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13 out of 14 people found the following comment useful :-
Blueprint for 'All About My Mother', but entertaining in its own right (spoilers), 1 September 2000

Author: Alice Liddel (-darragh@excite.com) from dublin, ireland

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

It might seem incredible to believe now that in the early 1990s Pedro Almodovar, now firmly one of the great directors, was thought to have lost his way. The films had become excessively formal they said, squeezing out character, comedy and narrative; the sexual daring had stepped over the line and become gratuitous and nasty - there is one sequence here in which a rape is treated as comic, becomes enjoyable for the victim, and produces a redemptive conception. With films like this and 'Kika', Almodovar was accused of believing his own hype, of taking the grand claims of auteurism too seriously, and forgetting about the things that had made him precious in the first place, the audacity, the iconoclasm, the fun.

Now we can appreciate 'HIgh Heels' as a dry run for his masterpiece, 'All About My Mother', with which it shares some startling similarities - the daring colours, the rich compositions, the masterly camerawork; the central parent/child relationship; Marisa Parades as a performer; the themes of identity and imitation. But, while hugely flawed, 'Heels' is also an entertaining film in its own right, full of (naturally) astounding acting, perverse plotting and a gloriously full, melodramatic score.

What hampers the film is its reliance on genre. Although ostensibly a typical Almodovar melodrama, visualising the emotional and sexual lives of his female characters, the plot is underpinned by a murder mystery. His remarkable 'Live Flesh' shows how genre can be used for complex, non-generic ends, but he hasn't quite got there with 'Heels'. The crime story is useful as a springboard, offsetting and bringing various crises and themes together, but just as the film is about to hit an emotional crescendo, it is weighed down by the need to tie up loose plot ends, so that a climax that should be moving and cathartic ends up in a grotesque haggling over guns and fingerprints.

None of this is thematically irrelevant - the characters are as emotionally trapped as they are by generic circumstances; Paredes claiming Abril's murder, her transferring her fingerprints on the murder weapon, her dying for her daughter's sin in a religious parody, explicitely revealed in the final composition, framed and coloured like a sacred painting, all form part of the film's variations on family, the past and present, tradition and individuality, responsibility, anti-Oedipal struggles, and, especially, imitation, this latter embodied in the figure of the Judge, a man representing a monolithic institution, run by men (while the women languish in prison), who is in fact three (or more) people, his very existence a rejection of dogmatism, of the stable, certain, repressive - in the end he will marry and (unwittingly?) shield a murderer. His imitation of Paredes mirrors negatively her daughter's feelings of inferiority, that she is a bad pastiche, can't even imitate her as well as a drag queen.

This theme of artifice, visualised in the sets and colours, in the mirrors and reflecting glass that splits characters into multiple versions of themselves, does not suggest the world is fake, but that people have so many complex, often contradictory emotions and desires, that they cannot possibly be contained in one, whole, identity; single identity is here equated with death, in the case of macho reactionary hypocrite Manuel. Truth even manages to subvert the fabrications of the media, with Abril's on-air confession, although its status as truth is automatically made suspect (anything said on telly couldn't possibly be true, could it?).

The film is full of wonderful flourishes, in particular the musical sequences, a thrilling dance scene in the prison, heartbreaking torch songs at moments of drama-overspilling crisis. In each individual scene, Almodovar's control of all his technical tools is faultless. Put together, though, and the thing doesn't seem to cohere. It must have been the script.

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8 out of 9 people found the following comment useful :-
Autumn Sonata - performed by Almodovar, 28 April 2005

Author: eva25at from Vienna, Austria

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

(Contains spoilers)

Pedro Almodovar's gaily colored character study depicts the intricate mother-daughter relationship between Rebeca (Victoria Abril), an insignificant daughter, and Becky del Paramo (Marisa Paredes), her idolized actress-mother. From childhood this busy diva was conspicuous by her absence and the little girl came to regard herself as failure: at age 27 she's "just" a newscaster - a job she got only because her husband is director of a TV-channel.

For lack of educational background Rebeca's method of dealing with problems (men) is unimaginative, to say the least: The macho stepfather who married Becky the star only to transform into Becky the housewife dies in an "accident" ("Daddy will be very pleased!"), and Manuel, Rebeca's homophobic husband ("It doesn't suit me that my wife's best friend is a transvestite!"), who had an affair with the mother before and after marrying her daughter, ends with a bullet in his head. Rebeca confesses her crime during the newscast, in front of a live audience, while her sexy colleague - one of her husband's bedmates - renders her confession into sign language. Only Almodovar could have thought up such a thing!

