Steineded How sad is this?

Rio Hayward All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Donald Seymour This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

Billy Ollie Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

Leofwine_draca My first exposure to Pedro Almodovar and it's not been a great experience; in fact, while watching I was wondering what all the fuss was about. The story, which was also written by the director, is about a pair of young men who get involved with filming their life story, a life story which just so happens to include child abuse by a local priest in the 1960s.It doesn't sound like the most lively or even enjoyable of premises and, indeed, it isn't. I wondered what I was watching for most of the running time. The narrative is confusing, positing some events as fictional and others as real life, and the use of three different time frames means that it's hard work just to keep up with what's taking place on the screen. The film seems more to have been made to promote a gay agenda, but take out the supposedly controversial material and you're left with very little.There are some very explicit scenes in this film which are neither here nor there, although the acting is of a strong standard and you feel that the actors really inhabit their characters. It doesn't make you like them, though; indeed, they seem self-centred and rather hateful at times. A shame then that the story is so slight and small-scale; I'd much rather watch a film like SPOTLIGHT as an exploration of similar themes.

SnoopyStyle It's 1980 Madrid. Enrique Goded is a film director struggling for inspiration. He is paid a surprise visit by Ignacio Rodriguez (Gael García Bernal). He doesn't really recognize his first love whom he hasn't seen for 16 years. Ignacio wants to be called Ángel. He's a struggling actor looking for work. He also brings a story titled "The Visit". It's semi-autobiographical. Enrique doesn't really care about Ignacio anymore but he starts reading the story. In the story, Ignacio is a drag queen called Zahara who blackmails Father Manolo who abused young Ignacio.Gael García Bernal is magnificent. This is a multi-layered movie. Somewhere after the filming finishes on the screen, it got a bit complicated. This is a challenging movie. The subject matter is all Pedro Almodóvar. The complexity also has another layer that is solely for foreign movies. Reading subtitles can add another layer that Almodóvar may not appreciate.

bandw I watched this three times. The first viewing left me a bit confused and that confusion was pretty much cleared up with a second viewing. The third viewing was to appreciate Almodovar's artistry without being distracted by having to read subtitles. I know of no other director who uses color so effectively.The story is a bit complicated. Suffice it to say that it involves homosexual relationships, a pedophile priest, transvestism, blackmail, young boys masturbating, murder, drug use, and stories within stories. Those elements may be enough to keep many people away, but the emphasis is more on the role sexuality plays in people's lives and how people sometimes use it to accomplish goals that are not ostensibly sexual.Gael Garcia Bernal brings a dynamism and magnetism to the screen that I find rare in contemporary actors. He plays two roles here and, as the transvestite Zahara, I think he would turn the heads of many heterosexuals.As the miscreant priest Father Manolo, Daniel Cacho emotes such an obsessional desire for his favored young boy that it is disturbing. As much as we have heard about pedophilia among the priesthood in recent years, I cannot think of many fictional movies where this has been treated in any detail. Many of the scenes here have such a feeling of authenticity that I suspect that Almodovar has revealed some intimate details of his own life. The victimized young boy says that he lost his faith while in Catholic school. Given the nature of his experiences there, this is not surprising. He says that losing his faith allowed him to do anything. Almodovar does a disservice to atheists if anyone takes that statement as a general truth. Also, the fact that the victimized boy grows up to be a transvestite should not be viewed as a necessary effect of having been molested.Maybe a bit over the top, but there is enough in this to entertain most people who are not put off by the subject matter.

poweller Once again Pedro Almodovar has produced a masterpiece that is arguably his most personal film to date. As is typical of much of Almodovar texts, controversial themes are prominent; hard drug abuse, transvestism and sexual abuse are all dominant in 'Bad Education', meaning this may be a tough watch for many. However, for any Almodovar fan this is an essential watch.The film focuses on the relationship between two men; Ignacio (Gael García Bernal) and Enrique (Fele Martínez)and opens in the 1980's with the pair as young adults. Enrique is an aspiring film director and receives a visit from Ignacio for the first time in over fifteen years. This is a dark tale detailing the meeting of the pair during there time at a Catholic school during the 1960's and the sexual abuse they both suffered at the hands of one of the priests. Through a series of flashbacks and scenes from a story Ignacio has written about there childhood, the film explores various times in the pairs life. Due to the excellent twists in the film it is impossible to go into to much detail but the film rapidly evolves from a simple coming of age tale into a stylish modern thriller that plunges the viewer into constant confusion and contradictions.In terms of the cast Garcia Bernal is an actor at the top of his game, playing no less than five characters within the film. The multiple film references within the text and the depiction of the boys discovering both a love of each other and of cinema during the 60's are a strong indication of an autobiographical element to the film. It also has to be said there is some gorgeous cinematography during the film, in particular when the priests are playing football with the boys and a scene when Ignacio dives over Enrique in a pool.