Bad Education (2004 film)

2004 Spanish film directed by Pedro Almodóvar

Bad Education

Theatrical release poster

Spanish| La mala educación
Directed by| Pedro Almodóvar
Written by| Pedro Almodóvar
Produced by|

* Agustín Almodóvar
* Pedro Almodóvar

Starring|

* Gael García Bernal
* Fele Martínez
* Daniel Giménez Cacho
* Lluís Homar
* Francisco Boira
* Javier Cámara

Cinematography| José Luis Alcaine
Edited by| José Salcedo
Music by| Alberto Iglesias

Production
company

El Deseo

Distributed by| Warner Sogefilms

Release date

* 19 March 2004 (2004-03-19)

Running time

| 105 minutes[1]
Country| Spain
Languages|

* Spanish
* Latin

Budget| $5 million[2]
Box office| $40.4 million[3]

Bad Education (Spanish: La mala educación, also meaning 'bad manners') is a 2004 Spanish drama film written and directed by Pedro Almodóvar. Starring Gael García Bernal, Fele Martínez, Daniel Giménez Cacho, Lluís Homar and Francisco Boira, the film focuses on two reunited childhood friends and lovers caught up in a stylised murder mystery. The film uses the metafictional plot device of an embedded narrative to explore themes of transsexuality, drug use, and sexual abuse by Catholic priests. The film received an NC-17 rating in the United States for its depiction of homosexual sex.

The film was released on 19 March 2004 in Spain and 10 September 2004 in Mexico. It was also screened at many international film festivals such as Cannes, New York, Moscow and Toronto before its US release on 19 November 2004. The film received critical acclaim, and was seen as a return to Almodovar's dark stage, placing it alongside films such as Matador (1986) and Law of Desire (1987).

## Plot[edit]

In 1980 Madrid, struggling film director Enrique Goded is looking for his next project when he receives an unexpected visit from an actor looking for work. The actor claims to be Enrique's boarding school friend and first love, Ignacio Rodriguez. Ignacio, who is now using the name Ángel Andrade, has brought along a short story titled "The Visit", hoping that Enrique would be interested in filming it—and giving him the starring role. Enrique is intrigued since "The Visit" describes their time together at the Catholic boarding school and also includes a fictional account of their reunion years later as adults.

"The Visit" is set in 1977. It tells the story of a transgender drag queen with the stage name Zahara, whose birth name is Ignacio. Zahara plans to rob a drunken admirer but discovers that the man is her boyhood lover Enrique Serrano, and defiles him in his sleep instead. The encounter stirs Zahara's memories, and she visits her old school to confront Father Manolo, who abused her when she was a boy. She demands one million pesetas from Manolo in exchange for halting publication of her story, also called "The Visit". That story is set in a Catholic boarding school for boys in 1964. At the school, Ignacio, a 10-year-old student with a beautiful boy soprano voice, is the object of lust of Father Manolo, the school principal and literature teacher. Ignacio falls in love with his classmate Enrique, and the two go the local cinema and grope each other. Manolo discovers them together that night. Ignacio allows Manolo to molest him in exchange for not punishing his friend, but Manolo still expels Enrique anyway.

Enrique wants to adapt the story but balks at Ángel's condition that he be cast as Zahara, feeling that the Ignacio he loved and the Ángel of today are totally different people. He drives to see Ignacio's mother in Ortigueira, Galicia and learns that in fact Ignacio has been dead for four years and that the man who came to his office is actually Ignacio's younger brother, Juan. Enrique's interest is piqued, so to "see how far [Juan] would go"—and without letting on what he knows—he casts Ángel/Juan in the role of Zahara. Enrique and Ángel start a relationship, and Enrique revises the script so that it ends with Father Manolo, whom Zahara was trying to blackmail to get money for sex reassignment surgery, having Zahara murdered. After the scene is shot, Ángel breaks out in tears unexpectedly.

The film set is visited by Manuel Berenguer, formerly Father Manolo, who has resigned from the clergy. Berenguer confesses to Enrique that the new ending of the film is not far from the truth: Ignacio, a transsexual junkie, did blackmail him, but Berenguer managed to string her along—while mostly falling hard for Ignacio's younger brother, Juan, about half his age. Juan and Berenguer became sexual partners and after a while realized they both wanted Ignacio dead. Juan obtained some pure heroin which Berenguer gave to Ignacio, causing her to die from overdose after shooting up. After the crime, the relationship disintegrated, with Berenguer wanting to continue, but Juan breaking off all contact.

Now years later meeting once again on the film set, Ángel/Juan threatens to kill Berenguer if he continues to pursue him, but Berenguer replies that he will never let him go. His pretense revealed, Juan visits Enrique to apologize, but Enrique is uninterested in Juan's weak excuses for what he did to Ignacio. Before being turned away, Juan gives Enrique a piece of paper: a letter to Enrique that Ignacio was in the middle of typing when he died, reading "I think I have succeeded..."

