Bad Education
Links
—Overview
—Trailers, Photos
—About this Film pdf
—Spiritual Connections
Blackmail. Revenge. Drugs. Murder. Abuse. All set in a pessimistic atmosphere where characters seem to be trapped in their situations. These are the makings of film noir. These are the makings of Pedro Almodóvar’s Bad Education.
Central to Bad Education is Ignacio, or more precisely, several versions of Ignacio, both real and fictional. Is that confusing? So is the beginning of the film as the viewer has to discern what is real, what is fictional, and how various people are in both of the parallel stories.
The film begins with Ignacio showing up unannounced at the office of film director Enrique, a friend from their early school days. Enrique could barely recognize him since it had been so long, even though Ignacio was Enrique’s first love. Ignacio, a hopeful actor wanting to be known by his stage name, Angel, has a story he has written based on their time in school. He’ll let Enrique make the film if he can play the key role.
The story that Ignacio tells is about a transvestite who is seeking revenge on a priest who sexually abused him at school. Ignacio is using the story to blackmail that priest (who has since left the priesthood.) As we move back and forth between the real and the fictional stories, the plot of the film involves a number of twists and turns along the way that keep us guessing about what really happened so long ago.
Gael GarcÃa Bernal is brilliant in his multiple roles, bouncing back and forth between the real world story and the fictional story. He is equally believable as an aspiring actor, a transvestite and an aspiring actor playing a transvestite.
The NC-17 rating this film received is, in my mind, questionable. It does include some gay sex scenes, but is no more intense or graphic than some R-rated films I’ve seen. It should be noted that it received significantly lower ratings in some countries.
Almodóvar has stated that he harbors hostility toward the Catholic Church as an institution. The film should be watched with that in mind, although I don’t see this film as an assault on the church, even though there is a pedophile priest. The priest and the church are no more villains than any of the other characters. In fact, we see Enrique using his power to take sexual advantage of Ignacio’s brother in much the same way that Father Manolo took advantage of his power over Ignacio.
There are no innocents in this film. Each of the characters is in turn a victim and also a perpetrator of abuse of various kinds. Each is morally culpable for some of the evil that befalls others and themselves. But in each character we see them blaming others without being willing to accept their own share of the blame. Their actions, whether sexual abuse, blackmail, or murder, are really based in striving for power over others. Each is retaliating for actions others have done in asserting their power. That striving for power is the foundation for much of the way people injure one another. Bad Education shows us how the struggle for power can bring ruin into many lives.
Links
—Overview
—Trailers, Photos
—About this Film pdf
—Spiritual Connections
—Overview
—Trailers, Photos
—About this Film pdf
—Spiritual Connections
Blackmail. Revenge. Drugs. Murder. Abuse. All set in a pessimistic atmosphere where characters seem to be trapped in their situations. These are the makings of film noir. These are the makings of Pedro Almodóvar’s Bad Education.
Central to Bad Education is Ignacio, or more precisely, several versions of Ignacio, both real and fictional. Is that confusing? So is the beginning of the film as the viewer has to discern what is real, what is fictional, and how various people are in both of the parallel stories.The film begins with Ignacio showing up unannounced at the office of film director Enrique, a friend from their early school days. Enrique could barely recognize him since it had been so long, even though Ignacio was Enrique’s first love. Ignacio, a hopeful actor wanting to be known by his stage name, Angel, has a story he has written based on their time in school. He’ll let Enrique make the film if he can play the key role.
The story that Ignacio tells is about a transvestite who is seeking revenge on a priest who sexually abused him at school. Ignacio is using the story to blackmail that priest (who has since left the priesthood.) As we move back and forth between the real and the fictional stories, the plot of the film involves a number of twists and turns along the way that keep us guessing about what really happened so long ago.
Gael GarcÃa Bernal is brilliant in his multiple roles, bouncing back and forth between the real world story and the fictional story. He is equally believable as an aspiring actor, a transvestite and an aspiring actor playing a transvestite.
The NC-17 rating this film received is, in my mind, questionable. It does include some gay sex scenes, but is no more intense or graphic than some R-rated films I’ve seen. It should be noted that it received significantly lower ratings in some countries.
Almodóvar has stated that he harbors hostility toward the Catholic Church as an institution. The film should be watched with that in mind, although I don’t see this film as an assault on the church, even though there is a pedophile priest. The priest and the church are no more villains than any of the other characters. In fact, we see Enrique using his power to take sexual advantage of Ignacio’s brother in much the same way that Father Manolo took advantage of his power over Ignacio.
There are no innocents in this film. Each of the characters is in turn a victim and also a perpetrator of abuse of various kinds. Each is morally culpable for some of the evil that befalls others and themselves. But in each character we see them blaming others without being willing to accept their own share of the blame. Their actions, whether sexual abuse, blackmail, or murder, are really based in striving for power over others. Each is retaliating for actions others have done in asserting their power. That striving for power is the foundation for much of the way people injure one another. Bad Education shows us how the struggle for power can bring ruin into many lives.
Links
—Overview
—Trailers, Photos
—About this Film pdf
—Spiritual Connections
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