From My Amazon Review for "Bad Education"

Smokin' in the Boy's Room, September 28, 2008


Frequently compared to American director, Douglas Sirk, Spain's Pedro Almodovar switches into Hitchcock mode with his twisty, sexually provocative thriller, "Bad Education". Maintaining the bright, primary colors that dominate and help define his films, Almodovar ditches his usual comic archness, and amps up the melodrama in a tale piling layer upon layer of desire, deception, betrayal, and lies, with inevitably murderous results.

Star Gael Garcia Bernal shines in the multiple roles of drag queen, Zahara, bad boy Juan, and the ambitious actor, Angel. A lush-lipped, sensuous film actor, Bernal provides "Bad Education" with a throbbing energy that sets the complicated plot(s) in motion. In 1980's Spain, the boyishly seductive Ignacio arrives at the office of his old, childhood friend, a film director named Enrique. Ignacio has a script based on their alleged boyhood experiences in a Catholic boarding school, most disturbing of which is Ignacio's continued molestation at the hands of pedophile priest, Manolo. In the script, Ignacio grows up to become exotic performer, Zahara, who finally returns to the church to confront Manolo, and the demons of the past. The more Enrique reads of the script, the further the lines between fantasy and reality are blurred. As Enrique is driven to determine the circumstances surrounding an unexplained death, deceptions are revealed; while some characters are not who they seem to be, others resurface in completely different guises. The mysteries deepen, with dark, enigmatic Bernal holding the answers, if not all the cards.

The cinematography is up to Almodovar's usual luxe standards, the writing clever and intense, the plot as engrossing as it is unbelievable. In addition to Bernal's fine acting, Fele Martinez is also excellent in the role of Enrique. He gives a genuinely moving performance as a man who believes (wrongly) that his long-lost love has returned. As Father Manolo, Daniel Gimenez Cacho is effectively slick and creepy as a pedophile taking no chances that his crimes will be uncovered, while Lluis Homar (who looks a little like Kelsey Grammer) is convincing as a horny, blackmailed businessman, whose lust propels him into an ill-advised murder plot.

There's a lot going on here. Because of its myriad plotlines and twists, "Bad Education" is a film that demands attention; otherwise, it's easy to become hopelessly lost in, both, the film-within-a-film and the numerous lies that serve as "backstories" for the characters. There's also a "Vertigo"-like quality to this film, with pedophilia replacing necrophilia as the squirm-inducer.

"Bad Education" is also a very gay film, probably Almodovar's gayest since "Law of Desire" (albeit minus Carmen Maura or that film's over-the-top humor). Almodovar more often works with a company of women actors, allowing their stories to unfold from a distinctly feminine perspective. And while I love "All About My Mother", "Volver", and their sister films, it's interesting to see Almodovar's occasional foray into the testosterone-fueled territory of homoerotica.

While "Bad Education" was released with an NC-17 rating, it isn't especially explicit, so I find that rating puzzling. There is no frontal nudity (except that which is encased in underwear) and the sexual situations are tastefully handled; even the priest/boy interludes are suggestive, rather than in-your-face, no worse than what's been shown on cable television. And aside from the men kissing and some bare behinds, there's not much here that you couldn't see in a PG-13 film, or maybe an R-rated film, at most. "Basic Instinct", for example, is much more explicit than this movie! The movie "Towelhead", in theaters now, reportedly shows more interaction between an adult (male) and minor (female) than "Bad Education", so I have to wonder if there's still not a hint of homophobia present in the current rating system.

While not a delicious wallow like "Law of Desire", "Bad Education" offers a darker, more somber look at the complexity of human behavior and the vaguaries of sexuality. One of Almodovar's best!