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 80's 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 molesting Ignacio, the priest expels Enrique anyway.
The film jumps to
the 1980s with the boys now young adults. Enrique (Fele Martínez), a successful
film director is visited by a stranger (Gael García Bernal) 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 physical and
sexual abuse 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 blackmail to get money for sex reassignment
surgery, 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 heroin, so that his brother would die by overdose
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.
What's good about
this film is that it actually relies on the imagination of the viewers. It is
not predictable and present the film in such a way that will leave its viewers
in awe.
The ending is
actually not what I have expected though it could have tied up some lose ends.
It ends abruptly--perhaps I was wishing that Enrique will eventually fall for
Ignacio's brother Juan. (oops, kinda spoiler-ish)
Rating: 8.5/10
