Running time: 97 minutes
Starring: Fele Martinez, Gael Garcia Bernal, Daniel Giminez Cacho, Francisco Boira, Javier Camara
Rating 5 out of 10
After the huge worldwide successes of his last two films All About My Mother and Talk To Her, Pedro Almodovar returns with arguably his most personal film to date. Partly based on his own experiences at the hands of religious schoolteachers, the film condemns the Catholic church's ability to turn a blind eye to mistreatment of children (in a Spanish Magdelene Sisters kind of way), and while it works well as such an indictment, its attempts to become something of a thriller for the final hour are somewhat of a failure.
The film opens with a Bernard Herrmann-esque score and we meet Enrique Goded (Fele Martinez), a successful film-maker living in Madrid in 1980 and an obvious cipher for Almodovar himself. Enrique is struggling to find a subject for his new film, until the unexpected arrival of his old school friend and paramour Ignacio (Gael Garcia Bernal), Ignacio is now an actor and has written a script call ed The Visit which Enrique bemusedly agrees to read.
In a film which jumps around in time we then see the final version of The Visit, which Enrique subsequently directs and Ignacio stars in. It's the story of Enrique and Ignacio's time in a strict boarding school where the devious Padre Manolo has his eyes on more than the holy water. While Ignacio and Enrique strike up their own sexual relationship, the priest has his own plans for extra-curricular activities.
Jumping forward again to 1980 and we learn that Ignacio may not be all that he seems, and that he is ready to wreak his revenge on the perverted Padre. There is one genuine surprise in the film which does come out of the blue and changes the relationship between the adult Enrique and Ignacio.
All of the trademark outlandish aspects of Almodovar's film are in place: trans-sexuals, flamboyant homosexuals in ill-advised clothing, and graphic depictions of male sex (some viewers may baulk at the sight of the two young boys masturbating each other in the cinema). There is also some visually stunning cinematography - notably a scene in which the youngsters play the priests at football.
Nevertheless, much of the characterisation is little more than familiar stereotyping, and it is difficult to care for any of the leading figures. With its pounding score and attempts to become and outright thriller in the final reel the film falls flat - at one point two of the characters walk past a poster for Double Indemnity, and it becomes all too obvious how far removed this effort is from any of the great thrillers.
The film opens with a Bernard Herrmann-esque score and we meet Enrique Goded (Fele Martinez), a successful film-maker living in Madrid in 1980 and an obvious cipher for Almodovar himself. Enrique is struggling to find a subject for his new film, until the unexpected arrival of his old school friend and paramour Ignacio (Gael Garcia Bernal), Ignacio is now an actor and has written a script call ed The Visit which Enrique bemusedly agrees to read.
In a film which jumps around in time we then see the final version of The Visit, which Enrique subsequently directs and Ignacio stars in. It's the story of Enrique and Ignacio's time in a strict boarding school where the devious Padre Manolo has his eyes on more than the holy water. While Ignacio and Enrique strike up their own sexual relationship, the priest has his own plans for extra-curricular activities.
Jumping forward again to 1980 and we learn that Ignacio may not be all that he seems, and that he is ready to wreak his revenge on the perverted Padre. There is one genuine surprise in the film which does come out of the blue and changes the relationship between the adult Enrique and Ignacio.
All of the trademark outlandish aspects of Almodovar's film are in place: trans-sexuals, flamboyant homosexuals in ill-advised clothing, and graphic depictions of male sex (some viewers may baulk at the sight of the two young boys masturbating each other in the cinema). There is also some visually stunning cinematography - notably a scene in which the youngsters play the priests at football.
Nevertheless, much of the characterisation is little more than familiar stereotyping, and it is difficult to care for any of the leading figures. With its pounding score and attempts to become and outright thriller in the final reel the film falls flat - at one point two of the characters walk past a poster for Double Indemnity, and it becomes all too obvious how far removed this effort is from any of the great thrillers.
