Mala Educación (Bad Education)/Pedro Almodóvar/May 2004
In light of his other films, La Mala Educación is one of the tamest in Almodóvar’s collection. Though it has the usual dose of the absurd and gender confusion, it’s an intriguing story that echoes both film noir and modern concerns about Catholic priests and their young charges. A young man recounts his childhood school trauma in a play that is translated to film by his former lover, opening old wounds and creating new ones.
It’s a technicolour, occasionally dream-like affair, with the setting of the 70s providing an aptly free background for this strange tale. It’s temporally confused, but this merely adds to the deception of the audience and emphasises the film’s surprising twist. The cuts between real life and written tale are nicely segmented through technical effects, like the script page fadeout and the screen’s division in two that reflects Ignacio’s injured forehead. The film-within-a-film style and the obfuscation of the truth is captivating, and we find ourselves gripped by the fate of the young Ignacio and the effect his troubled past has on his present.
Gael García Bernal is mesmerising as the beautiful Zahara, with a great flair for the mimicry of both women and drag queens. His frustrated male character has a depth that’s intriguing. Fele Martínez (as Enrique Goded) likewise brings an intensity to the screen. The “real” and the “character” of Padre Manolo (played by Lluis Homar and Daniel Gímenez Cacho respectively) are both played with a sense of torment, making the supposed villains of the plot as much victims as predators.
It’s a typical Almodóvar film in the sense that it’s got graphic sexual scenes and an illustration of characters that come from a subculture. The nudity and suggestive shots, however, are used to emphasise the emotions of the characters rather than to be shocking. The film’s main concern – that of the abuse of young boys by pedarasts in positions of power – is a difficult topic, but the film handles it with a commendable sensitivity and with a storyline that explores different angles to the norm. It’s strange at times, but La Mala Educación disguises social commentary with an artful layer of camouflage that is absorbing.
Review Length: 365 words
Serious Rating: 7.5/10
Superficial Rating: 7.5/10. Gael García Bernal is so handsome, though I am slightly peeved he looks better as a woman than I do! Fele Martínez is also quite handsome and trim. How do they both have such beautiful eyes?! Life is not fair.
DISCLAIMER: Not long now till I get this all sorted out! Also, though Almodóvar has enraged me in the past (Atame!/Tie Me Up Tie Me Down being one example) I quite liked this one, which was only partially due to the sculptedness of the protagonists!
FilmFriki 