Pedro Almodóvar Caballero Pedro Almodóvar Caballero Pedro Almodóvar Caballero in the vein of a murder mystery.
Sexual abuseSexual abuse, also referred to as molestation, is the forcing of undesired sexual behavior by one person upon another, when that force falls short of being a sexual assault. The offender is referred to as a sexual abuser or molester...
by Catholic priests, transsexuality,
drug abuseDrug abuse has a huge range of definitions related to taking a psychoactive drug or performance enhancing drug for a non-therapeutic or non-medical effect. All of these definitions imply a negative judgement of the drug use in question...
, and a
metafictionMetafiction is a type of fiction that self-consciously addresses the devices of fiction, exposing the fictional illusion. It is the literary term describing fictional writing that self-consciously and systematically draws attention to its status as an artifact in posing questions about the...
are also important themes and devices in the plot.
Plot
- The following describes the film's plot in a chronological manner, whereas the various elements actually fall into place for the viewer as the film progresses through flashbacks and also scenes from Enrique's own film based on Ignacio's short story in which Ignacio's brother, Juan, portrays the 80s Ignacio.
Two school boys, Ignacio and Enrique, discover love, cinema, and fear in a religious school at the start of the 1960s. Father Manolo, the school principal and their literature teacher, is witness to and part of these discoveries. On discovering the two boys' affection for each other, the priest, who is himself engrossed with Ignacio, is jealous and threatens to expel Enrique as a 'bad influence'. In an attempt to prevent this Ignacio promises to do whatever the priest asks of him. After
molestingChild sexual abuse is a form of child abuse in which an adult or older adolescent abuses a child for sexual stimulation. Forms of CSA include asking or pressuring a child to engage in sexual activities , indecent exposure of the genitals to a child, displaying pornography to a child, actual sexual...
Ignacio, the priest expels Enrique anyway.
The film jumps to the 1980s with the boys now young adults. Enrique (
Fele MartínezFele Martínez is a Goya Award-winning Spanish actor.Martínez was born in Alicante, Spain. A product of the Escuela Superior de Arte Dramático de Madrid, he began to act and direct theater at an early age...
), a successful
film directorA film director, or filmmaker is a person who directs the making or production of a film. Some also consider a film producer to be a filmmaker....
is visited by a stranger (
Gael García BernalGael García Bernal is a Mexican actor and director.-Early life:García Bernal was born in Guadalajara, Jalisco, the son of Patricia Bernal, an actress and former model, and José Angel García, an actor and director. His stepfather is Sergio Yazbek, who his mother married when García Bernal was young...
) in his office, an actor looking for work who claims to be Enrique's boarding school friend and first love, Ignacio. "Ignacio" has brought a short story with him that is about their time at the Catholic school together and the
physicalPhysical abuse is abuse involving contact intended to cause feelings of intimidation, pain, injury, or other physical suffering or bodily harm.-Forms of physical abuse:*Striking*Punching*Pushing, pulling*Slapping*Whipping*Striking with an object...
and
sexual abuseSexual abuse, also referred to as molestation, is the forcing of undesired sexual behavior by one person upon another, when that force falls short of being a sexual assault. The offender is referred to as a sexual abuser or molester...
they suffered at the hands of Father Manolo (Daniel Giménez Cacho). It also includes a fictionalized account of their reunion after all those years.
Enrique wants to adapt Ignacio's story into a film, but "Ignacio's" condition is that he play the part of Zahara, the transsexual lead. Enrique remains skeptical, for he feels that the Ignacio whom he loved and the Ignacio of today are totally different people. He drives to Galicia to Ignacio's mother and learns that the real Ignacio has been dead for four years and that the man who came to his office is really Ignacio's younger brother, Juan.
Enrique's interest is piqued, and he decides to do the movie with Juan in the role of Ignacio to find out what drives Juan. Enrique and "Ignacio" start a relationship, and Enrique revises the script so that it ends with Father Manolo, whom Ignacio was trying to
blackmailBlackmail is the crime of threatening to reveal substantially true information about a person to the public, a family member, or associates unless a demand made upon the victim is met. This information is usually of an embarrassing and/or socially damaging nature...
to get money for
sex reassignment surgerySex reassignment surgery is a term for the surgical procedures by which a person's physical appearance and function of their existing sexual characteristics are altered to resemble that of the other sex...
