spain

Bad Education (La Mala Educación) (Spain, dir­ector Pedro Almodóvar): I’m really having trouble coming up with things to say about this film. I’m new to Almodóvar films (Talk to Her was the first one I saw), and maybe I just don’t “get” him yet, but I must say I left this film with a vague feeling of dis­ap­point­ment. Outlining the plot is dif­fi­cult, but it begins as a story of two child­hood friends reunited in adult­hood. One is a film dir­ector and the other a strug­gling actor who shows him a short story that he’d like to see developed into a film. It is a par­tially auto­bi­o­graph­ical account of the sexual abuse exper­i­enced at the strict Catholic school where both boys met. The two boys also fall in love there, and the jeal­ousy of a priest con­spires to sep­arate them forever. To be honest, this sec­tion of the film was the most enjoy­able for me. Despite the horror of abuse, it’s very dis­creetly implied, and the inno­cence of child­hood love is refreshing. Unfortunately, this sec­tion, seem­ingly so important, only lasts about ten or fif­teen minutes. The rest is a tangled telling and retelling of events that came later, when sex becomes a com­modity for everyone involved. The plot is com­plic­ated by the fact that each char­acter is being played by two or three dif­ferent actors, and des­pite having only a handful of char­ac­ters (all male, by the way), the film never really lets us get to know them or their motivations.

Despite that, it’s a clev­erly con­structed film, and shot beau­ti­fully. It’s hard to think that even a dis­ap­pointing Almodóvar film can be better than most Hollywood product, but alas, it’s true.

Film’s Web Site: www.lamalaeducacion.com

Director’s Web Site: www.pedroalmodovar.es

(8/10)

Tagged as: spain

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Ferpect Crime (Crimen Ferpecto) (Spain, dir­ector Álex de la Iglesia): I knew I was going to enjoy this film from the moment a large rumpled man in a Misfits t-shirt lumbered onto the stage to intro­duce him­self. “Hola, amigos. The person who is sup­posed to intro­duce me is not here. I am here but she is not here. She is in the bath­room.” Director Álex de la Iglesia had us laughing even before the first frame of his film. While admit­ting that Ferpect Crime was just about the worst title for a film ever, he told us that this film was about a man who was so obsessed with living a per­fect life that it was bound to cause prob­lems. It’s no sur­prise to learn that the dir­ector has a degree in philosophy.

Rafael works as a salesman in the ladies’ wear sec­tion of an upscale depart­ment store. He’s very pop­ular at work, espe­cially with the ladies, and he’s very very good at his job. So good, in fact, that he con­siders him­self a lock for the pos­i­tion of floor man­ager. But after losing the pro­mo­tion to his hated rival Don Antonio, things take a turn for the worse and pretty soon Rafael has a dead body on his hands. His only help comes from the one woman he hasn’t already bedded, the unat­tractive Lourdes. Before long, Lourdes has Rafael wrapped around her finger and his life is far from the model of per­fec­tion he has always pur­sued. As the plot thickens, the comedy becomes much darker and the film almost turns into a thriller. There is also a strong ele­ment of satire, making this much more sub­stan­tial than the laughs would indicate. The con­clu­sion (”lesson” seems too strong a word here) is that it’s only after we give up our unreal­istic expect­a­tions of living a per­fect life that we can really begin to live at all. But if that’s too heavy for you, then go just to see the scene where Rafael goes to meet Lourdes’ par­ents. This film makes me want to see every other film by this warm and wickedly funny director.

Film’s Web Site: www.crimenferpecto.com

Director’s Web Site: www.alexdelaiglesia.com

(9/10)

Tagged as: spain

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