Te Doy Mis Ojos | Take My Eyes

Seeing violence

Born as much from her 2000 20-minute short “Amores que matan|Loves That Kill” as from her love for the films of Ken Loach (she’s written a book on him), director and co-writer Icíar Bollaín’s acute, (almost) thoughtful look at domestic abuse details the struggles of housewife Pilar (Laia Marull) and her time-bomb husband, Antonio (Luis Tosar). After a terrified Pilar flees her home in the dead of night with her young son Juan (Nicolás Fernández Luna), seeking refuge with her sister Ana (Candela Peña), the film (winner of seven Goya Awards) is smart enough to have not only Pilar but also Antonio recognize that outside help is needed. She finds it in art (which echoes her own life), he in group therapy (which displays a Loach-like improvisational humor). Her blooming, however, only fuels his angry self-hatred. In the end, a perpetual scowl gives way to a fatally wounded look in his eyes — her eyes have become his.