The film's unlikely Prince Charming is Dominguez (Miguel Bose), the investigating judge who examines Manuel's body with relish. You and I and every viewer over the age of 10 will see at once that he is no one else but "Letal", the entrancing drag-queen, who performs perfectly staged Becky-imitations on high heels. But the script asks us to believe that Rebeca does not recognize him under his false beard although they had Olympian sex just a month before (trust me). Dominguez' pleasure at seeing his rival dead can be easily duplicated: Manuel won their wordless trial of strength by exhibiting his gun while Dominguez pressed his legs together under his mini-skirt - one of the unforgettable moments in cinema.

Dominguez - who went undercover in order to investigate the murder of a transvestite and came to like his feminine side - is burdened with a hypochondriac mother who pesters him (" go make an Aids-test!") and plays hobby-detective into the bargain. Confession or no, he refuses to believe in Rebeca's guilt ("It's not so easy to be guilty. We need proof!") because he loves her. And she tries to be what he sees in her because he is the father of her unborn child. Her pregnancy gets her released from prison (The gayest prison I have ever seen on screen. The girls romp about in an exclusive boarding-school-dormitory; If you feel the urge to commit a crime - do it in Spain). But her mother, who makes dramatic appeals over the radio before leaving traces of lipstick on the stage in front of a cheering audience is getting on her nerves. Finally the women come to an understanding when Becky realizes that her days are numbered...

A daring plot and captivating performances make HIGH HEELS and immensely watchable film. What looks at first sight like a pickup meal turns out to be a colorful paella: A feast for the eyes, the film tickles the viewer's palate and whets the appetite for more. The celebration of the "Diva" - typified to perfection by Paredes and Bose (as long as he is in drag) - and the victimization of transvestites are recurrent themes in Almodovar's films, but they never smack of self-pity (like the films of Derek Jarman), and he never loses track of a film's main duty: to entertain. Okay, her permits himself a little self-praise. During the credit titles. But he deserves it...

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6 out of 7 people found the following comment useful :-
Nice Almodóvar film, 19 February 2005

Author: rbverhoef (rbverhoef@hotmail.com) from The Hague, Netherlands

I like the films made by director Pedro Almodóvar and 'Tacones Lejanos' ('High Heels') is no exception. Even his lesser film ('Kika') have something to enjoy, most of all because they are so very different from other films you have seen. Like a Tarantino-film, an Almodóvar-film is sort of like a genre on itself. Although Almodóvar reached greatness with 'Todo Sobre Mi Madre' and especially 'Hable Con Ella', his earlier films like 'Mujeres al Borde de un Ataque de Nervios' and this one are a lot of fun. He mixes so many genres here, uses symbolism in such an effective way, the least thing it does is being original. I guess there is nothing wrong with that.

The story involves a daughter Rebeca (Victoria Abril), her famous mother Becky (Marisa Paredes) who returns to Spain after fifteen tears, a murder that could have been committed by Rebeca, Becky and a third suspect, Judge Domínguez (Miguel Bosé) who is on the case, and a lot of colorful supporting characters. I could tell you more but the plot is not really the issue here. Although this films sounds like a drama, maybe a detective or a thriller even, it is closer to a comedy because of the way Almodóvar handles the absurd situations. There is a scene where Rebeca, an anchorwoman, tells something about the murder where she herself is one of the suspects. Next to her sits a woman who does the news in sign language. The whole scene, which is dramatic in what it tells us, is one of the best moments of comedy I have seen.

Of course the themes here are really dramatic. Not only we have the murder, we also have Rebeca who has wanted to impress her mother her entire life. It is just that Almodóvar creates a world that reminds you of a soap opera that can bring comedy out of every dramatic event. That his film is more serious than you might think is proved by the symbolism he uses. Scenes where Rebeca is temporarily in prison show her in a symbolic way how she feels. In another beautiful scene we see Rebeca driving her car, but it is the wall on the background that draws her attention. It is like her entire life is written on the wall. Almodóvar who loves to use bright colors finds an effective way here to use them, representing the state the character is in. It is not only effective it is quite beautiful to look at as well.

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6 out of 7 people found the following comment useful :-
Pedro's stilettos..., 4 November 1999
Author: mambogod from islington, london, england

Great stuff here from Mr Almodovar, with Victoria Abril in full effect. The result is a technicolour rollercoaster of a film. And they all break into song and dance too, way before Woody Allen tried it.

Strange that this film is so little shown, given the popularity both of the earlier "Women on the Verge..." and the recent "All About My Mother". If you can catch it at the cinema, all the better because the pace and colour is quite dazzling.

