Kauthar Toffar I found myself feeling very annoyed with Alberto throughout the movie. From the very beginning you could see he was trying to find himself even after he had been married with a child already. But even after he knew he didn't truly, deep down within himself love Elena, he was still so selfish as he didn't want to let her go and be free to find someone that could love her the way she deserved to be loved. He wanted his bread buttered both sides because he did the same thing with Diego. Although, in this case Diego wouldn't take no for an answer and was extremely persistent, Alberto would still string him along and give him false hope just so that he wouldn't have to be alone with himself to actually make decisions about his life and who he truly is, what it is he actually wants and then be able to free the people around him that he has been holding down for so long. I loved the ending where he dies because it was like a huge, but tragic weight has been lifted off both Elena and Diego's shoulders because now they weren't hurting anyone by wanting to be with a man that doesn't know what he, himself wants. I know it sounds harsh that I enjoyed him dying off but his character was just awful and he was messing with people's emotions, which isn't acceptable anywhere or with anyone. I found it quite surprising to see how well Elena and Diego got along with each other even before he died. It may have been as civil as it was because the person she was being cheated on with was the same set as her husband which was probably a lot to take in and so it seems she needed the confrontation and the face to face to actually make her thoughts and feelings a reality, that this was actually happening to her. But even then, they still did not lash out at each other or even exchange harsh words. To me, this goes to show the kind of people, or rather, the kind of character they have played. Which would be kind, compassionate and understanding and that is why they put up with him until his last day.

shandretemmers When I first started watching this movie i thought it would be nothing more than a married couple having some marital problems and the husband or wife having an affair. I expected the husband to be having an affair with a female as he portrayed no signs of being a homosexual or even bisexual. That seemed to be one of the biggest turning points of the movie. The husband seemed to be controlling and having no consideration with regards to others feelings especially those of his wife and "lover". I felt sorry for him because he could never be happy with his life even when he had both relationships it didn't seem enough for him. He was a broken and selfish person. He could never accept who he truly was and perhaps this was because he was afraid of what others especially his wife would think of him. He knew people would see him and think differently of him. Which shows that what people think of others have a bigger impact than what we would expect. It seemed that throughout his life people had made decisions for him therefore he always had someone to blame for how things would turn out and that would explain why he could never make the right decisions in his relationships. It seems that the only good decision he made was to kill him. By killing himself he freed his wife and lover of any more negative emotions and it also brought them closer as they began to find comfort and closure within each other. By him still living, his wife and lover knowing about each other, would have brought no good in any of their lives.This is a good movie to be exposed to especially as a young adult in today's society where people generally just do things without even thinking of the consequences or not even taking others feelings into consideration. It teaches one to be mindful of what we say and do and to be respectful of how others live their lives even if we do not agree with it.

arizona-philm-phan ****(Torn between the life society forces one to live and the life one needs live...........)How utterly devastating for lead character, Alberto, as for any of us, to face the realization that everything he's done in life (carrying on a family work tradition, courting and marrying, parenting) is NOT who he really is. Elena's discovery of his activities forces this realization on him and places him in a situation with which he can not cope. We so clearly see this realization in his final return to their home (too late for his son's birthday party and after yet another session of love-making and sexual intercourse with Diego) where he is greeted by Elena's "how-could-you / final straw" stare. It's a look he knows he deserves, yet one to which Alberto can only respond by mutely sinking into a chair, the complete despair on his face so plainly telling us he's aware it's finally over between them. It's a grief stricken expression that says: I can't do this any more.He tells us in his final film moments that he has never been allowed to truly be who he's wanted ("I've been lying since I was a kid / hated those with me in school / hated my job"). A third generation (grandfather, father before him) airport operations worker, a husband / father......all roles 'expected' of him, all roles in which he'd truly tried to give his best. But, in the end, all that trying wasn't enough. Nor was finding "the love of his life" (Javier Bardem's Diego) to be enough, although he'd thought....hoped....it would be. Recall that, in the afterglow of their sexual intercourse, Alberto looks to Diego, lying at this side, and says: "I think this was the best time I've had in my whole life." Then in a later scene, following intercourse: "I love you, Diego. I will for a long time." Can there be any doubt who was the one for him?So, it isn't at all that his love for Elena is greater, it's that his commitment to their life had been pushed to become so strong (expectations......expectations, meeting them can tear you apart). And at the near conclusion of everything, when Diego says: "you have to start over......," you can plainly see the realization in Jordi Molla's oh-so-expressive eyes and face (this man is so beautiful), that he's just at a complete and total loss for knowing how to keep and love a family, as he's been strictly raised to do, and at the same time have the relationship he must have with Diego, the love of his life. Yes, it is his conflict over this very love which will bring everything crashing down, and his non-solution will be to run, run from it all. Doing so will result in tragedy.FINAL RESTATEMENT: In the end, then, we can see that we have been given the study of a man raised and pushed into being something he isn't. It's the story of oh, so many out there. Some are able to break out of the mold, others not---the strength of commitments (to spouse, to children, family) being too great. Or perhaps that's the excuse used for staying within the mold. But in the hearts and minds of those who do stay, the longings, those yearnings for "the other" are there.......always there.......and they hurt. Alberto was able to break from the mold, but only to a point. And in the end, trying to live in both worlds tore him apart emotionally. This film shows you the results.PS---Many aspects of this Spanish film presage ones in America's later released "Brokeback Mountain" (2005). Was Ennis's conflict any more soul-wrenching than Alberto's? True, Ennis is much the simpler man, but over and above that, when it comes to the love of your life, does it really matter where in this world you find that love (out-of-the-way ranch town or bustling city.......high-rise urban areas or soaring mountains)? ****

jotix100 The current Spanish Cinema can teach a thing or two to puritanical Hollywood in its treatment of themes the American movie executives would not dare to show a discerning adult public. This film, directed by Gerardo Vera shows us a different love triangle that could very well happen. The director decides to show gratuitous sex that frankly doesn't add a thing to the story, but it is repeated throughout the current crop of new Spanish films. The story is not too far fetched because as love triangles go, the sexes can vary and so they do in this one. Next time there's a film in which Jordi Molla appears, chances are that we might get to see all his endowments, as is the case with his appearance in Son de Mar, directed by Bigas Luna. The same goes for Javier Bardem, who can act pretty convincingly as he does in this film. Poor Ariadna Gil, she goes from movie to movie suffering all the time. She needs to get a supply of Chill pills next time she accepts a film offer, or maybe she can try her hand at comedy. She can even sing, because she's like that song, I Will Survive, since it appears she's unbreakable after all she's been through at the hands of some of the new Spanish 90-day-wonders...