Sex, seeing and the power of story... Subjects that suffuse Pedro Almodóvar's 14th feature, an intense, oppressive thriller of transvesticism and child abuse: The Talented Mr Ripley cross-dressed by Alfred Hitchcock. Story circles within story as an aspiring actor (a strikingly pansexual Gael García Bernal) inveigles an old childhood friend and filmmaker (Fele Martínez) into shooting the true tale of his Catholic education under a pederastic priest. Filmed fact and fiction intertwine and overlap, as Almodóvar's semi-autobiographical film (and the film within the film) weaves a tawdry tapestry of lust, obsession and regret. Sinuous and unsettling.
DVD Extras:
An Almodóvar interview that wasn't ready for review is complemented by two deleted scenes (including sterling work from chubby trannie Javier Cámara), costume-design sketches, plus posters and TV spots. A photo gallery of empty Cannes locations is fairly pointless, but the director's own on-set snaps impress.
