Hable Con Ella (TALK TO HER) THROUGH THE LENS OF GENDER

Abstract

In the 2002 film Hable con Ella (Talk to Her), Spanish writer-director Pedro Almodóvar plays with the ambiguity of gender, transcending conventional assumptions about “masculinity” and “femininity.” Each of the four main characters holds complex, varied, and, in some cases, gender-bending gender identifications. The theme of gender plasticity is a prominent motif in this film. However, underlying the narrative, there is also a perverse subtext that relies on rigidly binary gender stereotypes to define relationships between men and women. Both these views of gender, which operate dialectically, create a complex tapestry through which Almodóvar explores his characters’ problems in attaining intimacy.