Harry Caine, a blind writer, reaches this moment in time when he has to heal his wounds from 14 years back. He was then still known by his real name, Mateo Blanco, and directing his last movie.
Cinematography
Every frame drips with Almodóvar's saturated, wounded color palette.
Acting
Cruz at her most devastating—vulnerable armor and all.
Direction
Almodóvar directing a film about a director directing. Delicious.
Director
Pedro Almodóvar
Penélope Cruz
Lena
Lluís Homar
Mateo Blanco / Harry Caine
Blanca Portillo
Judit García
José Luis Gómez
Ernesto Martel
Rubén Ochandiano
Ray X
Tamar Novas
Diego
Ángela Molina
Lena's Mother
Chus Lampreave
Concierge
Kiti Mánver
Madame Mylene
Lola Dueñas
Lip Reader
Mariola Fuentes
Edurne
Carmen Machi
Chon
Kira Miró
Model
Rossy de Palma
Julieta
Alejo Sauras
Álex
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The film-within-a-film structure directly references Almodóvar's own Women on the Verge, making this his most autobiographically naked work.
Lluís Homar's performance as both Mateo and Harry required him to play blindness while simultaneously conveying a man who remembers seeing—Almodóvar filmed his eyes in extreme close-up to capture this tension.
ES
