DVD Review

Bad Education (2005)

More

PRETTY WOMAN Bernal lights up

Credits

DVD Release Date: Apr 12, 2005; Genre: Foreign Language; With: Fele Martínez and Gael García Bernal; Distributor: Sony Pictures Classics

B+

By Edward Karam

Pedro Almodóvar's multilayered potboiler Bad Education bubbles with anti-Catholicism, cross-dressing, and sex. (The R version blurs brief naughty bits with pixellation; the film also comes uncensored.) Enrique (Fele Martínez), a filmmaker seeking a project, receives a surprise visit from Ignacio (Gael García Bernal), his first, adolescent love. Now an actor who calls himself Angel, Ignacio wants work, but he also asks Enrique to read a story he has written based partly on their school experiences, which include sexual abuse by a priest. Almodóvar deftly interweaves reality with the screenplay that Enrique envisions — until a third version of events provides a deadly twist.

EXTRAS Almodóvar introduces the film to the AFI in a featurette; and in his running commentary, he discusses his decision to use alternate screen widths to distinguish film and reality (though it barely registers on a standard TV) and says people have likened Bernal in drag to ''a Mexican Julia Roberts.''

Posted Apr 11, 2005

More

Movie News Spanish films rack up Oscar buzz (Nov 19, 2004) | Michelle Kung
Movie Review (Nov 24, 2004)
Movie Review (Nov 24, 2004)
Movie Review (Nov 24, 2004)
Movie Review (Nov 24, 2004)
Movie Review (Nov 24, 2004)

Add Your Comments

The rules: Keep it clean, and stay on the subject or we might delete your comment. If you see inappropriate language, e-mail us. You must have javascript enabled to submit a comment.