Pedro Almod¢var, the celebrated Spanish filmmaker known for his intricate, twisting plots and a propensity to push the limits of social norms and mores on screen, is back with his newest film, "Bad Education," starring Gael Garc¡a Bernal.
The film, though it is not Almod¢var's best of recent years (behind 2000's "All About My Mother," and 2002's Oscar-winning "Talk to Her"), is still able to shake up audiences with the questions raised about the church, sexuality and the family structure. Despite its flaws, "Bad Education," is an engaging and disturbing revival of the lost genre of film noir, and will give its audiences much to talk and think about.
The pairing of Almod¢var and Mexican heartthrob Bernal seems like an obvious and natural occurrence. Bernal, like Almod¢var, has starred only in films that take on today's hottest social issues. From "Y Tu Mam Tambi?n," a 2001 film about two college-aged friends on a journey of sexual exploration, to "The Crimes of Father Amaro," a 2003 film that explores the hypocrisies of the Mexican Roman Catholic church, Bernal has made it his mission to create dialogue around these controversial and pressing issues through his work. The world is left to wonder why these two boundary-breakers didn't start their professional relationship sooner.
"Bad Education" is the story of a filmmaker, Enrique Goded (Fele Martinez), who has run out of story ideas. His creative block is soon broken when an old friend and former lover, Ignacio (Bernal), brings him a short story he has written based on their early formative experiences with each other in Catholic school. Thus begins the telling of the film's two parallel stories, one portraying reality as Goded and Ignacio explore a renewed relationship while their film is being made, and a second story line being played out in the film they are producing about their own lives.
The intrigue, suspense and plot twists Almod¢var presents as these two parallel stories unfold are reminiscent in tone of noir classics such as "Double Indemnity" and "The Maltese Falcon," but deal with only the most current social themes. The film is all the more timely, as very public discussion of sexuality, morality and the meaning of the family are taking place in a public setting in the United States. The issues became discourse central to the presidential election in November, and pedophilia and sexual abuse remain in the public's minds as the dust settles from 2002's scandal within the Catholic Church.
"Bad Education" is not for the faint of heart. However, the film's themes are sure to interest those who think outside the comfort zone of typical American morality and social norms.