, having Ignacio murdered. When the scene is shot, "Ignacio" breaks out in tears unexpectedly.
The movie set is visited by Manuel Berenguer (Lluís Homar), who is none other than the real Father Manolo, who has resigned from Church duty. Manuel confesses to Enrique that the new ending of the film is not far from the truth: the real Ignacio blackmailed Manuel, who somehow managed to scratch together the money but also took an interest in Ignacio's younger brother Juan. Juan and Manuel started a relationship and after a while realized they both wanted to see Ignacio dead. Juan scored some very pure
heroinHeroin, or diacetylmorphine , also known as diamorphine , is a semi-synthetic opioid drug synthesized from morphine, a derivative of the opium poppy. It is the 3,6-diacetyl ester of morphine...
, so that his brother would die by
overdoseThe term drug overdose describes the ingestion or application of a drug or other substance in quantities greater than are recommended or generally practiced...
after shooting up.
Enrique is shocked and not at all interested in Juan's weak vindications for what he did to his brother. Finally, before he leaves, Juan gives Enrique a piece of paper: a letter to Enrique that Ignacio was in the middle of typing when he died.
Cast
- Gael García Bernal
Gael García Bernal is a Mexican actor and director.-Early life:García Bernal was born in Guadalajara, Jalisco, the son of Patricia Bernal, an actress and former model, and José Angel García, an actor and director. His stepfather is Sergio Yazbek, who his mother married when García Bernal was young...
as Ángel/Juan/Zahara. Bernal was required to display a convincing Castilian SpanishCastilian Spanish is a term related to the Spanish language, but whose exact meaning can vary even in that language. In English Castilian Spanish usually refers to the variety of Spanish spoken in north and central Spain or as the language standard for radio and TV speakers...
accent before being cast.
- Fele Martínez
Fele Martínez is a Goya Award-winning Spanish actor.Martínez was born in Alicante, Spain. A product of the Escuela Superior de Arte Dramático de Madrid, he began to act and direct theater at an early age...
as Enrique Goded
- Daniel Giménez Cacho as Father Manolo
- Lluís Homar as Sr. Manuel Berenguer
- Javier Cámara
Javier Cámara is a Spanish actor, most notably in the Pedro Almodóvar film Hable con ella and the television series 7 Vidas ....
as Paca/Paquito
- Petra Martínez as Mother
- Nacho Pérez as Young Ignacio
- Raúl García Forneiro as Young Enrique
- Francisco Boira as Ignacio
- Juan Fernández
Juan Fernández was a Spanish explorer and navigator. Probably between 1563 and 1574 he discovered the Juan Fernández Islands west of Valparaíso, Chile. He also discovered the Pacific islands of San Félix and San Ambrosio ....
as Martín
- Alberto Ferreiro as Enrique Serrano
- Roberto Hoyas as Camarero
- Francisco Maestre as Padre José
- Leonor Watling
Leonor Ceballos Watling is an award-winning Spanish-British film actress and singer.-Career:Watling began her acting career in theatre and made her big screen debut when she was 15 with Jardines colgantes by Pablo Llorca...
as Mónica
- Agustín Almodóvar
Agustín Almodóvar Caballero is a film producer and younger brother of filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar.He was born in Calzada de Calatrava and obtained a degree in chemistry from the Complutense University of Madrid....
as Enrique's pool attendant (uncredited)
- Sara Montiel
Sara Montiel is a Spanish singer, and actress. She is still a much-loved and internationally known name in the Spanish-speaking movie and music industries....
as Soledad (archive footage) (uncredited)
Reception
The film received the honor of opening in the 57th
Cannes Film FestivalThe Cannes Film Festival , founded in 1946, is one of the world's oldest and most prestigious film festivals. The private festival is held annually at the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès, in the resort town of Cannes, in the south of France.The 62nd edition started 13 May and ended 24 May 2009...
in 2004, the first Spanish film to do so.
Overall, this film grossed $40 million worldwide. The film grossed $5.2 million in the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
theatrically - a brilliant success for a foreign-language film.
See also
- List of films portraying paedophilia or sexual abuse of minors
- Catholic sex abuse cases