Bad Education
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Bad Education
Plot
Filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar takes a look at his own adolescence as well as confronting the issue of sexual misconduct in the Catholic Church in this stylish drama, which was chosen to open the 2004 Cannes Film Festival. Enrique Goded (Fele Martínez) is a Spanish filmmaker who is having trouble settling on a new project when he's approached by Ignacio Rodriguez (Gael García Bernal), who was his close friend when they were schoolboys. Goded, 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 Bernal) hooks up with a man named Enrique (Alberto Ferreiro), who turns out to have been his first lover when he was a student. Recalling their school days, Zahara tracks down Father Manolo (Daniel Giménez Cacho), 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. Goded 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, Goded 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 (Petra Martínez). ~ Mark Deming, RoviReview
It seems that with each passing film, Pedro Almodóvar's palette gets a little darker. Bad Education is his most somber film to date (with the possible exception of Live Flesh), a brooding drama about past demons returning to the present, about lost love, lost faith, and mistaken identity, all haunted by the strains of "Moon River" and an ancient image of legendary Spanish singer-actress Sara Montiel. The film is filled with allusions to the past, to the repression and corruption of fascist Spain and a Catholic boarding school (like the one Almodóvar attended), but also to a cinematic past that is clearly just as crucial to the world view of Almodóvar and his tormented cast of characters. While Bad Education owes a tremendous debt to classic film noir, it's also an unquestionably personal work, beyond the simple fact that it's about a filmmaker, Enrique Goded (Fele Martínez) grappling with his influences, and with fiction's ultimate usefulness (and inadequacy) in dredging up the truths of the past. Almodóvar has always excelled at writing strong female characters, but he seems to be growing less interested in that kind of projection, as in his last film, Talk to Her, they were all comatose, and in this one they're nonexistent, unless you count the film's cross-dressing "femme fatale," seductively played by Gael García Bernal, and his uproarious sidekick, Paca (Javier Cámara). Almodóvar is an increasingly precise filmmaker, in terms of both image and sound, and this film, while rich and intricate, sacrifices some of the joyful spontaneity of his earlier work. It feels just a bit airless. ~ Josh Ralske, RoviCast
- Fele Martínez - Enrique Goded
- Gael García Bernal - Zahara
- Daniel Jiménez Cacho - Father Manolo
- Lluís Homar - Sr. Berenguer
Credit
Antxon Gomez - Art Director, Pedro Almodóvar - Director, Jose Luis Alcaine - Editor, José Salcedo - Editor, Esther Garcia - Executive Producer, Pepe Juez - Hair Styles, Alberto Iglesias - Composer (Music Score), Ana Lozano - Makeup, Joaquin Manchado - Camera Operator, Jose Luis Alcaine - Cinematographer, Agustín Almodóvar - Producer, Miguel Rejas - Sound/Sound Designer, Pedro Almodóvar - Screenwriter, Jean-Paul Gaultier - Collaborator, Paco Delgado - Costume/Wardrobe| Bad Dreams (1988 Film), Bad Day to Go Fishing (2009 Film) | |
| Bad Eggs (2003 Film), Bad Faith (2006 Film) |
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Bad Education
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Bad Education
For the song by Tilly and the Wall, see Bad Education (song).
| Bad Education (La mala educación) |
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 Theatrical release poster |
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| Directed by | Pedro Almodóvar |
| Produced by | Pedro Almodóvar Agustín Almodóvar Esther García |
| Written by | Pedro Almodóvar |
| Starring | Gael García Bernal Fele Martinez Daniel Giménez Cacho Javier Cámara Petra Martínez Leonor Watling |
| Music by | Alberto Iglesias |
| Cinematography | Jose Luis Alcaine |
| Editing by | José Salcedo |
| Distributed by | Warner Sogefilms (Spain) Sony Pictures Classics |
| Release date(s) | 19 March 2004 (Spain) 5 September 2004 |
| Running time | 105 minutes |
| Country | Spain |
| Language | Spanish Latin |
| Budget | $5 million[1] |
| Box office | $40,266,982[2] |
Bad Education (Spanish: La mala educación) is a 2004 Spanish drama film written and directed by Pedro Almodóvar. Starring Gael García Bernal, Fele Martínez, Daniel Giménez Cacho and Lluís Homar, the film focuses on two reunited childhood friends (and lovers) in the vein of a murder mystery. Sexual abuse by Catholic priests, transsexuality, drug use, and a metafiction are also important themes and devices in the plot, which led the MPAA to give the film an NC-17 rating.
The film was released on 19 March 2004 in Spain and 10 September 2004 in Mexico. It was also screened at many international film festivals such as Cannes, New York, Moscow and Toronto before its US release on November 19, 2004.
The film received excellent reviews, and was seen as a return to Almodovar's dark stage, placing it alongside films such as Matador (1986) and Law of Desire (1987).
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Contents
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Plot
In Madrid in 1980, Enrique Goded, a young film director, is looking for his next project when he receives the unexpected visit of an actor looking for work. The actor claims to be Enrique's boarding school friend and first love, Ignacio Rodriguez. Ignacio, who is using now the name Ángel Andrade, has brought with him a short story titled "The Visit" hoping that Enrique would be interested in making a film out of it giving him the starring role. Enrique is intrigued since "The Visit" described their time together at the Catholic school and it also includes a fictionalized account of their reunion many years later as adults.
