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By
DEBORAH NICOL
To say that director Pedro
Almodóvar's film peels away like an onion would be
an insult to the many spicy ingredients that
contribute to this amazing dish. With each layer
"Bad Education" ("La Mala Educación") exposes,
another recipe is revealed with its own surprise
component. There is little point in guessing
dessert, as the numerous entrees will satisfy all
cravings.
Almodóvar combines many film elements, but at the
heart of this tale is a love letter to film noir.
Even Juan Gatti's opening credits harkens back to
Hitchcock intros -- from Alberto Iglesias's
intriguing score to the ripped one-sheets that
reveal splices of the tale to come. As each wall
is pulled down a window to the truth is created,
but this window begins only as a crack in the
mortar.
The tale centers on a traveling screenplay titled
"The Visit," which could aptly be the title of
this film inspired by Almodóvar's tough Catholic
school upbringing. With every visit that occurs
between two characters, a revelation slides the
story towards a new direction. With every
confession a visitor declares, the rabbit hole
widens to a story within a story within a story,
until the serpent swallows its own tail. As the
characters affect each other over time, their
dualities become apparent: a priest and a
pedophile, a loyal friend and a harsh director, an
actor and a deceiver.
Almodóvar handles the content of sexual
molestation with a delicate hand. There is no need
for explicit scenes, as the look between priest
and child are enough to express the scale of the
holy man's desires. Daniel Giménez Cacho portrays
perfectly how terrified this man is of his own
will against God, and young Ignacio receives
initial innocence and sudden strength through
actor Nacho Pérez. The effect of this experience
does not dictate Ignacio's sexuality, but rather
creates a shell around his sexuality complete with
cracks in the facade.
There are no weak links in this film -- Fele
Martínez represents well the insightful yet rigid
Enrique, and Camarero is the most outwardly
humorous and truthful character through the
actions of Roberto Hoyas. However, Gael García
Bernal ("The Motorcycle Diaries," "Y tu mamá
también") proves himself yet again as a brilliant
actor and certainly one of the best of his
generation. As he evolves from one character to
another, he slickly sheds his skin for each
amalgamation of emotions and motivations. The
characters overlap in their existences and each
level of truthfulness picks at the wounds he
attempts to hide. Not enough praise be can be
lavished for this ability to portray such close
creatures in such distinct manners.
Almodóvar has succeeded at creating another
beautifully complex and twisting film. His
characters are strong and yet not impenetrable,
and his parallel universes somehow mesh to create
a fabric that can hold up to any test. The world
he lives in is a curious one, sordid yet inviting.
Extras included on this disc are previews, a
gallery of posters, deleted scenes that
unnecessarily fill in gaps for the
movie-within-the-movie, a making-of montage, and
red carpet interviews from an AFI fest that are
spliced with movie excerpts and a speech by the
director. Also included is an interesting
director's commentary track (subtitled in
English). |
