Almodóvar's style is certainly here in a film which was, as usual, both written and directed him. It also exhibits excellent  performances by its actors, especially that by the gorgeous and luminous Penélope Cruz, who plays a mistress and the lover of two very different men. The other outstanding performance is provided by Blanca Portillo, who plays the long time collaborator of the protagonist of the story. This film also has the glorious soundtrack personally selected by Almodóvar which suggests the exotic personality of Spain in such a yearning and wistful manner.

Unfortunately, the subplots and themes of this film aren't always properly introduced. It is hard to say whether the fault lies in the writing by Almodóvar or in the editing of the film, but the fact of the matter is that I ended up being cast adrift as to some of the basic elements of the story. Not having a clear understanding of what was going on made it much more difficult to connect with the emotional resonance of the film.

For example, the opening starts off with the narrator and protagonist, Harry Caine (Lluis Homar) stating that he is blind, yet offering little proof that this is, in fact, the case. He also states without any explanation that he has assumed the name of a character in his novels. The movie quickly jumps into a somewhat jarring (and completely unnecessary) nude scene in which Caine possibly uses his blindness to get a much younger woman to have sex with him. I initially incorrectly assumed that his blindness was a bedroom ploy since there had been no previous scenes offering real proof that he was blind.

In addition, this movie segues back and forth in time between the present and the early 1990s, but not always well. During the first part of the movie this is not done effortlessly, and the result is that this film does not pick up its emotional footing until well towards the middle of the movie. By then I was hooked, but by then it was also too late.

I have been a huge fan of Almodóvar since seeing his 1999 masterpiece, "Todo sobre mi madre" ("All About My Mother"), the movie which won the Oscar for the Best Foreign Language Film of that year. He followed that movie with his 2002 masterpiece, "Hable con ella" ("Talk to Her"). His 2006 film, "Volver," "To Return), also starring Penélope Cruz, is similar to this film in that neither ended up being one of Almodóvar's seminal cinematic works of art. Nonetheless, each and every one of his films is a sumptuous visual feast and an example of the best of cinema.

In this movie we learn that Harry Caine really is blind, but that he was not always that way, nor was he always known by that name. Formerly he was a prominent film director known as Mateo Blanco. Something happened, no doubt something dreadful, that caused him to change his name. Perhaps the Mateo Blanco that he knew died even though the body has lived on. No longer able to direct, he now writes novels by braille and dictation.

His long time collaborator, Judit Garcia (Blanca Portillo), has remained with him through it all, first as his film distributor and now as his literary editor. In her role, Blanca Portillo is the anchor of this film in a stunning performance as a woman who has suffered far more than anyone knows, and it shows in the hurt in her eyes and the heaviness in her being. Other than Harry, who she cares for deeply, she lives for her son, Diego (Tamar Novas), who is starting out his career as her assistant, which also makes him Harry's assistant.

Judit has to travel to America on business, so she instructs Diego to care for Harry in case anything should happen which would require assistance. She specifically warns him to guard against the reappearance of a suspicious film producer known only as "Ray X" (Rubén Ochandiano), who ostensibly wants to make a film about Harry. 

Both Harry and Judit know who this young man is, but neither will disclose this information to Diego. Like many other things, there is a dark period in their lives which neither will discuss, and Diego is driven to distraction by his curiosity. The only clue that passes between them is a cryptic remark about the recent death of Ernesto Martel (José Luis Gómez), a famous Spanish industrialist. (B, rent it.)