the couple hid a secret", he said later. "The whole island was holding a secret. I had to unveil that secret."
- The roundabout where the main characters have a car accident is the same one where local artist César Manrique died years before in a car accident. César Manrique guided director Pedro Almodóvar in his first visit to Lanzarote, the island where the movie was filmed. Almodóvar has said he was not aware of that fact, and that he found out about it from the news.
- 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.
- The film within a film 'Girls And Suitcases' is loosely based on Pedro Almodóvar's own film Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (1988). 'Rosie De Palme' appears in both, although in different roles.
More...
This page is the FamousFix profile for Broken Embraces. Content on this page is contributed by editors who belong to our editorial community. We welcome your contributions... so please create an account if you would like to collaborate with other editor's in helping to shape this website.
On the Broken Embraces page you will be able to add and update factual information, post media and connect this topic to other topics on the website. This website does skew towards famous actors, musicians, models and sports stars, however we would like to expand that to include many other interesting topics.