BAD EDUCATION (NC-17) ****

Directed by Pedro Almodovar. 109 minutes.

Starring Gael Garcia Bernal, Fele Martinez, Daniel Gimenez-Cacho, Lluis Homar, and Javier Camara. Released by Sony Pictures Classics.

 

Spanish director Pedro Almodovar is a great example of an artist that grows better with time. Early in his career, he crafted controversial, sexual films like Matador and What Have I Done to Deserve This?, which led to him being dubbed the ‘bad boy of Spanish cinema.’ In the early to mid-1990s, Almodovar received a surge in popularity, despite the fact that he was not releasing his best work during this period. Tie Me Up, Tie Me Down was one of the first films to be awarded the NC-17 rating and now his latest film, Bad Education, is the second one to receive the dreaded rating. Tie Me Up, Tie Me Down was the film that announced Almodovar to the world but, at best, it is a mediocre sex farce. Several years later came The Flower of my Secret, a bad melodrama. It wasn’t, on my opinion, until the late ’90s when Almodovar began to hit his peak, with the thriller Live Flesh and the great melodramas All About My Mother and Talk to Her. This creative boom in the director’s career continues with Bad Education, his best work to date, that is, at once, his most personal and his darkest film yet. In many ways, we see elements of the old Almodovar here, but also we get new things as well; areas where he has not ventured until now.

 

The film has taken obvious inspiration from a number of films, from Fellini’s 1960s films (the element of growing up in a difficult environment) to Vertigo to Double Indemnity and a number of other film noirs. Another immediate film that comes to mind is the recent Mulholland Drive. Like Lynch’s film, Bad Education, for most of its running length, provides us only a small window into who the characters really are or, at least, who they say they are. Also, like Mulholland Drive, time is turned inside out, stories bleed into one another until we can not tell which story is taking place, and identities are questioned. Both films have a dark film nourish element to them and a sinister side.

 

At the film’s beginning, Enrique (Fele Martinez), a popular Spanish filmmaker is in a creative rut. He sits clipping out tabloid articles in order to find inspiration for his next film. Out of the blue walks in Gael Garcia Bernal, who is not only there to ask for an audition for Enrique’s next film, but also claims that he is Ignacio, the tragic childhood friend that was Enrique’s first love. Ignacio, who now insists on calling himself Angel, hands Enrique a short story. Ignacio once loved to write when the two were boys, but the story he brings with him, called “The Visit,” is the last story he ever wrote. It is based on their childhood at the Catholic School they attended. Ignacio leaves and the film quickly begins to unveil its multiple narratives- the narrative of Enrique reading the script in 1980, the flashbacks to their childhood in 1964, and a small gap in between in 1977 where a heinous crime is committed. Also, Ignacio, having not seen his friend for sixteen years, not only recalled their childhood in the story, but added a fictionalized ending, which is also played out as Enrique reads.

 

The most powerful moments in the film are the childhood scenes, which reflect a much darker Almodovar than his fan base is likely to have expected. Bad Education features trademark Almodovar: drag queens, lots of sex, beautiful and bright colors, wacky characters; but it also delivers on a much more personal note. One of the two boys is molested by a frightful, unbalanced priest during their years at Catholic school and the moments are played out beautifully. Young Ignacio has an amazing voice and is often called upon by Father Manolo, the sex offender, to perform for him, which results in a series of haunting moments- most notably, a soccer game, young Ignacio singing for a roundtable of priests, and the boy performing “Moon River” by a lake for Manolo.

 

Nearly halfway through the film, Almodovar takes his film in further Lynchian directions. It is at this point that characters’ identities should be questioned. It is at this point that motivations are not obvious. It is at this point that the past is questioned. It is also at this point that Bad Education goes full-out film noir, from the confining shots of two characters riding in a car close together, the Bernard Hermann sounding score (really effective, by the way), and even a funny sequence when two of the characters hide out in a movie theater that is playing a Film Noir Weekend. “It seemed that the characters (in the movie) were talking about us,” says one culprit to another.

 

Bad Education sees Almodovar giving his dark side a try and the result is his best film to date. The film deserves multiple viewings and, I admit, that immediately after the film ended, I wanted to rush back and see it again to study the structure- the same way I felt after seeing Mulholland Drive. Toward the film’s end, one of the lead characters asks another why he did the things he did. His response is that he wanted to see how far the other character would go to achieve what he wants. With his latest film, Almodovar goes further than he ever has, is more provocative than he has ever been (if Spain’s Catholic Church did not like his previous films, I can’t wait to see what they think of this one), and does not flinch from disturbing material. Bad Education is a tribute to the loss of childhood, the disappointments of adulthood, and, most of all, the movies. This is one of the most exciting films of the year.