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3 out of 3 people found the following comment useful :-
Lana's "Heels", 19 October 2006

Author: melvelvit-1 from NYC suburbs

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Generally considered "lesser Almodovar" by many writer/critics, "Tacones Lejanos" is, in fact, one of the director's most stunning works. This film's true themes/motif pays tribute to "Golden Age Hollywood" and it's mythic lore. Aldomovar deliberately crafted this film as "homage" to Douglas Sirk's "Imitation Of Life" and, more importantly, it's star -Lana Turner.

"Douglas Sirk's celebrated maternal melodrama "Imitation Of Life" also begins with a child lost at a holiday location... And the multiple parallels between the two plots are clear: both focus on the life of a mother-performer, on maternal neglect, mother-daughter strife, and incestuous rivalry over a man: in "Tacones Lejanos" Rebeca will marry Becky's ex-lover. And in the murder of a male lover shared by two women, Almodovar may also be drawing on press accounts of Turner's real-life drama which, famously and ambiguously, fed into one of her most commercially successful screen roles. When Almodovar has Rebeca tell Becky "stop acting, mother!", he is signaling a quite explicit reference to "Imitation Of Life".

When Victoria Abril's Rebeca opens her handbag, Almodovar cuts to a loving close-up of its Chanel label. English-language critics have used this attention to costume and detail to attack the supposed triviality of "Tacones Lejanos", obsessed as it would appear to be with accessories. Almodovar is paying homage here to a Hollywood tradition. The production notes for "Imitation Of Life" also stress the importance of Lana Turner's gowns and jewels, valued at over a million dollars.

At first sight, however, Almodovar seems merely to have retained and intensified Sirk's formalism while jettisoning his broader concerns but... Aldomovar is insistent on the lack of irony in Sirk's films; curiously so when Sirk himself and most modern critics take ironic distance to be his most characteristic response to the melodramatic material he handled so skilfully." (From: "Critical Studies in Latin American and Iberian Cultures- Desire Unlimited, The Cinema of Pedro Almodovar") "La Lana" Turner was many things to many people- but here's the "self-referencial" in Madame's "Trash Yourself" oeuvre that Almodovar pays tribute to: LANA TURNER: The Lady & The Legend- "She started in Andy Hardy kid's stuff but soon dazzled audiences in films like "Ziegfeld Girl" & "Johnny Eager". As a top WW II pin-up girl, she inspired many a man to come back home to Mama. After the war, MGM turned up the heat, transitioning her to full-on glamorous movie star in films like "The Postman Always Rings Twice" & "The Bad And The Beautiful".

In 1958, Lana picked a real doozie (of a lover): small-time hood and big-time ladies' man, Johnny Stompanato, a henchman for mobster Mickey Cohen. On April 4, (her daughter) Cheryl, 14, was home from school, lucky for Lana. Johnny slapped Lana and told her ...he'd ruin her face so she'd never work again. Cheryl, hearing everything outside the bedroom door, ran downstairs, terrified, and grabbed a kitchen knife...

When a movie star is involved in a crime, the last person they want to see is a cop ..."Attorney to the stars" Jerry Geisler rushed to Bedford Drive. Some say Johnny was still alive and Geisler let him bleed out. The rumor that won't die is that Lana killed Johnny and Geisler convinced her to let Cheryl, a minor, take the fall. The next day the world heard the news...

The press build-up was pure Hollywood: Stompanato's funeral; Turner's insistence that he was an unwelcome presence in her life; his brother's announcement that Johnny was stabbed lying down. The coup de grace came two days before the inquest when "Lanita's" love letters to her Johnny, filled with burning desires, were plastered across front pages worldwide -a little payback from Mickey Cohen, Stompanato's pal.

Geisler got Cheryl excused from the inquest and that made Lana the star of the show. And what a show. The morning of the inquest, as hundreds of fans gathered downtown, Lana's make-up and hair people were giving her the works...She entered that courtroom "camera ready" for the greatest performance of her life. In the hushed, sweltering L.A. courtroom, Lana Turner breathlessly explained how her teenage daughter came to murder her gangster boyfriend.

Only the clicking of cameras could be heard during Turner's anguished 62 minute testimony... The hearing lasted three hours. The jury returned a verdict in less than 20 minutes: justifiable homicide. Mickey Cohen griped to the press, "It's the first time in my life I've ever seen a dead man convicted of his own murder. So far as that jury was concerned, Johnny just walked too close to that knife." So go figure.

After all the negative publicity, Lana's career was barely affected. As the 50's neared a close ...the public created the happy ending they needed to see.

And the world had one less cheap hood in it.

And Lana Turner would carry on... and continued to star in films of the 60's ...two of which, "Imitation Of Life" & "Madam X", drew shamelessly on her real-life troubles.

