Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2406 in DVD
• Released on: 2004-12-27
• Rating: Suitable for 18 years and over
• Formats: Box set, PAL
• Original language: Spanish
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 5
• Running time: 106 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Writer/director Pedro Almodóvar's dark, sexy Hitchcock homage is his best work since his Oscar-winning All About My Mother, and deepened by a sun-dappled sadness. Handsome, enigmatic Ángel (Gael García Bernal) arrives at the Spanish movie offices of director Enrique Goded (Fele Martinez) and happily proclaims that he's actually Enrique's long-lost school chum Ignacio--an announcement that is both less than convincing and more than it seems. A novice actor, Ángel pitches a semi-autobiographical screenplay in which he's determined to star, a revenge-laden reflection of the doomed love he and Enrique shared as boys before a paedophile priest cruelly intervened. The script, and the lost days it recalls, carefully unfurls into a series of brooding movies-within-movies and memories-inside-memories, which allow the sensual, multiple-role-playing Bernal to give the performance of his young career--among other things, he makes a stunningly convincing drag queen--and Almodóvar the opportunity to suggest, movingly, that people will pay any price to ensure that their stories are told. -- Steve Wiecking

Synopsis
Feature box set with the titles: 'Bad Education', 'Tie Me Up, Tie Me Down', 'Live Flesh', 'All About My Mother' and 'Talk To Her'.

Customer Reviews

Beautifully shot thought provoking film, Well worth watching
I have to admit I am a huge fan of Almodovar. He is known in certain circles as the Woman's Director, but the central relationship here is between two men. I don't want to go into the plot, as it is complicated, contains twists and too many characters that any explanation would spoil it. Suffice it to say, two boys become very close intimate friends in their catholic school and their story unfolds years later within the Spanish film industry. The two leads are excellently cast, especially Gael Garcia Bernal, who looks fabulous in drag.

Purported to be loosely autobiographical, this film tackles some very controversial topics, particularly the abuse of young boys by catholic priests. The film manages to illustrate this subject without being too sexual or explicit. It maintains pace throughout, and never fails to twist itself into knots. To fully follow the flashback/film scenes plot, I recommend watching it twice.

All in all, in my opinion, not as good as "Talk to Her", and probably not as widely appealing as "All About My Mother", but highly watchable for anyone willing to spend a while in Almodovar's world.

Outstanding
For me, this is the best Almodóvar film to date. The plot is complex but comes together by the end of the film and is gripping throughout (I won't go into the plot as the synopsis and other reviews can be viewed on this site). The performances from all the main characters (particularly Gael García Bernal) are stunning and the film takes the viewer through a gamut of emotions, from hilarity through poignancy and spine-chilling suspense. The film score needs to be acknowledged too: it is one of the best I've heard - somehow the composer, Alberto Iglesias, manages to fuse a Bernard Hermann (composer of much film music including 'Psycho' and 'Taxi Driver') style along with early nineteenth century ecclesiastic choral music (using a boys chorus). During the film - one of my favourite moments - there is an extract from the Kyrie from Rossini's 'Petite Messe Solennelle' - this moment is electrifying as is the music during the closing credits - don't reach for your coat, stay and listen! Not much more to say except that Almodóvar gets better and better as he matures, and this film is his best yet.

A Bad Education! A Good Movie!
I'll start by saying I'm a Catholic! So, I hated the movie! Right? Wrong! Loved it. As usual a perfect script. A bit even more serious this time. Perfect casting! Gael is great, but for me, Paquita (Javier Cámara), is Oscar stuff! HE'S PERFECT! And the Andalusian accent is a plus! Catholicism is not on trial! People are. Priests that are not perfect (to say the least) are! And a film noir like we hadn't seen in decades. A film, inside a film, inside a story! Just GREAT! Muy bien, Pedro, y hasta la próxima película!