Review of Bad Education (2004) by Manny C — 24 Mar 2011

Pedro Almodovar, Spain's greatest auteur, lives and breathes movies and cinema, reveling in everything that is taboo and forbidden in the art. Almodovar has two Oscar to his name (for the one-two punch of All About My Mother and Talk To Her) and this one, Bad Education, is no less magical and riveting. It's the story of two boys, both abused by their priest, who grow up to become damaged and lost men. It's Almodovar's most personal film, and possibly his most moving, emotionally raw and open, revealing his scathing feelings on sin and the Catholic Church, and how cinema may have the power to heal. One scene sums up Almodovar perfectly: that of the two pubescent boys sitting in a movie house, jerking one another as they gaze at Spanish screen icon Sarita Montiel. It's Almodovar literally getting off on movies.

Bad Education deftly uses film noir stylings to reveal its secrets. The year is 1980 when filmmaker Enrique Goded (Fele Martinez) gets a surprise visit from Ignacio (Gael Garcia Bernal), his childhood friend that he hasn't seen since 1964. Ignacio arrives with a script based on their shared experience of being abused by Father Manolo (Daniel Gimenz Cacho). Ignacio, who was the priests prime object of abuse, is now a transvestite hustling in clubs with his friend Paca (Javier Camara, hilarious and heartwarming), whilst also blackmailing Manolo for his past misdeed. Enrique decides to make the film, giving Ignacio the lead, and that's when fantasy and reality begin to blur.

From there, Almodovar blends Double Indemnity with Hitchcock and even throws in 'Moon River' to tell a hot-blooded tale of sex, sin, murder and redemption. Garcia Bernal is terrific, whether in or out of drag, a far cry from his quietly intense turn in The Motorcycle Diaries. Like the film itself, he's too mesmerizing to resist.