Directed by:
Pedro AlmodóvarScreenplay:
Pedro AlmodóvarCinematography:
José Luis AlcaineComposer:
Alberto IglesiasCast:
Gael García Bernal, Fele Martínez, Daniel Giménez Cacho, Lluís Homar, Javier Cámara, Alberto Ferreiro, Pau Poch, Leonor Watling, Petra Martínez (more)Plots(1)
First screened at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival, Pedro Almodovar's powerful and passionate semi-autobiographical melodrama follows the intertwining stories of two boys, Enrique (Fele Martinez) and Ignacio (Gael Garcia Bernal), who fall in love at an abusive Catholic school and are parted by a jealous paedophile priest. Sixteen years later, Enrique, now a successful filmmaker, is casting about for an idea for a new film when a young cross-dressing actor, claiming to be Ignacio but known as 'Angel', approaches him with a short story based on their schooldays together. Enrique decides to use the story, and casts Angel in the film's lead role, despite his discovery that Angel is not in fact Ignacio, who died three years earlier shortly after completing the story, but his younger brother. Enrique's film also includes scenes in which the grown-up Ignacio tracks down the Catholic priest who abused them as boys, and these scenes soon become mirrored by real-life events. Almodovar moves away from his trademark quirky comedy with this dark and brooding drama, using a complex 'film-within-a-film' structure to create a noir-like sense of mystery and blurred identity, and to explore the relationship between fantasy and reality. (Pathé Distribution UK)
(more)Cast
Gael García Bernal
Mexico
Best movies:
Coco (2017)
Amores Perros (2000)
Babel (2006)
Fele Martínez
Spain
Best movies:
Physics or Chemistry (2008) (series)
Lovers of the Arctic Circle (1998)
Talk to Her (2002)
Daniel Giménez Cacho
Spain
Best movies:
Hell (2010)
Innocent Voices (2004)
And Your Mother Too (2001)
Lluís Homar
Spain
Best movies:
El perqué de tot plegat (1994)
To Die (or Not) (2000)
Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008)
Javier Cámara
Spain
Best movies:
Talk to Her (2002)
The Secret Life of Words (2005)
Sex and Lucia (2001)
Alberto Ferreiro
Spain
Best movies:
Noviembre (2003)
Bad Education (2004)
Princesses (2005)
Pau Poch
Spain
Best movies:
Bad Education (2004)
Rec 2 (2009)
Voices of the Pamano river (2009) (TV movie)
Leonor Watling
Spain
Best movies:
Talk to Her (2002)
The Secret Life of Words (2005)
Salvador (2006)
Petra Martínez
Spain
Best movies:
Los serrano (2003) (series)
Palm Trees in the Snow (2015)
The Night of the Sunflowers (2006)
Pedro Almodóvar
Spain
Best movies:
All About My Mother (1999)
The Ministry of Time (2015) (series) - a.f.
Bad Education (2004)
Agustín Almodóvar
Spain
Best movies:
All About My Mother (1999)
Talk to Her (2002)
Final Cut: Ladies and Gentlemen (2012) - a.f.
Francisco Maestre
Spain
Best movies:
Freedomfighters (1996)
Bad Education (2004)
The Devil's Backbone (2001)
Francisco Boira
Spain
Best movies:
Bad Education (2004)
Love Can Seriously Damage Your Health (1996)
The Beckoning (2009)
Juan Fernández
Spain
Best movies:
Money Heist (Antena 3 Version) (2017) (series)
Talk to Her (2002)
Los serrano (2003) (series)
Robert Forcadell
Best movies:
Salvador (2006)
Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (2006)
Bad Education (2004)
Luis Lobos Negros
Best movies:
Bad Education (2004)
Princesses (2005)
Ferpect Crime (2004)
Roberto Hoyas
Spain
Best movies:
Bad Education (2004)