Susan Granger’s review of “Bad Education” (Sony Pictures Classics)
This creepy, dark thriller about two young boys at a religious school in the early 1960s combines autobiography with film noir, blurring the distinction between reality and fiction, and delving into pedophile priests and homosexuality in the Catholic Church. In Franco-era Spain in 1964, Ignacio and Enrique are childhood friends who are sexually abused by a priest (Daniel Gimenez-Cacho) who profoundly affects their lives. Skip ahead to 1980 in Madrid when Enrique (Fele Martinez), now a gay film director, receives a surprise visit from Ignacio (Mexico’s Gael Garcia Bernal), now an actor looking for a job in his next movie. Ignacio has written a short story about their school days and, as the director reads it, we see it acted out with both actors playing multiple roles. To further complicate matters, various versions of the ambiguous, highly disturbing tale are told from different points of view, like “Rashomon.” Written and directed by Spain’s flamboyant Pedro Almodovar (“Talk to Her”), the intricate structure, which slides between time frames, functions on three levels: what is experienced in life, how reality is transformed by fantasy and then how cinema deals with this transformed reality. About the obviously autobiographical revelations, Almodovar has repeatedly said that he is not looking for “revenge” against the clergy or to expose priests as sexual predators. Instead, he is interested in achieving greater understanding of themes like artifice and reality, along with sex and death. The lavish crimson-drenched cinematography and pulsating music complement the concept. On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Bad Education” is a grim, unconventional 8. Rated NC-17 for a scene of explicit sexual content, this is definitely a film only for adults.
