"Without fear I'm capable of anything" (Simon reviews BAD EDUCATION)

This is my personal favourite film of Pedro's! I believe that when Almodovar is on fire is when he is tackling subject he has a close association to and understanding - in this case it is an understanding of cinema, relationships and experience of a Catholic school.

The film plays with what is fiction and what could be fact - the idea that you never fully understand a situation unless you are directly involved yourself. The attractive young male is very different to the drug-abusing transvestite ... and it changes your perception on the events. Hidden identity is at the core of the film - and how people hide behind masks to give the impression they are something they are not.

"everyone seems to be playing a role: Father Manola and his 'hidden side' abusing children, Juan pretending to be his brother, Ignacio himself, - as a transexual - in an excpetionally false feminine look. These multiple characters make the film irresitably intricate - multiple levels and understandings behind each characters - nobodys motives are clear."


Just look at the visual splendour it is steeped in - the picture I chose alone shows how incredibly talented Almodovar is. If you want to read more, just click here

"Ghosts don't cry" (Simon reviews VOLVER)

One film I feel we did not discuss enough was Volver and Broken Embraces. Broken Embraces specifically as it has a great duality alongside Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown.

At any rate, Volver is a great film and, akin to Talk to Her, it is a much more restrained Almodóvar. Rather than focussing on identity and sexuality, it focusses on death, mourning and explicit highlights the celebration of death according to Spanish custom. 

I wrote:

"As Almodóvar is dealing with such a sensitive subject, it is no suprised that the comedic and bizarre elements are not seen - and, other than Paco's brief perversions - there is no overt-sexual scenes or sexuality-issues raised. So, though restrained for Almodóvar the colours still reek of pastels and calmness. Nothing too bold and nothing too cold - pastelly-blue's and pinks all over the place"


To view much more of the post, just click here

The Film Locker #6: Pedro Almodovar

We inject some foreign flair into the locker this week with the very best from Spain: Pedro Almodovar. Feature discussion this week zeroes in on one of Hatter's all-time favorite films - HABLA CON ELLA aka TALK TO HER


As usual, it is already up on itunes and can be found easily on podomatic - so, please do try and write reviews and support us if you can! We have the ol' RSS feed and 2.0 RSS and, if you link in different ways, we also have it on Google and Yahoo