P.S. the public loved them." (condensed from an article by Laurie Jacobson.) "Life With Lana": Three generations of women lived together, on and off, for a long time. Both "Lanita" and her mother were big-league drinkers and would "go at it" at the dining room table while little Cheryl looked on. Often, diamond rings, bracelets and invective slashed the air as dinner plates flew- "Don't EVER forget who pays the bills around here -and if you don't like anything I do ...you can GET OUT!" Impotent and powerless, respectively, against that force of Nature, "La Lana" -they shut up and ate their din-din.

This family dynamic (and it's consequences) is played out in variation to devastating effect in the Aldomovar film.

HIGHLY recommended as a double-feature with the Sirk/Turner opus!

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6 out of 10 people found the following comment useful :-
If you like late Almodovar, see this., 24 September 2004
Author: KGB-Greece-Patras from Greece

I have seen almost all Almodovar films, as he is a unique and eccentric director with vision. Eccentricity is not the case with this one. Humour is almost absent. Maybe you have by now figured out I prefer other, more humorous and provokative Almodovar films. Not that it's no good. It is, with tight acting and nice storyline. It didn't touch me though, as it was supposed to, and as a friend suggested. See also other Almodovar reviews by me to see what I mean.

For something completely different from this, see the next film of Almodovar, 1993, KIKA, as well as LABYRINTH OF PASSION, MATADOR. Blasphemous, humorous, explosive! Whatever the case, I should recommend this to people who saw other more exessive Almodovar films and didn't like it. This is much more serious, with firm storyline and great acting by everyone, as well as TALK TO HER.

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6 out of 11 people found the following comment useful :-
Do you have one singular childhood memory that would seem insignificant to the rest of the world?, 17 March 2001

Author: PENDANT from Florida

Do you have one singular childhood memory that would seem insignificant to the rest of the world? Rebeca does and it has defined her life of trying to be somebody that her famous mother will notice.

Rebeca and Becky's final realization of each other's own self finally comes in the unselfish gesture that defines motherhood -- sacrifice.

Although this movie is listed as a drama, the madness surrounding most of Almodovar leading ladies is ever present. Raunchy and racy, as well as tender and sweet, this movie is well worth the look if you can find it.

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Looking for High Heels Area 1, 8 February 2009

Author: jmlrusb from United States

I've been looking for High Heels(Tacones Lejanos)in Area-Zone 1(USA) for more than 7 years, can somebody tell me where can I buy it or get it in the United States?? Would love to have this movie Zone 1.really need help to find it This movie is one of my favorites, maybe the best Almodovar's movie. Great actors, good music and story,colorful photography. I'm fan of Spanish director Pedro Almodovar and this is the only movie I don't find in USA. All the actresses and actors are great, personally love the role made by Spanish singer Miguel Bose as a Travesti.It's another weird Almodovar's movie, it would be nice to have the DVD here in the United States Zone 1.

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Almo-tastic, 22 February 2007

Author: Anna Fletcher Morris from Manchester, United Kingdom

Almodovar films are really very ace and this film is no exception, addressing themes that would probably scare off most directors, he still manages to make a film that captures his audience... except poncy film students who like a bit of a Rom-Com by Joe Bloggs USA and their favourite film is Pulp Fiction, because that's what it's supposed to be, right? Ouch Anna... OK, well Tacones Lejanos may not be the bestest Almodovar film around, but it pushes a few important buttons: transvestites and women in particular. The problem with most arty-ish (aka not rubbish) directors and writers, is that some people find them heavy and hard to watch, but Almodovar is able to incorporate a good story-line in his films. This had a lovely storyline, but also contained moments where the viewer could read between the lines and pick up on the subtext.

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A Mother and a Daughter, 24 November 2006

Author: nycritic

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Pedro Almodovar seems to be aiming for the excesses of female drama even in his future explorations of male passion, seen in films like CARNE TREMULA (LIVE FLESH) and LA MALA EDUCACION (BAD EDUCATION). A hybrid caught between his lurid comedies of the Eighties and the darker, more textured dramas that would present him in a more mature light after the success of LA FLOR DE MI SECRETO (THE FLOWER OF MY SECRET), TACONES LEJANOS (HIGH HEELS) finds Almodovar continuing to explore the female psyche in a story that's an equivalent of a spicy gazpacho made with combinations of the histrionics of Joan Crawford in MILDRED PIERCE and the melodramatic garishness of a Douglas Sirk melodrama with a subtle reference to Ingmar Bergman's HOSTONATEN. Throw in the usual suspects -- a mother (with a name that recalls high-drag), Becky del Paramo (Marisa Paredes), her estranged daughter Rebeca (Victoria Abril), Rebeca's husband Manuel (Feodor Atkine) who is one of Becky's former lovers -- a little murder and a female impersonator (Miguel Bose), and you have a sizzling story that is vintage Almodovar.

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