CS Daily Archive > DVD of the Day > 05/06/05

A Structural Education at the

Graduate School Level

by jason davis

Bad Education uses one of the most basic elements of drama against its audience to create several layers of narrative that reflect and comment on each other. Character is the key in this story of a man's search for revenge/fame.

Bad Education
(Original Uncut NC-17 Version)

Pedro Almodóvar
(also directed)

Filmmaker Enrique Goded (Fele Martínez) is surprised by the sudden appearance of his school chum, Ignacio (Gael García Bernal), whom he's not heard from in 16 years. Ignacio brings his friend a story that begins with his real-life molestation by the school's headmaster, Father Manolo (Daniel Giménez Cacho), and evolves into a fictional story of revenge where the corrupt priest faces his comeuppance. When he decides to film the story, Goded discovers that Ignacio, who wishes to star in the movie, may not be who he appears to be and that the story itself may reflect a more complicated reality.

As the summary suggests, Bad Education is a complicated film that plumbs dangerous textual depths with little regard for an audience that doesn't invest the attention to keep up. With each twist of the narrative, viewers are re-introduced to the characters with new information (and sometimes new identities) that comment on prior perceptions while spinning the film off into new territories of storytelling. The character of Ignacio alone will be introduced four times, with each iteration redefining what has gone before. Metafictional aspects of the movie, including Ignacio's story and Goded's film-within-the-film reflect the most dramatic take on the events, until an unexpected arrival brings the fiction in synch with the facts of the events Ignacio has fictionalized. Identity is never a given and Almodóvar's mastery of the medium is evident in his ordering of the plot points for maximum impact. Never does a reveal go unexploited, and the economy of storytelling insures that each plot twist serves several functions on multiple levels.

If the film has a failing, it's that Ignacio never seems entirely realistic. A chameleon dedicated to seeing how far he can take the situation, Angel, as he comes to be known, never quite reveals enough of his true self to provide a logical explanation for his pursuits. The film offers several reasons, but the character eludes rational deconstruction and, in doing so, creates an unfortunate emotional gulf between the audience and the character. Perhaps this is an intentional move on Almodóvar's part to provoke the audience's curiosity. Maybe it's a necessary evil in a story that would rather draw viewers into the fog than part it for them. In any case, the plotting is a masterpiece of suspenseful narrative with perfectly executed twists and a textual depth rivaling the best works of literature. If eccentric characterization is a side effect of that endeavor, so be it.

- Commentary with writer/director Pedro Almodóvar
- Deleted scenes
- Red carpet footage from AFI film festival
- Making of Bad Education
- Trailers

Almodóvar's Spanish commentary is an insightful look into the filmmaker's mind but suffers from quiet stretches where the subtitles for the film's dialogue distract the viewer. Perhaps the commentary subtitles should feature only the director's words and remain invisible when he's silent. A few deleted scenes flesh out aspects of the narrative that perhaps reflect an earlier conception of the story's progress, as they seem out of character with the final cut. The remaining supplements are the usual DVD filler.

An astonishing narrative accomplishment, Bad Education demands the audience's utmost attention but rewards it with a dense layering of stories that would satisfy even connoisseurs of 19th-century Russian literature with its complexities. A spare supplemental section sheds a little light on the film's story but fails to offer a full account of its intricacies.

Bad Education (Original Uncut NC-17 Edition)
Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment
Rated R; 105 min.
$26.96

Buy it now for only $20.22 (save 25%)

At the age of 21, Jason Davis was hit in the face with a car. He has since devoted his life to writing. His words have appeared on TBS, MSN.com, and CS Daily, where he serves as DVD Coordinator. He lives in Burbank.

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