The message is essentially Times Up, maxxed out to include revenge killings; the medium is Mediterranean color.
We start with a weather report.
Its 46 degrees Celsius in Marseille, which is 115 degrees Fahrenheit: too damn hot.
(L-R) Souheila Yacoub, Sanda Codreanu and Noémie Merlant in ‘The Balconettes’Nord-Ouest Films
Someone is playing saxophone.
Theres a kid walking on his hands.
The flustered voyeuse is Nicole (Sanda Codreanu), an aspiring writer.
Dream on, Nicole.
Upstairs lives Denise, who is just about to murder her bullying husband by hitting him with a spade.
Next door is her pal Ruby (Souheila Yacoub), who describes herself as a camgirl.
Nicole and Ruby will soon be joined on their sweltering balcony by Elise, played by the director herself.
Elise is a scatty actress still dressed as the character she has just been playing: Marilyn Monroe.
They drink, they dance.
Elise and Nicole leave Ruby posing for photographs.
They never picked this man for a rapist.
They certainly didnt expect him to wind up dead.
Where is the sweat?
How can Ruby possibly be wearing over-the-knee socks?
If you were really living this story, you would never forget about the weather.
The world seethes with abusers, but retribution is nigh.
See the man on the meat hook!
The severed penis that refuses to disappear!
That said, I do wonder what Almodovar would have done with all these storytelling toys.
Made something funnier, probably.
Also ironically enough, given the supposed ambient temperature Almodovars women are so much warmer.
The point is that the men are so much worse.
