Grade: A- | Genre: Foreign Drama Summary: This is one remarkably ambitious work by famed Spanish writer/director Pedro Almodovar (Talk to Her, Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!) that takes a few acts to kick in, but once you feel the sting you can't help but let the poison, of this enthralling drama, course its way thorough your veins.

This film is a mind trip and a half. Everything you think you know gets rubbed out, as your mind attempts to keep all of its post-it notes of revelation afixed to the wall. This is one remarkably ambitious work by famed Spanish writer/director Pedro Almodovar (Talk to Her, Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!) that takes a few acts to kick in, but once you feel the sting you can't help but let the poison, of this enthralling drama, course its way thorough your veins.

Unfortunately, I can't really tell you anything of substance about the story. To do that would take the piss out of the whole thing. What I can tell you is that there are 5 characters here (Ignacio, Enrique, Juan, Angel and Father Manolo) yet not necessarily an actor for each character. The first half bleeds one story into the next as you attempt to fit them together in some discernable fashion. First, we meet Ignacio (Gael Garcia Bernal) as he drops in on Enrique (Fele Martinez). The two are in their late twenties yet haven't seen one another since grade school. Enrique is a director and Ignacio an actor that has come in search of work in Enrique's upcoming film. Enrique feigns interest, but more than anything, brushes off Ignacio. Ignacio leaves a story for him to read that is said to be a look at their childhood selves, which then branches off into a more fictional slant. Enrique becomes enraptured in this tale as we head off into our first subplot. We meet Ignacio and Enrique as adolescents in a Catholic boys school. It only takes one look into each other's eyes and they are equally smitten. Ah, young love Almodovar style.

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The remainder of the film stuffs your mind into a blender and presses purate. It's wickedly clever, forcefully gentle and doggedly inventive. It keeps you guessing as you try to stay a step ahead, ultimately you end up tied to a leash getting drug behind the truck. There is two things that make this complex picture work: Pedro Almodovar and Gael Garcia Bernal. Almodovar's script and direction build this exquisite picture one brick at a time. He isn't in any hurry to show us his hand. He allows this picture to carefully drop its clues at its own subtle pace. His total disregard for societal sexual norms always provide an interesting perspective. In the worlds he brings to life, deviance is the norm. Bernal in drag isn't anything sensational here, as it undoubtedly would be in a Hollywood feature. It's simply part of the fabric of his character. Toying with the sex scenes also seem to be his modus operandi as Education was slapped by the MPAA with an NC-17 rating. It's not particularly graphic, and a lot is left for your imagination to fill in the blanks. Truthfully, if the same scenes had taken place between a man and a woman, I think it would not have scored anything higher than an R rating. That is good ol' Puritanical American cinema for you.

Ah, Gael Garcia Bernal. To say that he is the most impressive Spanish actor on the screen really shortchanges this tremendous talent. He is one of the best actors working in film, always stealing every frame whether it is in Y Tu Mama Tambien, The Crime of Padre Amaro or last year's stellar Motorcycle Diaries. In Education, he is a shape shifter, a constant chameleon slipping in and out of identities as if they were trendy clothing. This role gives him so much breath to really cut loose and show us what he has to work with. What materializes is an eye opening portrayal that ranks among his best performances. After Education, it's safe to say that there is nothing this man can't do.

The fact that I had this much to write, on a story I really couldn't talk about, speaks volumes for this innovatively, crafty film. Almodovar walks in with his usual bag of tricks as he styles an intriguing tale of love, mistaken identity and bloody deception. Bernal shines, as we have become accustomed to. Enough. Quit reading this and go see this picture for yourself to discover all the things that I can't tell you about.

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