The more Pedro Almodóvar movies that I see, the more confident I feel in saying that he either doesn't understand consent or deliberately chooses to ignore its importance. Most of his efforts contain at least one instance of romantically or comedically coded rape (I'm not sure which is worse), even those which don't focus on sex as their primary subjects, and they almost always end on an awfully gross note of "well, she didn't want it, but she enjoyed it and is actually thankful for it when all is said and done". The same is true of 'High Heels (1991)', a movie in which the main character literally thanks her abuser after he forcefully performs sex acts on her while she's in an inescapably vulnerable position. The scene is played, I think, for laughs and is glossed over to the point that its importance is minor (and even when it is referred back to, it's treated as nothing more than a sex scene). What's more, that abuser is eventually positioned as the main romantic interest for our protagonist, the character who it's implied she will spend the rest of her days with. Needless to say, that's yucky. This trend is disconcerting, especially because it comes from a filmmaker who so often focuses on female characters and is considered by many to be somewhat feminist (though a brief look at his work reveals he certainly isn't, at least as a creative). The worst part of it is that it's such an insignificant element of the overall affair that most people probably wouldn't consider it a big deal - unlike in, say, 'Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! (1989)', where the non-consensual nature of the central relationship is key to the plot and the picture's controversy is clearly purposeful on Almodóvar's part - and are therefore likely to gloss over it as merely an outdated element of an otherwise solid experience. It puts a bad taste in your mouth, though, and is certainly worth talking about. There isn't really all that much else to say other than "boo, don't do that".
Moving on from something as distasteful as that is difficult, and it does dampen the viewing experience for me as well, but it would be remiss of me to review the movie without, well, reviewing the movie. So, I'll move onto the other aspects of this piece. The feature is a melodrama about a woman whose famous mother returns to Madrid after fifteen years. The woman's husband is an ex-lover of her mother's, which naturally causes some tension, and - after a night in a drag bar - things seem to go downhill for all three of them when someone turns up dead. The picture has elements of dark comedy but these are underplayed to the point of near non-existence, making it one of the drier entries in Almodóvar's filmography. Luckily, it's still suitably campy and strikingly colourful, with even its prison sets and costumes looking like something out of a fashion magazine. The story is oddly paced and randomly includes a time jump that skips past most of the drama's most potentially interesting aspects, opting instead to shift its focus to being a whodunnit with just three suspects and only one who's ever really considered to be the culprit. You don't really care about the mystery at the movie's core because all it does is take away from the juicy melodrama that rears its head in a few scenes and is clearly the film's highlight when it does. The mother-daughter dynamic is delightfully high-strung and well-acted, with unspoken truths often bubbling to the surface before being repressed back down below. There's a pretty major plot twist that can be worked out with ease if you're paying attention, which isn't as big an issue as the fact that the flick seems to rely on this reveal for the majority of its narrative catharsis yet doesn't realise that it isn't actually all that imaginative or impactful. Still, there's plenty to like about the picture and it's relatively entertaining throughout. It has a pleasing aesthetic, is subtly idiosyncratic and features some strong performances. It's unmistakably Almodóvar, for better or worse, but it certainly sits somewhere in the bottom third of his filmography in terms of quality.
Moving on from something as distasteful as that is difficult, and it does dampen the viewing experience for me as well, but it would be remiss of me to review the movie without, well, reviewing the movie. So, I'll move onto the other aspects of this piece. The feature is a melodrama about a woman whose famous mother returns to Madrid after fifteen years. The woman's husband is an ex-lover of her mother's, which naturally causes some tension, and - after a night in a drag bar - things seem to go downhill for all three of them when someone turns up dead. The picture has elements of dark comedy but these are underplayed to the point of near non-existence, making it one of the drier entries in Almodóvar's filmography. Luckily, it's still suitably campy and strikingly colourful, with even its prison sets and costumes looking like something out of a fashion magazine. The story is oddly paced and randomly includes a time jump that skips past most of the drama's most potentially interesting aspects, opting instead to shift its focus to being a whodunnit with just three suspects and only one who's ever really considered to be the culprit. You don't really care about the mystery at the movie's core because all it does is take away from the juicy melodrama that rears its head in a few scenes and is clearly the film's highlight when it does. The mother-daughter dynamic is delightfully high-strung and well-acted, with unspoken truths often bubbling to the surface before being repressed back down below. There's a pretty major plot twist that can be worked out with ease if you're paying attention, which isn't as big an issue as the fact that the flick seems to rely on this reveal for the majority of its narrative catharsis yet doesn't realise that it isn't actually all that imaginative or impactful. Still, there's plenty to like about the picture and it's relatively entertaining throughout. It has a pleasing aesthetic, is subtly idiosyncratic and features some strong performances. It's unmistakably Almodóvar, for better or worse, but it certainly sits somewhere in the bottom third of his filmography in terms of quality.