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It takes a certain genius for a film director to intentionally use surreally garish colors, hyper-stylized sets and goofy/serious plot entanglements to reflect a realistic humanity. This is exactly what the Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar has done for almost 35 years. Though he's made films since 1974, Almodóvar first made...

By Jonanna Widner

August 16, 2007

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It takes a certain genius for a film director to intentionally use surreally garish colors, hyper-stylized sets and goofy/serious plot entanglements to reflect a realistic humanity. This is exactly what the Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar has done for almost 35 years. Though he's made films since 1974, Almodóvar first made a splash stateside with his cult hit Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, the sometimes hilarious, sometimes touching saga of a Spanish soap opera star. Besides introducing Antonio Banderas to an American audience (Banderas was, back then, actually not a douchebag), the movie showed us Almodóvar's penchant for nailing the pain and beauty of being a human being. La Mala Educación (Bad Education), Almodóvar's release before last year's hit Volver, may be his most complex: It's clearly a noir-y homage to Hitchcock, but with a number of twists. Cross-dressing men, sordid sex, sweet sex, love, murder and the Catholic church all mix and tumble throughout a plot mixed with flashbacks and sudden turns. Catch the NC-17 flick at the Latino Cultural Center, 2600 Live Oak St., 2 p.m. Saturday for free. Call 214-671-0045 or visit dallasculture.org/latinocc.
Sat., Aug. 18

Jonanna Widner

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