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Brilliant! A Ten Star Film! LA MALA EDUCACION is a splendid work of art. Pedro Almodovar has been making some of the most creative films from any country for the past decade or so, but now with the arrival of 'La mala educacion' on the heels of his powerfully successful films 'Habla con ella' and 'Y tu mama tambien', few can fail to realize that he is a director that fuses the magic of Fellini, Bunuel, Hitchcock, Resnais, and the other film creators who have stamped the cinematic arena as pure art. Not only is this film a visual delight - scenic compositions with colors and light vs shadow effects and perceptual vantages - it is also told with a script so finely written that it simultaneously becomes poetry, acerbic social comment, storytelling that is languidly beautiful at one moment and intellectually challenging at another. Almodovar's imagination is fed by autobiographical information, his own strong views on human sexuality, the Catholic Church, and the madness that lies just beneath the transparent skin of us all. The plot is both simple and convoluted: Ignacio and Enrique (Nacho Perez and Raul Garcia Forneiro) are two young boys in Catholic School who are in love. Ignacio is also the passion of Father Manolo (David Gimenez Cacho) who out of jealousy expels Enrique to have Ignacio to himself as a sexual partner. Flash forward and Enrique (now Fele Martinez) is a blocked film Director searching for a script when Angel (Gael Garcia Bernal) enters his life with a script (written by Ignacio whom he claims to be, but who is really Juan (aka Angel) the straight younger brother of Ignacio (Francisco Boira) a drag queen who is attempting to blackmail Father Manolo who is now called Sr Berenguer (Lluis Homar). Enrique is suspicious of Angel's true identity, accepts his script to read, then investigates the truth about his former lover Ignacio based on the information in the vivid script. The actor 'Angel' wants the part of Zahara (a drag queen who we have been seeing as yet another guise of Gael Garcia Bernal) in his script and will stop at nothing to achieve that. Yes, there is much more story - but enough of the intrigue: how this bizarre set of characters intertwine and the real story of the past and the present unravel is the glory of this immensely complex, challenging and vividly entertaining script. One is never sure whether the tale before our eyes is life as it is happening, memory, or an on going filming of a movie! As always, Almodovar has gathered a cadre of actors from earlier films and adds new flesh to expand his 'company' of committed collaborators. Included in the cast are such favorites as Javier Camara (the primary force of 'Habla con ella') and Juan Fernandez. Each difficult role is played to perfection. But it is the absolutely bravura performances of Gael Garcia Bernal that will astound you. He moves with complete ease and credibility through the 'straight' Juan, Angel, and Zahara: his drag queen portrayal is so wholly convincing that one would swear he inhabited the body and psyche of a woman. Almodovar's camera loves Garcia and here celebrates an actor of such importance at such a young age that the future of Bernal is more than secure. This young actor is simply magnificent. And the cinematography is first rate as is the musical score by Alberto Iglesias. Every aspect of this film, beginning with the clever, colorful and story-additive titles, breathes genius. Highly recommended. Grady Harp, December 2004