| Plot Synopsis Filmmaker Pedro Almod�var 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 Mart�nez) is a Spanish filmmaker who is having trouble settling on a new project when he's approached by Ignacio Rodriguez (Gael Garc�a 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 Gim�nez 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 Mart�nez). Iconic Spanish screen star Sara Montiel also appears in the film as herself. - Mark Deming Reviews Josh Ralske All Movie Guide It seems that with each passing film, Pedro Almod�var'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 Almod�var attended), but also to a cinematic past that is clearly just as crucial to the world view of Almod�var 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 Mart�nez) grappling with his influences, and with fiction's ultimate usefulness (and inadequacy) in dredging up the truths of the past. Almod�var 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 Garc�a Bernal, and his uproarious sidekick, Paca (Javier C�mara). Almod�var 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. Peter Travers Rolling Stones (Posted Nov 16, 2004) Pedro Almodovar doesn't just make movies. Almodovar is the movies. He revels in everything forbidden and forgiving that can transform life into art. Bad Education, coming on the heels of the Spanish filmmaker's Oscar-winning Talk to Her and All About My Mother, is a rapturous masterwork. This story of two priest-abused boys who become lost men is also Almodovar's most personal film to date -- raw with his own feelings about sex, sin, the Catholic Church and the healing power of cinema. In one scene, the pubescent boys go to a movie house and jerk each other off while watching Spanish sex icon Sarita Montiel. That's Almodovar to a T: hand on crotch, eyes on a distant dream. Bad Education hides its complex structure under the shimmering surface of a decadent film noir. It's 1980 and film director Enrique Goded (Fele Martnez) gets a visit from Ignacio (Gael Garca Bernal), the boyhood pal he hasn't seen since 1964. Ignacio has a script based on those whack-off days at school when Father Manolo (Daniel Gimenz Cacho) fondled the boys. Ignacio (the prime object of the priest's abuse) grows up to become Zahara (also Garca Bernal), a transvestite working clubs with his pal Paca (the hilarious Javier Cmara) and blackmailing the priest for his sins. When Enrique decides to make the film with Ignacio as the star, reality and fantasy collide. Almodovar mixes Hitchcock with Double Indemnity, a song from Breakfast at Tiffany's and countless other movie references into a hotblooded tale of deception and murder. Garca Bernal, in and out of drag, gives a juicy, jolting performance far removed from his quiet intensity in The Motorcycle Diaries. He is the corrupt soul of a mesmeric movie that offers temptations impossible to resist. Awards Best Foreign Language Film (nom) - -2004 -British Academy Awards Film Presented - -2004 -Cannes International Film Festival Best Foreign Film (nom) -Pedro Almod�var -2004 -Independent Spirit Award Best Foreign Film (nom) - -2004 -National Board of Review Best Foreign Film (win) - -2004 -New York Film Critics Circle Film Presented - -2004 -New York Film Festival Film Presented - -2004 -Toronto International Film Festival |
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| BAD EDUCATION 2004 - Spain - 104 min. - Feature, Color AKA -La Mala Educaci�n (Original Foreign title)- Director -Pedro Almod�var |
| Genre/Type -Drama, Mystery, Film Noir, Psychological Drama Flags -Not For Children, Adult Situations, Profanity, Strong Sexual Content, Violence, Adult Humor, Nudity MPAA Rating -NC17 Keywords -blackmail, boarding-school, Catholic, cross-dressing, filmmaking, priest, transvestite, pedophile, sexual-abuse Themes -Filmmaking, Haunted By the Past, Dangerous Attraction, Members of the Clergy, First Love, Gender-Bending Tones -Stylized, Irreverent, Enigmatic, Sexy, Reflective, Cathartic- Movie budget -$8 million Produced by -El Deseo S.A. Release -Mar 19, 2004 (Spain) / Nov 19, 2004 (USA - Limited) Released by -Sony Pictures Classics / Warner Sogefilms DVD Street Date -Apr 12, 2005 Languages -Spanish Subtitles -English Screen Formats -Letterbox for 16x9 TVs Sound -Dolby Digital 5.1 Studio -Columbia Tristar Cast Fele Mart�nez -- Enrique Goded Gael Garc�a Bernal -- Zahara / Angel / Juan Daniel Gim�nez Cacho -- Father Manolo Llu�s Homar -- Sr. Berenguer Javier Cam�ra -- Paca Petra Mart�nez -- Ignacio's Mother Nacho Perez -- Young Ignacio Raul Garcia Forneiro -- Enrique Kid Alberto Ferreiro -- Enrique Serrano Ignacio Perez -- Ignacio Kid Roberto Hoyas -- Galicia's Barman Francisco Maestre -- Father Jose Juan Fernandez -- Martin Francisco Boira -- Ignacio Leonor Watling Sandra Carter Productions - Sandra |
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