An epilogue recounts that after the release of the film, Ángel and Enrique both achieved great success, although Ángel was relegated to television acting after "his career suffered ups and downs" in the 1990s. With Ángel now famous, Berenguer became the blackmailer, eventually leading Ángel to kill him in a hit-and-run.

## Cast[edit]

* Gael García Bernal as Juan / Ángel Andrade / Zahara
* Fele Martínez as Enrique Goded
* Raúl García Forneiro as young Enrique
* Daniel Giménez Cacho as Father Manolo
* Javier Cámara as Paca/Paquito
* Petra Martínez as Mother
* Leonor Watling as Monica, wardrobe girl
* Lluís Homar as Sr. Manuel Berenguer
* Francisco Boira as Ignacio
* Nacho Pérez as young Ignacio
* Juan Fernández as Martín
* Alberto Ferreiro as Enrique Serrano

## Production[edit]

García Bernal was required to display a convincing Castilian Spanish accent before being cast.[4]

The New York Times reporter Lynn Hirschberg stated that Garcia Bernal had a falling out with Almodovar over the film's content,[4] but Garcia Bernal denies this assertion.[5] Garcia Bernal and Almodóvar had different ideas on the type of 'inner transvestite' in terms of Bernal's performance.[6]

Almodóvar states that he worked on the screenplay for over 10 years.[2]

## Release[edit]

The film was theatrically released in Spain on 19 March 2004.[7] It opened in the 57th Cannes Film Festival in May 2004,[8] the first Spanish film to do so.

## Reception[edit]

### Box office[edit]

The film opened theatrically in the United States on 19 November 2004 in three venues, earning $147,370 in its opening weekend, ranking number 30 in the domestic box office.[9] At the end of its North American theatrical run (its widest release being in 106 venues), the film had grossed $5,211,842 in the United States and Canada, and $35,062,088 overseas ($7,356,224 in its home country of Spain), making $40,273,930 worldwide.[3]

### Critical response[edit]

The film received critical acclaim. Rotten Tomatoes reports that 88% of 148 reviews were positive, with an average rating of 7.6/10. The site's consensus states: "A layered, wonderfully-acted, and passionate drama."[10] On Metacritic, the film has an 81 out of 100 rating, based on 34 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[11]

Ann Hornaday from The Washington Post wrote, "To watch Bad Education is to revel, along with Almodóvar, in the power of cinema to take us on journeys of breathtaking mystery and dimension and beauty."[5] Marjorie Baumgarten from the Austin Chronicle wrote "With Bad Education, the great Almodóvar delivers the finest movie of his career."[5] Peter Travers from Rolling Stone wrote "A rapturous masterwork."[5] Roger Ebert gave the film three and a half stars out of four writing "Pedro Almodovar's new movie is like an ingenious toy that is a joy to behold, until you take it apart to see what makes it work, and then it never works again. While you're watching it, you don't realize how confused you are, because it either makes sense from moment to moment or, when it doesn't, you're distracted by the sex. Life is like that."[12]

### Accolades[edit]

Year  | Award  | Category | Nominee(s)  | Result | Ref.

|
|
|
|
|

2005  | 19th Goya Awards | Best Film | Nominated | [13]
Best Director | Pedro Almodóvar | Nominated
Best Art Direction | Antxón Gómez | Nominated
Best Production Supervision | Esther García | Nominated
14th Actors and Actresses Union Awards | Best Film Actor in a Leading Role | Gael García Bernal | Nominated | [14][15]
Best Film Actor in a Minor Role | Javier Cámara | Won

## See also[edit]

* List of Spanish films of 2004

## Further reading[edit]

* Edelman, Lee (May 2017). "Learning Nothing: Bad Education". Differences: A Journal of Feminist Cultural Studies. Duke University Press. 28 (1): 124–173. doi:10.1215/10407391-3821724.

## References[edit]

1. ^ "LA MALA EDUCACION - BAD EDUCATION (15)". British Board of Film Classification. 13 April 2004. Retrieved 24 November 2015.
2. ^ a b De La Fuente, Anna Marie (4 November 2004). "Almodovar puts 'Education' to use". Variety. Archived from the original on 5 January 2013. Retrieved 20 June 2009.
3. ^ a b "Bad Education (2004)". Box Office Mojo. 26 April 2005. Retrieved 20 June 2009.
4. ^ a b Epps, Bradley S.; Kakoudaki, Despina, eds. (2009). All about Almodóvar: A Passion for Cinema. Saint Paul, Minnesota: University of Minnesota. p. 286\. ISBN 978-0816649617.
5. ^ a b c d Ryll, Alexander. "Essential Gay Themed Films To Watch, Bad Education (La Mala Educacion)". Gay Essential. Archived from the original on 15 January 2015. Retrieved 7 February 2015.
6. ^ Peucker, Brigitte, ed. (2012). A Companion to Rainer Werner Fassbinder. New York City: Wiley. p. 134\. ISBN 978-1405191630.
7. ^ "'La mala educación', la tercera película más taquillera de Francia". elmundo.es. 25 May 2004.
8. ^ "Festival de Cannes: Bad Education". festival-cannes.com. Archived from the original on 10 October 2012. Retrieved 5 December 2009.
9. ^ "Weekend Box Office Results for November 19-21, 2004". Box Office Mojo. 22 November 2004. Retrieved 24 November 2015.
10. ^ "Bad Education (2004)". Rotten Tomatoes. 19 March 2004. Retrieved 28 June 2019.
11. ^ "Bad Education reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 24 November 2015.
12. ^ Ebert, Roger (21 December 2004). "'Bad Education' lets us wander on sexual edge". Roger Ebert.
13. ^ "La mala educación". premiosgoya.com. Academia de las Artes y las Ciencias Cinematográficas de España. Retrieved 15 September 2022.
14. ^ "'Mar adentro' también acapara las candidaturas de la Unión de Actores". elmundo.es. 15 March 2005.
15. ^ "Premios de la Unión de Actores: otro triunfo de 'Mar adentro'". Cadena SER. 21 June 2005.

