Pedro Almodovars Talk to Her (Hable con Ella) and Live...

Pedro Almodovar, in his recent films Talk to Her (Hable con Ella) (2002) and Live Flesh (Carne Trà ©mula) (1997), has brought a thoroughly modern interpretation to the genre of melodrama. These fresh illustrations of human love, loneliness, frustration and individuality explore the complexity of human interaction and interestingly, in Talk to Her, the interactions of the sentient in relation to the insentient. Nothing is simple, Alicias ballet teacher muses in Talk to Her, this statement accurately captures the essential Pedro Almodovar style. Both of the works selected for analysis in this essay are melodramas. The word melodrama originated from the Greek root which directly translated means music drama. These films do†¦show more content†¦No coldness, no bluish tones I told Javier (the director of photography for Talk to Her). Its like their [the characters] home. I didnt want the spectator to be faced with an atmosphere of pain or illness. What I wanted to show was the everyday life of some people who live there. The use of colour is also instrumental in Pedro Almodovars pop-art style. The incorporation of classical Catholic-themed oil paintings in Elenas bedroom and also the images Lydias sister is arranging in the hotel before the bull fight are examples of the pop-art movement. Almodovar was a significant influence on the emerging culture of Spanish youth since the 1980s. Almodovars exploration of issues such as the drug culture in a non-traditional manner is evident in both movies. The narrative does not directly comment on Elenas addiction to freebase cocaine and gratuitously Sancho asks David if he has any cocaine because coke dries your tears. The films ideology seems to condone Davids cannabis smoking as a healthier alternative to Sanchos drug of choice, namely, alcohol. Marco can be seen to be smoking a joint while he looks on at Benigno, Alicia and Alicias ballet teacher on their balcony, in Talk to Her too. This is significant in that it is an example of the liberalisation of Spanish culture since the death of Franco and the emergence of Spain from that dictatorial, repressive regime. The exploration of the