Habla con Ella (Talk to Her) is a film about love, but is not your typical love story by any means. Like many other Almodovar films, it sounds very unusual when described in a paragraph, but it is less unusual and more genuinely moving when one immerses oneself in its world. The film deals primarily with the friendship between two men, Benigno and Marco. Benigno is a lonely nurse/caregiver for a beautiful comatose girl. Marco, is a strong but sensitive writer whose girlfriend, a female bullfighter, gets gored and also becomes comatose. A friendship develops between the two men, and the title refers to Benigno's advice to Marco, 'Talk to her'. Benigno's love for Alicia is full and real, and he treats her as if she is not in a coma, but Marco is a realist that can't seem to feel that Lydia is anything but dead.
The film explores the idea of what love is, and that it not only consists of romantic love, but the love of people for each other - the caring and friendship between people even when things are at their worst. Marco cares for Benigno as his friend, even when things are at their worst, and it is his love for Benigno - a wounded, sensitive, and needy human being, that gives this film its soul.
The film explores the idea of what love is, and that it not only consists of romantic love, but the love of people for each other - the caring and friendship between people even when things are at their worst. Marco cares for Benigno as his friend, even when things are at their worst, and it is his love for Benigno - a wounded, sensitive, and needy human being, that gives this film its soul.