Bad Education

Fantastic coming of age drama, the film is in Spanish but has English subtitles and can be heartfelt at times.

Well worth a look but not for under 15's.

Bad Education is a Pedro Almodavar film and constitutes sort of a story within a story within a story. It's about a Spanish director who is approached by an old school friend looking for acting work. He has not seen the friend in years and feels that he has changed very much since they were each other's first love. His friend brings him a script about their school days and wants to play the main role of a transexual. As he reads the script - which is a story in and of itself - he investigates his friend's recent history and uncovers a shocking secret, which also is told in a separate strand as a story in and of itself.

This is an intriguing film, certainly not for the squeamish or prudish amongst us as there is lots of sex, some nudity and some drug use, and it is expertly told by Almodavar. The frequent shifts in story and time period are easy enough to follow, despite the subtitles, if you're paying attention. Plus, as an added bonus, the lovely Gael Garcia Bernal is one of the stars, even if he does wear a dress through large portions of the movie.