Review

Review Date: 23-January-05
Spoiler Rating: Low
Juju Judgment: Just OK

Bad Education (2004)

The expression "the one that got away" could be applied in several instances to the latest offering from Pedro Almodóvar, but it could not be deemed a cause for regret if the movie itself eluded most viewers. A film noir bearing the stamp of its eccentric director, "Bad Education" has a central theme of child molestation that produces a nasty feeling incompatible with its elements of entertainment; it goes down like roadkill served with Béarnaise. I can only recommend this movie to people who fall into one (or more) of three categories: those who love Almodóvar's work and sensibilities; those who enjoy labyrinthine stories that require some effort to keep up; and those who follow the career of Gael García Bernal, who embraces a role of remarkable range and complexity.

"Bad Education" unfolds as a series of stories, some true and some not, told within the context of a main story. The recipient of the peripheral narratives is a young filmmaker named Enrique (Fele Martínez) who is cured of writer's block but inflicted with other pains when a childhood friend (Bernal) appears bearing a great idea for a script, in return for a role in the movie. The concept the friend pitches is based upon experiences from his school days, specifically the mutual love he shared with Enrique and the sexual abuse he suffered at the hands of a priest (played at times by Daniel Giménez Cacho and at others by Lluís Homar). Enrique, who escaped the school and is therefore the film's only innocent, is both moved and bewildered at the sight of the boyhood love so suddenly returned and so strangely unfamiliar. As he becomes more embroiled with him and the movie they set out to make, he pieces together the true tale of how the priest's crime blighted lives right up to the present.

Stylistically, few directors working today can beat Almodóvar for his use of color and ability to craft individual scenes of striking lyricism (his juxtaposition of carefree childhood and true evil, set to a haunting rendition of "Moon River," is a knockout). But the pleasures of his aesthetic talent — so suggestive of vibrancy and life and humor — seem inappropriate when applied to a story as depressing as this. How can we partake of his obvious delight in cinema when the world can be as horrible as he illustrates? More sober and thus more fitting is the no-holds-barred work of Bernal, who runs the gamut from victimized to vicious, rises to the challenge of skirts and high heels, and tackles numerous gay sex scenes that no American actor would risk (all, I'm assuming, while employing a Spanish accent instead of his native Mexican one). He really is someone to watch (along with being easy to watch) and shines as the star of the show.

Tragically, abuse of children is common enough to warrant everyone's attention, but it's an extremely difficult topic for a movie to address well and an audience to absorb at all. (I'm still waffling about whether to see "The Woodsman.") The candy-coated, sexually charged, isn't-this-a-wacky-world style of "Bad Education" lends the subject a distinctively distasteful flavor. Aspects of its craft deserve an "A," but the overall experience earns a grade further down the scale.

Copyright © 2005 The Jujube (M. I. Kim). All rights reserved.