Winner of seven Goya Awards (the Spanish equivalent of the Oscar), Iciar Bollain's harrowing drama tackles the disturbing subject of domestic violence. After abused wife Pilar flees with her young son Juan to the home of her sister, her husband Antonio follows her and begins a campaign to win her back. While Pilar agrees to give their marriage another try, Antonio's dark jealousies inevitably resurface and the cycle begins anew. Laia Marull's Pilar and Luis Tosar's Antonio are richly textured characters—she balances her enthusiasm as an art museum tour guide with the grim reality of her unstable home life, while he pinballs between extreme reactions that destroy everything he aspires to achieve and maintain. Take My Eyes is often difficult to watch, and many viewers who believe that contemporary women are in self-respecting control of their lives may have trouble understanding Pilar's almost irrational desire to live with Antonio, who is serious about therapy but still cannot manage his rage. Yet the genuine flaws of Bollain's characters mirror the sloppy reality and warped values of ruinous relationships—Pilar and Antonio are living a train wreck existence, but their story is presented with such artistic grace and intellectual honesty that we cannot look away. Highly recommended. [Note: DVD extras include the 20-minute “making-of” featurette “A Love That Kills,” and trailers. Bottom line: a small but solid extras package for a fine foreign film.] (P. Hall)
Take My Eyes
New Yorker, 106 min., in Spanish w/English subtitles, not rated, DVD: $29.99, Nov. 7 Volume 21, Issue 6
Take My Eyes
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