## External links[edit]

* Official website
* Bad Education at IMDb
* Bad Education at Box Office Mojo
* Bad Education at Rotten Tomatoes
* Bad Education at Metacritic

* v
* t
* e

Films directed by Pedro Almodóvar

* Awards and nominations
* Bibliography

* Pepi, Luci, Bom and Other Girls on the Heap (1980)
* Labyrinth of Passion (1982)
* Dark Habits (1983)
* What Have I Done to Deserve This? (1984)
* Matador (1986)
* Law of Desire (1987)
* Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (1988)
* Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! (1990)
* High Heels (1991)
* Kika (1993)
* The Flower of My Secret (1995)
* Live Flesh (1997)
* All About My Mother (1999)
* Talk to Her (2002)
* Bad Education (2004)
* Volver (2006)
* Broken Embraces (2009)
* The Skin I Live In (2011)
* I'm So Excited! (2013)
* Julieta (2016)
* Pain and Glory (2019)
* The Human Voice (2020)
* Parallel Mothers (2021)
* Strange Way of Life (2023)

Awards for Bad Education

* v
* t
* e

GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Film – Limited Release

* The Wedding Banquet (1994)
* The Incredibly True Adventure of Two Girls in Love (1996)
* Beautiful Thing (1997)
* Ma vie en rose (1998)
* High Art (1999)
* Boys Don't Cry (2000)
* The Broken Hearts Club (2001)
* Hedwig and the Angry Inch (2002)
* Kissing Jessica Stein (2003)
* Yossi & Jagger (2004)
* Bad Education (2005)
* Transamerica (2006)
* Quinceañera (2007)
* The Bubble (2008)
* Noah's Arc: Jumping the Broom / Shelter (2009)
* Little Ashes (2010)
* I Love You Phillip Morris (2011)
* Pariah (2012)
* Any Day Now (2013)
* Concussion (2014)
* Lilting (2015)
* Tangerine (2016)
* Other People (2017)
* A Fantastic Woman (2018)
* Boy Erased (2019)
* Rafiki (2020)
* The Boys in the Band (2021)
* Parallel Mothers (2022)
* The Inspection (2023)

* v
* t
* e

New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Foreign Language Film

1937–1977|

* Mayerling (1937)
* Grand Illusion (1938)
* Harvest (1939)
* The Baker's Wife (1940)
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* Bread and Chocolate (1978)
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* All About My Mother (1999)
* Yi Yi (2000)

2001–present|

* In the Mood for Love (2001)
* And Your Mother Too (2002)
* City of God (2003)
* Bad Education (2004)
* 2046 (2005)
* Army of Shadows (2006)
* The Lives of Others (2007)
* 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (2008)
* Summer Hours (2009)
* Carlos (2010)
* A Separation (2011)
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* Blue Is the Warmest Colour (2013)
* Ida (2014)
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* Toni Erdmann (2016)
* BPM (Beats per Minute) (2017)
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* Parasite (2019)
* Bacurau (2020)
* The Worst Person in the World (2021)
* EO (2022)
* Anatomy of a Fall (2023)

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* Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People (2002)
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Other|

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* Parish transfers of abusive Catholic priests (c. 1956–2011)

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* Duplessis Orphans
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Pre-modern|

* Liber Gomorrhianus
* Katharina von Zimmern

Popular
culture|

* Judgment (1990 film)
* The Boys of St. Vincent (1992 miniseries)
* Sinéad O'Connor on Saturday Night Live (1992)
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* Brendan Smyth: Betrayal of Trust (2011 documentary)
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* Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God (2012 documentary)
* Secrets of the Vatican (2014 documentary)
* Perfect Obedience (2014 film)
* Spotlight (2015 film)
* The Club (2015 film)
* The Keepers (2017 documentary miniseries)
* Romans (2017 film)
* Clergy (2018 film)
* By the Grace of God (2019 film)
* Prey (2019 film)
* Tell No One (2019 documentary)
* Procession (2021 documentary)

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* Debate on the causes of clerical child abuse
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