Telling a story about a wife who has to deal with an abusive husband isn't very original. Though, the way Bollaín does it deserves lots of praise. In her depiction Bollaín doesn't shy away from being to realistic and too raw. She really makes her characters go through a lot of suffering and doesn't romanticize anything. In Laia Marull and Luis Tosar she really has found the perfect actors to play the movie's two main characters. They both are phenomenal in showing the struggle their characters go through on the inside and make it look very convincing, almost too real. Their emotions seem really sincere and truthful. Tosar, who plays the husband, prefectly manages to show his character's willingness to change. For the viewer it therefore becomes even harder when you have to watch him keep falling back into his old habits. He can look so angry and feels so misunderstood. Tosar is great in showing this anger inside his character, but as you watch him, you also see his frightenedness. Laia Marull you watch going exactly through the same thing. She tries so hard to get stronger and stand up to her husband, but her frightenedness is still too overpowering. Most of the time she's with Antonio she seems scared, scared that he might hit her again. As a viewer you also become very aware of what it is that causes these problems in their relationship. They both don't pay much interest in each other. Pilar loves her new job at the museum and is very interested and fascinated by the paintings and the story behind them. Antonio however doesn't see what could be so interesting about them and therefore is very short in his reply when Pilar tries to start a conversation about them and tries to show her passion for these paintings. Watching scenes like these makes it even more difficult as a viewer, because you come to understand so well why they got issues and realize they will be very hard to solve. And without them getting solved the chances that Antonio will get angry again becomes even bigger and the prospect of that is quite scary.What is it about?
The film starts out with Pilar waking up her son, Juan, taking her things and leave to her sister's house. It turns out Pilar has left her abusive husband and has come to seek comfort at her sister's place. Her sister who is about to get married with John, a Scotsman, seems to live a very happy life. Compared to Pilar her life is a real fairytale. During her stay at her sister's place, Pilar's husband, Antonio, gradually tries to make contact with Pilar again so they can try and solve things. He feels regret and wants to change and start things over. Pilar however, seems to need some time and is already slowly trying to
move on and look ahead by taking a job in a museum. To show he really wants to change, meanwhile, Antonio has got into therapy. Together with other men he attends meetings where they talk about how to control their anger. As time passes by, Antonio slowly comes to take a place in Pilar's life again, to little amusement of Pilar's sister, who believes she deserves much better and who wants to protect Pilar from making the same mistake twice. As Antonio and Pilar start meeting more often it makes Pilar feel as when Antonio and she met for the first time, before they got married. After some time, however, Antonio convinces her he is showing progress and he's already a changed man, even though not completely. Pilar decides to give them another try and only time will tell if history will repeat itself or if Antonio will really change as he so willingly wants.Final Verdict: ****
Te Doy Mis Ojos isn't so much a hard film to watch, even though it features some scenes that look incredibly real and show some real violence, but its topic and its depiction of it, really sticks and make you think. It's a very good and realistic portrayal. This realism could therefore maybe feel for some as to be one of its weaknesses. The film can feel too realistic at times and make watching the film uncomfortable. Because of that Te Doy Mis Ojos definitely isn't a film for everyone. However, anyone would agree the film is great in its depiction of a family that
falls apart because of a husband who abuses his wife. The film makes you relate to its story and characters very strongly. You come to really care for its characters, both husband and wife, far more than what is usual in most films. For people who themselves have gone through a situation like this a film like Te Doy Mis Ojos might be too recognizable, but at the same time it can also help them become stronger because they recognize so much of themselves and their situation in Pilar and Antonio. The film is very tragic and emotional. It is very true in its depiction which is something I can only applaud. It's nice to see a film that doesn't show fear to depict a topic like this and do it so realistically, even though it could make its viewer leave uncomfortable and shocked. Te Doy Mis Ojos is very raw and I myself had to take a brief moment afterwards to really let everything I saw sink in for a moment and it took me a while before I could focus on other things again. But its realism, therefore, definitely should be seen much less a weakness and far more as one of its strenghts.
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