Take My Eyes - - not my right to live!

“Take my eyes” ( Te Doy Mis Ojos -2003) is not merely a film. It’s a statement. This somber drama puts forward a pertinent problem of domestic violence to its audiences. The story speaks of a battered wife Pilar (Laia Marull) who escapes from her abusive husband Antonio (Luis Tosar) one night after nine years of marriage, taking her son with her. She finds a job as a museum guide and starts staying with her sister Ana (Candela Pena). Antonio however, comes after her, promising to change, and succeeds eventually in talking her back into their home. Together the couple starts gathering bits and pieces of their broken marriage, which becomes a self – recognizing exercise for both of them.

This relatively simple storyline, however, is compensated by the eloquent screenplay and the beautiful portrayal of the characters in it.

Laia Marull portrays the delicate Pilar, so unsure of herself at first, terrified of her husband, yet loving him in a compelled, “’till death do us part” way. Gradually as she takes on a job for herself, her lack of self esteem and guilt for not making her marriage work changes to confidence, and assurance. Yet, she continues loving Antonio with a striking tenderness. Even at her moments of despair, Pilar shows a marked determination, which sets her apart. Everything she depicts in this character of a victim of domestic abuse comes alive, be it terror, resignation, melancholia or uncertainty. But what makes her character special, is her strength to move on, even after utter failures in her life, to be able to stand up again from her falls and walk forward. In one of the final moments of the film where she reports her husband to the police, she just says” He broke everything. Everything.” She is most beautiful at the moment, in her sorrow, yet self realization and determination. This performance is a testimonial to the immense talent of this actress.

Luis Tosar who plays the husband in this movie, comes across as the abusive terrorizing husband, but wait! He is not only that. He is also a man, who loves his wife and family. He is also a man frustrated with his own career, his inability to manage his own anger. He is also a man without a single relaxed moment in his whole life. Overall, this character has so may contrasting traits to itself, that it is almost impossible to recognize who he truly is. Realizing his own volatile nature Antonio goes to therapy, yet, cannot get rid of his patriarchal views about marriage and relationships. He literally begs Pilar to come home after she first leaves, yet when she does come back, he doesn’t stop being moody and irrational with her. He continues loving her in an impassioned way, but never really explains to her where his anger comes from. Through his sessions in therapy he comes across as an insecure yet cruel man, who can’t get past his doubts about his own insufficiency. When the therapist asks him the real reason of getting angry over his wife’s new job, he blurts out “what if she falls in love with one such museum going guys? Why would she stay with me? What can I give her? A shitty salary? A shitty apartment?” His anger comes from his fear, his fear, from his own inadequacy. Yet his anger escalates to a full blown rage, where he refuses to see every simple reason. He terrorizes the woman he loves most and then brings gifts to pacify her, being exceptionally tender and caring. The contradictions have been portrayed well by Tosar, although I sincerely wish, he was a little more communicative at the relatively softer moments of the character. Granted, the character required a degree of aloofness, just as a manifestation of the alienation from the rest of the world. Yet some scenes made me feel it was overdone.

Cinematically, this is an astounding production. This film boasts of a very powerful screenplay and equally good camerawork. The tender moments between the couple have been beautifully filmed, giving them an aching yet earthy appeal. Iciar Bollain, the actress turned director succeeds completely in making this a powerful film, putting forward a major problem of conjugal life, even in this modern world. The ancillary characters have been cleverly used. For example, Ana,(Candela Pena), Pilar’s sister is everything that Pilar is not, bold, bohemian and antagonized to Antonio for his mistreatment of her. Pilar’s mother on the other hand represents a generation of women who knew nothing but to take all abuse silently, and bear with it. Her helplessness manifests itself horribly when she suggests that her daughter “talk it over” with her husband, and return home, like a wife should. The sister and the mother stand at two extremes and Pilar is caught in between, in anxiety and dilemma.

Once again, this film is a statement. More for the perpetrators, than victims. The title “Take my eyes” hails from Pilar’s words to Antonio, in a moment of their love making. These three words transcend the passion and become a plea to her husband, to take a look at himself, to understand himself, and her. The message that comes out of this outstanding drama is not the fact that love is above everything. It is in fact quite the reverse. It puts forward the fact that some slights can not be forgiven, even by love. Pilar gives her husband a second chance, and tries to re build her life herself. But in the process she finds herself. So when abused again, she has the courage to finally get past the shadow of her love and face life alone, depicting an inner strength in all her sorrow. Antonio watches helplessly as she walks right out of their apartment, taking her things with her, fixing him with one final stare, before she closes the door.

No wonder this film won seven Goya awards, the Spanish equivalent to Oscars.