Club Silencio: Embracing Broken Embraces

Monday, November 30, 2009

Embracing Broken Embraces

"Films have to be finished. Even if you do it blindly."

I pity the blind who will never see Broken Embraces. Pedro's latest is a ravishing, opulent ode to filmmaking as a collective of transcendent imagery and holy moments captured in time. Love, passions, desire, secrets and lies are all filtered through Almodóvar's glorious lens and rich tapestry of characters experiencing emotional paralysis as a way to disguise their beautiful bleeding hearts. Broken Embraces is an art film about the art of film -- one that etches its feeling and imagery into the memory like that of a past lover. Exquisite and painful, but you'll want to return to that time and place again and again.

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Top Tens (Just for Today... And Mind the Gaps)

2018: [1] Burning [2] Eighth Grade [3] The Favorite [4] Suspiria (2018) [5] Hereditary [6] First Reformed [7] The House That Jack Built [8] The Tale [9] Thunder Road [10] The Rider
2017: [I can't not] Twin Peaks [1 AND 2 TIE] Call Me By Your Name / The Florida Project [3] Lady Bird [4] Good Time [5] Raw [6] Phantom Thread [7] The Killing of a Sacred Deer [8] The Blackcoat's Daughter [9] Get Out [10] Brawl in Cell Block 99
2016: [1] The Lobster [2] The Witch [3] Julieta [4] Elle [5] The Neon Demon [6] The Handmaiden [7] Green Room [8] The Love Witch [9] Love & Friendship [10] Certain Women
2015: [1] The Duke of Burgundy [2] The Look of Silence [3] Queen of Earth [4] It Follows [5] Room [6] Inside Out [7] 45 Years [8] Carol [9] Anomalisa [10] Mad Max: Fury Road
2014: [1] Under the Skin [2] Boyhood [3] Nightcrawler [4] Whiplash [5] Stranger by the Lake [6] Olive Kitteridge [7] Mommy [8] Blue Ruin [9] Only Lovers Left Alive [10] Nymphomaniac
2013: [1] Before Midnight [2] The Act of Killing [3] 12 Years a Slave [4] Enough Said [5] Sightseers [6] Frances Ha [7] Spring Breakers [8] Upstream Color [9] Paradise: Love / Paradise: Faith / Paradise: Hope [10] Blue Jasmine / The Wolf of Wall Street
2012: [1] The Loneliest Planet [2] Rust and Bone [3] Starlet [4] The Queen of Versailles [5] Magic Mike [6] Sleep Tight [7] The Imposter [8] Life of Pi [9] Dark Horse [10] Holy Motors
2011: [1] Martha Marcy May Marlene [2] The Skin I Live In (La piel que habito) [3] Weekend [4] The Future [5] We Need to Talk About Kevin [6] Shame [7] Young Adult [8] Margaret [9] Melancholia [10] Drive
2010: [1] The Illusionist [2] Enter the Void [3] Fish Tank [4] Heartbeats (Les amours imaginaires) [5] Black Swan [6] Best Worst Movie / Prodigal Sons / The Wild and Wonderful Whites of West Virginia [7] Blue Valentine [8] Scott Pilgrim vs. the World [9] Dogtooth [10] Please Give
2009: [1] Broken Embraces (Los abrazos rotos) [2] Fantastic Mr. Fox [3] Coraline [4] The House of the Devil [5] Where the Wild Things Are [6] Inglourious Basterds [7] The White Ribbon (Das weisse Band) [8] Ponyo (Gake no ue no Ponyo) [9] Antichrist [10] Up
2008: [1] Vicky Cristina Barcelona [2] Wendy and Lucy [3] Martyrs [4] Eden Lake [5] Paranoid Park [6] Julia [7] Mister Lonely [8] The Wrestler [9] Let the Right One In (Lat den rätte komma in) [10] Happy-Go-Lucky
