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Bad Education (La Mala Educacion)
Pedro Almodovar's stylish, gay-centric spin on Double Indemnity was chosen as the prestigious opening night gala at this year's Cannes Film Festival. Bad Education is another incredibly accomplished feature from the Spanish maestro, with strong echoes of his 1987 feature Law Of Desire starring the iconic Carmen Maura. This is also one of Almodovar's most stylish and audacious films to date, held together by an intricate flashback structure which cleverly obscures the truth behind so many layers of fantasy and supposition. Sixteen years after they became childhood best buddies, film director Enrique Goded (Fele Martinez) happens to cross paths with his first love, Ignacio Rodriguez (Gael Garcia Bernal), who is now an aspiring actor. At first Enrique doesn't recognise his pal - Ignacio has changed so markedly, he could almost be a different person entirely - but the director senses the same spark between them. The pair agree to collaborate on Ignacio's screenplay The Visit, a largely autobiographical piece about child molestation at a Catholic boys school. Both men conceal different movies for wanting to work on the film: Enrique is keen to consummate his still smouldering attraction to Ignacio; meanwhile, the ambitious young actor is determined that the film will be his break into the big time. Sure enough, Enrique takes his old friend as his lover and the film goes into production, with Ignacio cast in the lead role of vengeful transsexual Zahara. Past and present collide, compelling Enrique to reminisce about his school days, and in particular, Ignacio's treatment by English teacher Father Manolo (Daniel Gimenez-Cacho), who jealously coveted the boy from afar. As principal photography comes to a close, Enrique learns a shocking secret that sends his carefully ordered world spinning out of control. Bad Education is an exquisite confection that will appeal greatly to fans of Almodovar and Spanish cinema. The opening half-hour is crammed with outrageous tongue-in-cheek comedy, featuring a scene-stealing supporting turn from Javier Camara, who played the unhinged male nurse in Talk To Her, as a foul-mouthed transvestite called Paquito. Then the tone shifts effortlessly into classic thriller territory, with Mexican dreamboat Bernal inhabiting the role of the archetypal femme fatale, who uses his body to manipulate everyone around him. The handsome star spares himself few blushes in his depiction of a wily sexual predator, flaunting his body is little more than a pair of tight shorts for large sections of the film. Bernal is wonderful at hiding his character's true emotions behind a fake veneer of compliance and naivete and he sparks marvellously with Martinez. Gimenez-Cacho delivers a compelling supporting turn as the deeply flawed holy man, who is a slave to his obsession with young Ignacio. A scene in which he begins his seduction during an excursion, whilst the boy is singing "Moon River", possesses a haunting, unsettling quality. Almodovar's screenplay is blessed with some wicked turns of phrase and he conceals numerous twists with surprises, dragging out the final revelation perhaps a little too long to sustain the dramatic tension. Bad Education may lack the intense characterisation of All About My Mother and Talk To Her, relying on the plot as a driving force, but this is still a delicious and spicy treat.