"The Visit" is set in 1977. It tells the story of a drag artist and transsexual called Zahara, whose real name is Ignacio. Zahara plans to rob a drunken admirer but discovers that the man is her boyhood lover Enrique. Next she visits her old school and confronts father Manolo, who abused her when she was a boy. She demands one million pesetas from him in exchange for halting publication of her story "The Visit". The story is set in a Catholic boarding school for boys in 1964. At the school, Ignacio, a young boy with a beautiful singing voice, is the object of lust of Father Manolo, the school principal and literature teacher. Ignacio has found his first love and cinema in the company of Enrique, a classmate. One night Father Manolo discovers them together and threatens to expel Enrique. In an attempt to prevent this, Ignacio gives himself to Father Manolo. The priest molests Ignacio, but expels Enrique anyway.
Enrique wants to adapt Ignacio's story into a film, but Ángel's condition is that he plays the part of Zahara, the transsexual lead. Enrique remains skeptical, for he feels that the Ignacio whom he loved and the Ignacio of today are totally different people. He drives to Galicia to Ignacio's mother and learns that the real Ignacio has been dead for four years and that the man who came to his office is really Ignacio's younger brother, Juan.
Enrique's interest is piqued, and he decides to do the movie with Juan in the role of Ignacio to find out what drives Juan. Enrique and Ángel start a relationship, and Enrique revises the script so that it ends with Father Manolo, whom Ignacio was trying to blackmail to get money for sex reassignment surgery, having Ignacio murdered. When the scene is shot, Ángel breaks out in tears unexpectedly.
The movie set is visited by Manuel Berenguer, who is the real Father Manolo, who has resigned from Church duty. Berenguer confesses to Enrique that the new ending of the film is not far from the truth: the real Ignacio blackmailed Berenguer, who somehow managed to scratch together the money but also took an interest in Ignacio's younger brother, Juan. Juan and Manuel started a relationship and after a while realized they both wanted to see Ignacio dead. Juan scored some very pure heroin, so that his brother would die by overdose after shooting up. After the crime, the relationship disintegrates; Berenguer wants to continue the relationship with Juan, but Juan is uninterested. Berenguer claims that he will never let Juan go, and Juan threatens to kill him if Berenguer continues to pursue him. Berenguer attempts to blackmail Juan for his part in the murder of Ignacio.
Enrique is shocked and not at all interested in Juan's weak vindications for what he did to his brother. Finally, before he leaves, Juan gives Enrique a piece of paper: a letter to Enrique that Ignacio was in the middle of typing when he died.
In the epilogue, it is mentioned that Enrique releases his film later and achieves great success. Despite the grief and guilt of his brother, Juan also achieves success, but was later relegated to television work. Berenguer dies in a hit-and-run (caused by Juan and thus fulfilling his promise made earlier in the film).
Cast
- Gael García Bernal as Juan / Ángel / Zahara. García was required to display a convincing Castilian Spanish accent before being cast.
- Fele Martínez as Enrique Goded
- Daniel Giménez Cacho as Father Manolo
- Lluís Homar as Sr. Manuel Berenguer
- Javier Cámara as Paca/Paquito
- Petra Martínez as Mother
- Nacho Pérez as Young Ignacio
- Raúl García Forneiro as Young Enrique
- Francisco Boira as Ignacio
- Juan Fernández as Martín
- Alberto Ferreiro as Enrique Serrano
- Leonor Watling as Monica, wardrobe girl
Production
According to Almodóvar, he worked on the screenplay for over ten years.[1]
Release
The film was released in Spain on 19 March 2004, and in the United States on 5 September 2004, to generally positive reviews.
The film was originally rated NC-17 for "a scene of explicit sexual content". The film was later edited to an R rating for "strong sexual content throughout, language, and some drug use".
Reception
The film received the honor of opening in the 57th Cannes Film Festival in 2004,[3] the first Spanish film to do so.
Box office
Overall, this film grossed $40 million worldwide.[2] The film grossed $5.2 million in the United States theatrically[2] – a success for a foreign-language film.[4]
See also
References
- ^ a b De La Fuente, Anna Marie (4 November 2004). "Almodovar puts 'Education' to use". Variety. Archived from the original on 20 June 2009. http://www.webcitation.org/5hfXwKOEZ. Retrieved 20 June 2009.
- ^ a b c "Bad Education (2004)". Box Office Mojo. http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=badeducation.htm. Retrieved 20 June 2009.
- ^ "Festival de Cannes: Bad Education". festival-cannes.com. http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/archives/ficheFilm/id/4185283/year/2004.html. Retrieved 5 December 2009.
- ^ Scott Tobias, "Foreign affairs," The Hollywood Reporter, 19 November 2004
External links
- Official website
- Bad Education (La mala educación) at the Internet Movie Database
- Bad Education at AllRovi
- Bad Education (La mala educación) at Box Office Mojo
- Bad Education (La mala educación) at Rotten Tomatoes
- Bad Education (La mala educación) at Metacritic
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Mentioned in
Bad Education
(2004 Album by Alberto Iglesias)
Bad Education (La Mala Educación) (Original Soundtrack)
(Classical Album)
Gael García Bernal
(Actor, Director, Drama)
Pedro Almodóvar
(Spanish filmmaker)
The Blue Orchids
(Rock Band, '80s, '90s)
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