2007: [1] Lust, Caution (Se, jie) [2] Once [3] There Will Be Blood [4] Margot at the Wedding [5] Eastern Promises [6] Grindhouse [7] 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (4 luni, 3 saptamâni si 2 zile) [8] Away From Her [9] 2 Days in Paris [10] I'm Not There
2006: [1] Volver [3] Inland Empire [3] Marie Antoinette [4] Children of Men [5] Little Children [6] Deliver Us From Evil / Jesus Camp [7] A Scanner Darkly [8] Friends with Money [9] Bubble [10] Shortbus
2005: [1] Brokeback Mountain [2] 2046 [3] A History of Violence [4] Me and You and Everyone We Know [5] Match Point [6] The Constant Gardener [7] Junebug [8] The Squid and the Whale [9] Caché [10] Happy Endings
2004: [1] Before Sunset [2] Dogville [3] Bad Education (La mala educación) [4] Sideways [5] Closer [6] Innocence [7] The Dreamers [8] Tarnation [9] I Heart Huckabees [10] Birth
2003: [1] Lost in Translation [2] Irréversible [3] The Triplets of Belleville (Les triplettes de Belleville) [4] Angels in America [5] Kill Bill, Vol. 1 [6] Elephant [7] City of God (Cidade de Deus) [8] A Mighty Wind [9] The Brown Bunny [10] The Room
2002: [1] Y tu Mamá También [2] Far From Heaven [3] Punch-Drunk Love [4] Talk to Her (Hable con ella) [5] Morvern Callar [6] Audition (Ôdishon) [7] The Hours [8] Spirited Away (Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi) [9] The Rules of Attraction [10] Lovely & Amazing
2001: [1] Mulholland Drive [2] In the Mood for Love (Fa yeung nin wa) [3] Waking Life [4] Wet Hot American Summer [5] Amélie (Le fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain) [6] In the Bedroom [7] Hedwig and the Angry Inch / Moulin Rouge [8] Bully [9] Gosford Park [10] Battle Royale
2000: [1] Dancer in the Dark [2] Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Wo hu cang long) [3] Requiem for a Dream [4] You Can Count On Me [5] The Virgin Suicides [6] American Psycho [7] Best in Show [8] Memento [9] Erin Brockovich / Traffic [10] Wonder Boys
1999: [1] Eyes Wide Shut [2] Magnolia [3] The Blair Witch Project [4] Boys Don't Cry [5] The Straight Story [6] All About My Mother (Todo sobre mi madre) [7] Election [8] eXistenZ [9] Being John Malkovich [10] American Beauty
1998: [1] Buffalo ’66 [2] The Truman Show [3] Happiness [4] Ringu [5] The Idiots (Idioterne) [6] Gummo [7] Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas [8] The Opposite of Sex [9] Velvet Goldmine [10] I Stand Alone (Seul contre tous)
1997: [1] Boogie Nights [2] Waiting for Guffman [3] Lost Highway [4] Happy Together (Chun gwong cha sit) [5] The Ice Storm [6] Live Flesh (Carne trémula) [7] The Kingdom 2 (Riget 2) [8] Life is Beautiful (La vita è bella) [9] Deconstructing Harry [10] Jackie Brown
1996: [1] Breaking the Waves [2] Crash [3] Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills [4] Citizen Ruth [5] Scream [6] Walking and Talking [7] Flirting with Disaster [8] Fargo [9] Trainspotting [10] Hard Eight
1995: [1] Welcome to the Dollhouse [2] Before Sunrise [3] Safe [4] Kids [5] Fallen Angels (Duo luo tian shi) [6] To Die For [7] Kicking and Screaming [8] Showgirls [9] Seven [10] The Flower of My Secret (La flor de mi secreto)
1994: [1] Heavenly Creatures [2] Chungking Express (Chung Hing sam lam) [3] Pulp Fiction [4] Serial Mom [5] The Kingdom (Riget) [6] Eat Drink Man Woman (Yin shi nan nu) [7] Wes Craven's New Nightmare [8] Ed Wood [9] Clean, Shaven [10] Reality Bites