Te doy mis ojos (2003)

Director:

Icíar Bollaín

Writers:

Icíar Bollaín (writer)
Alicia Luna (co-writer)

Release Date:

10 octubre 2003 (Spain)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Frase comercial:

Donde dice hogar se lee infierno. Donde dice amor hay dolor. (Where it reads 'home' read 'hell'. Where it reads 'love' there is pain)

Plot:

One winter night, Pilar runs away from home. With her, she takes only a few belongings and her son, Juan. Antonio soon sets out to look for her. He says Pilar is his sunshine, and what's more, "She gave him her eyes"... |

Plot Keywords:

Church | Wife Beater | Male Nudity | Domestic Violence | Marital Strife

Awards:

39 wins & 17 nominations

Comentarios de los usuarios:

Frank, Classy Woman in Jeopardy Trajectory of an Abusive Relationship

Cast

Laia Marull	...	Pilar
Luis Tosar	...	Antonio
Candela Peña	...	Ana
Rosa Maria Sardà	...	Aurora
Kiti Manver	...	Rosa
Sergi Calleja	...	Therapist
Elisabet Gelabert	...	Lola
Nicolás Fernández Luna	...	Juan
David Mooney	...	John
Chus Gutiérrez	...	Raquel
Elena Irureta	...	Carmen
listado alfabético del resto del reparto:
Roberto Álamo
Javier Batanero
Ricardo Birnbaum	...	Antonio
Francesc Garrido
Aitor Merino
Leire Ucha

Dirigida por
Icíar Bollaín

Créditos del guión (in alphabetical order)
Icíar Bollaín		writer
Alicia Luna		co-writer

Producida por
Santiago García de Leániz	....	producer
Enrique González Macho	....	co-producer

Música original por
Alberto Iglesias

Fotografía por
Carles Gusi

Montaje por
Ángel Hernández Zoido

Diseño de producción por
Víctor Molero

Dirección artística
Víctor Molero

Diseño de vestuario por
Estíbaliz Markiegi

Departamento de maquillaje
Ana Ribacoba	....	makeup artist

Dirección de producción
Pizca Gutiérrez	....	production manager

Departamento de sonido
Alex F. Capilla	....	assistant sound editor
Iñaki Diez	....	boom operator
Patrick Ghislain	....	foley mixer
Pelayo Gutiérrez	....	sound editor
Eva Valiño	....	sound recordist

Visual Effects
Curro Muñoz	....	visual effects

Camera and Electrical Department
Octavio Tapia	....	still photographer

Casting Department
Marta Verdugo Pastor	....	extras casting

Editorial Department
Samuel Martínez	....	assistant editor: Lightworks

Music Department
Javier Casado	....	musician: piano
Julia Malkova	....	musician: viola

Otros miembros del equipo
Fran Castro	....	production assistant

Production Companies

• Alta Producción S.L.
• Producciones La Iguana S.L.

Distributors

• Sogepaq (2003) (worldwide)
• A-Film Distribution (2004) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Alfa Films (2004) (Argentina) (theatrical)
• Alta Producción S.L.
• Barbar Film (2005) (Turkey) (all media)
• Frenetic Films (2004) (Switzerland) (theatrical)
• Gativideo (2004) (Argentina) (DVD)
• Gativideo (2004) (Argentina) (VHS)
• Haut et Court (France)
• Lucky Red (2004) (Italy) (theatrical)
• Manga Films (2004) (Spain) (DVD)
• MegaCom Film (MCF) (2004) (Yugoslavia) (all media)
• New Yorker Films (2006) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Producciones La Iguana S.L.
• Timebandits Films (2005) (Germany) (theatrical)
• Warner Home Video (2005) (Switzerland) (DVD)

También conocida como:

Take My Eyes (International: English title)

Duración:

109 min

País:

Spain

Idioma:

Español

Color:

Color

Sonido:

Dolby Digital

Clasificación:

Switzerland:16 (canton of Zurich) | Finland:K-15 | Portugal:M/12 | Iceland:16 | Argentina:16 | Netherlands:12 | Spain:13 | Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud) | UK:15 | Germany:12

Filming Locations:

Cementerio de la Almudena, Madrid, Spain

Company:

Alta Producción S.L.

Soundtrack:

Farewell To Gibraltar

Frank, Classy Woman in Jeopardy Trajectory of an Abusive Relationship

"Take My Eyes (Te doy mis ojos)" is a frank, classy woman in jeopardy/Lifetime TV for Women film.

A couple of elements raise it above Hollywood's unfortunately already tired treatment of abused wives in such films as "Sleeping with the Enemy" or "Enough", among many others.

First is the superb acting by Laia Marull as "Pilar". Her transformation from frightened mouse to tentative independent to an expressive person with a back bone is riveting. She does look distractingly like Annabella Sciorra, but that means she is beautiful and very womanly.

Second is the emphasis less on the physical violence by an abuser that American films revel in (this film opens right after such an incident) than on the psychological impact, both on abuser and victim. Even amidst strife, this is a passionate couple who were very much in love, though we get hints from the beginning that he was controlling, as in the conversations that include the titular phrase. Unlike Hollywood, her final revenge is not violent but in how she uses those words back at him.

Uniquely, we see the husband (Luis Tosar as "Antonio" looking distractingly like the Irish actor James Nesbitt) as a 360 degree person, with his own family stresses, and not just as the usual evil incarnate. Though we don't see how he got into anger-management therapy sessions for abusers that in the U.S. are usually only a result of a court-order and I couldn't tell from the untranslated credits what experts were consulted for these recreations, they are a fascinating look at an attempt to change abusive behaviors. The shrink finds he has to teach these guys even how to have a conversation with their wives to prevent triggers, let alone what to do when rage starts filling their heads.

Another difference is that while the husband jealously fixates on the possibility of her finding a new lover, a sensitive new age guy character invariably appears in the Hollywood versions (and it was entertainingly non-stereotypical that the Scottish brother-in-law is held up as a prized alternative), the threat to his marriage actually comes from her relationships with the women in her life, from family to friends. Through them she becomes more attuned to humiliation as violence than even her hospital records filled with lied about fractures. It was a bit much symbolically to have her suddenly get into artistic presentations of ancient sexy myths, though it was nice that the credits identified each of the paintings discussed.

While sadly this is a familiar story in filmed outline, the film is continually suspenseful and involving as to what they will do, together and apart.