Pedro Almodóvar is considered an artist with his camera. He uses it to visually tell a story and is able to make an audience feel things that many times moving pictures don’t. In this film he uses color, camera movement and composition to reveal a deeper world amongst these characters. His choice of camera angles really enhances his style and gives the story a cinematic quality. One example is after Lydia is run over by the bull he shoots her from directly above and we see the dust covering her as it looms in the air while the men carry her off. It appears as if her bent body is floating through the air. She is no longer there. This moment transitions into the long-term care facility where again Almodóvar uses composition to tell the story visually.
We see Benigno with Alicia sitting on the balcony, but the shot is composed from the inside of the room where we see part of the window frame separating Benigno from Alicia. The image shows us that he is in his own world while this woman lies in a coma. Thus the separation tells us that this is not a union. Soon after Benigno is charged with rape Marco visits him in prison. He wears red and Almodóvar uses a camera move from the right of frame to the left that starts with Benigno on one side of the prison glass and Marco on the other. What we witness is the director’s use of the reflection from the glass which visually molds Benigno and Marcos character together. It’s as if they are the same man. As if Marco might as well have committed the crime. Which this imagery certainly can make one feel that he is complicit. This builds suspense within the audience.
This suspense is also seen when Alicia is simply crossing the road in order to get to her building and go home. The reason this scene is so suspenseful is that we already know Alicia’s fated to a coma, thus any moment could be the one that puts her in this state. Thus this flashback scene creates a tension in the audience that is palpable as we expect her to be struck down by one of these fast moving vehicles. Almodóvar is able to bring out the character’s journeys as they are revealed through the film with his visual style of storytelling. It’s as if the film opens up more and more before the final curtain falls.
