Bad Education

Bad Education is a 2004 Spanish film directed by Pedro Almodóvar. It tells the story of two reunited childhood friends/lovers; Enrique who has become a film director and Ignacio who is an actor. Ignacio comes to Enrique six years later with a story he would like for him to turn into a film. The story is based on their childhood. Enrique decides to make his story into a movie and the plot unfolds through both the present, flashbacks and the production of Ignacio's short film. The story is primarily based on Ignacio's molestation that he sustained at the hands of their Catholic school teacher, Father Manolo. As production continues, Enrique stumbles upon a murder mystery.


The film is filled with several major themes including sexual abuse by Catholic priests, transsexuality and drug abuse. When the film starts, we are keyed in on the sexual abuse by Father Manolo. The unjust nature of it all is covered greatly and in length. Father Manolo will stop at nothing to stop Ignacio from informing the public of the molestation. For years and years, Manolo pays for his transexual surgeries in exchange for his silence and to be near him. Transsexuality is what drives the character of Ignacios greed. In the present, Ignacio/Juan wants to play the part of Zahara, the transsexual lead in his story being adapted by Enrique, but Enrique scoffs at this notion. Juan however, is not so easily dissuaded and constantly requests that he get the part. Ignacio's character does plenty of drugs and eventually overdoses the day he decides to quit. I guess 'greed' in itself is also a major theme in this film. Everyone wants something in the movie. Manolo wants Ignacio, Ignacio wants money/drugs, Enrique wants the next big story and Juan wants fame and money.

I thought the movie was good. Except that it was a little confusing and the twist seemed somewhat forced. It felt like it came out of left field....out of nowhere. I let it grow on me though and it honestly makes the film 10x more interesting. I mean, it was intriguing to begin with, but now you're sitting there trying to figure out the brothers motives for doing everything he has done. I thought the production value was really good and enjoyed the camera angles. Intertwining multiple stories to form one will always be a risky thing to do, but I liked it. Even though, like I said earlier, I was confused. I'm not surprised it took ten years to write this script.