DVDs in Review

High Heels

Title: High Heels (1991)

Release date: August 17 2009

Certificate: 18

Format: DVD

DVD RRP: £15.99

Rating: 4/5

Pedro Almodovar's style cannot be denied. His vibrant, colourful vistas are so striking that they verge on tacky. It's an outlook that is perfectly suited to his gem from 1991, 'High Heels'.

With his melodramatic script and lush style of cinematography, it's easy to compare Almodovar to what Douglas Sirk was accomplishing in the 1950s - the substance hidden under the style, the anxiety masked beneath the smiles, the sex below the handshake, the abused power veiled by a job title.

Identity, whether sexual, professional or in the family unit, is exploded in 'High Heels' - an unlikely and increasingly unbelievable farce wrapped in a Hitchcockian thriller.

Its plot sees a once famous singer, Becky (Marisa Paredes - 'Talk to Her'), find her daughter Rebecca (Victoria Abril - 'Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!') again after 15 years apart. She's a newsreader and happens to be married to one of Becky's ex-lovers; that's just the start of the twisted family ties.

Soon that ex-lover is murdered and Rebecca announces his death live on the news before confessing to the deed herself. However, a mysterious investigator doesn't quite believe her, setting off a silly, yet engaging, turn of events.

'High Heels' has its uproarious moments - the confession scene sees Rebecca sat next to a woman who signs the news for the deaf - she too has had an affair with him and hilariously breaks down while signing words like "murder" as the apparent killer is next to her.

'High Heels' is a like a soap opera that a took a plunge off the deep end, wearing its titular high heels. This obviously makes it a love/hate endeavour, but this world renowned director is certainly worth checking out. This is as good (and as silly) a place to start as any. This DVD premiere is available through Optimum.