Not as playful as many of his earlier films and the first without any major female characters (as opposed to transvestites), this Pedro Almodovar movie is brilliantly constructed, emotionally devastating, but not really much fun. Set in 1977 with flashbacks to the Franco years of 1961, this film focuses on sexual abuse by priests, youthful lust between classmates, and the long-term effects and loss of faith on the main characters. To what extent Almodovar identifies with the central role of the director who receives a visit from a schoolmate he's not seen in sixteen years is a moot point. From here the picture evolves into a Chinese box of stories within stories and the quest to discover what is real and what is pretense.
The Mexican actor Gael Garcia Bernal is riveting in three roles as the longlost school friend Ignacio, his transvestite counterpart in the tale within the tale, and as the struggling actor who now calls himself Angel. Uncredited one can briefly glimpse Almodovar himself as the director's poolman. A film well worth seeing but not the best of his output to my mind and certainly not one for homophobes.
1 comment:
Saw it as part of the Almodovar season at the NFT - a revelation in film making if ever there was one. Well the transvestite thing's always going to be close to home, so it seemed very real.
Just when you thought you knew what it was about it twisted round. Quite brilliant open ending. The whole thing was quite a breath of fresh air in real story telling, with a melancholic edge. The characterisation was interesting. The friend thinKs he's impersonating the director's old friend, while all along the director knows the guy is an imposter but is using him anyway because he just turned up at the right time. How true to life that is..... it's all about secrets and lies......
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