Violent and horrible

Rating: 2/10 (1 February 2007)

Have we become so inured to violence that film reviewers don't even bother to mention it any more? I found this film almost unwatchable in its graphic violence. The characters seemed to me to be just overdrawn stereotypes and the situations - such as the childbirth scene and its outcome - obvious and clichéd. The Captain was an appalling sadist without a redeeming feature; the housemaid was sweet and saintly. When it was over my companion turned to me and said: 'Well what was that all about?' 'A fairy tale for adults' is hardly an adequate answer. What was the point of the fantasy sequences? I could understand if they were the child's way of escaping the horrible reality around her; but the fantasies were equally frightening. What was the filmmaker trying say ? Why did he set it in the aftermath of the Spanish civil war - was it supposed to be some sort of allegory for Iraq? I was totally baffled, as well as being sickened by the violence. I detect a trend of thought among critics and the Academy that anything made by a Spanish or Mexican director must be great. That may be the case with Almodovar, but then he's a genius.