I didn't realize until the very end that this film is based on a book of the same name, a true story about Brendan Behan, an Irish writer and political activist, and his time in a British labor camp. It's pitched as a dreamy, romantic film, and it really only comes alive in the last 20 to 25 minutes, where the emotions run high and it tugs at your heart. For the first half I had no clue where the story was headed, though it did start making sense eventually. Brendan is a 16 year old Irish boy who gets caught trying to smuggle a few sticks of dynamite on board, and he's sent off to Borstal, an underage detention center. That's where he meets Charlie, a sailor who's openly gay and also locked up there. Brendan makes it clear he's not gay, but the two still become really close friends. A lot of the film is about what these two get up to along with a few other boys at Borstal, and how Brendan changes during that time. They try to break out of the place, and it costs...
Pedro Almodóvar movies are always to watch out for. The way he blends two different storylines with the same actors, is worth watching. Though this film of his is a little different from others. The theme (child abuse) is darker. It is going to be had to review the film because there are so many twists and turns and it is a great work of art.
Enrique is a Spanish filmmaker who is having trouble settling on a new project when he's approached by Ignacio Rodriguez, who was his close friend when they were schoolboys. Enrique, who fell in love for the first time with Rodriguez, barely recognizes the man as his former crush, but agrees to read the short story he's written. The tale turns out to be an semi-autobiographical account of their days in a Catholic boarding school, in which a cross-dressing night-club performer named Zahara (also played by Ignacio) hooks up with a man named Enrique, who turns out to have been his first lover when he was a student. Recalling their school days, Zahara tracks down Father Manolo, one of his teachers from school with pedophilic tendencies, and threatens to expose the priest's attempts to seduce him and ruin his relationship with Enrique years ago. Enrique decides to use the story as the basis for his next film, and Rodriguez, an out-of-work actor, makes it clear he's eager to play Zahara. However, Enrique isn't certain if Rodriguez is the right actor for the role, or if he's even the man he claims to be. An angry conflict with Rodriguez leads Goded back to the real Ignacio's mother where he finds out that real Ignacio has been dead for four years and that the man who came to his office is really Ignacio's younger brother, Juan. When Father Manuel visits the set . he tells a bitter truth that shocks Enrique. Real Ignacio hd become a trasnvestite and Manuel and Juan had started a relationship. After a point they both wanted him dead and it was Juan who overdosed Ignacio. In the epilogue, it is mentioned that Enrique releases his film later which achieves great success. Despite the grief and guilt of his brother, Juan also achieves success, and marries a woman. Manuel dies in a car accident (caused by Juan and thus fulfilling his promise made earlier in the film).
The brooding drama of past demons returning to the present, about lost love, lost faith, and mistaken identity makes for a great cinema piece. The twists and turns that the plot offers is awesome. There is not a minute where the viewer knows exactly what is going to happen next and thats the beauty of the film. All the actors are very very good at what they do in the film. They are so believable.
Please watch it. I am going to find more Almodóvar movies and feast on them. (8/10)
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