Us Brits don't really 'get' European cinema, either intellectually or in a very literal sense (ie. our screens are so saturated with mainstream, MOR, Hollywood froth that there is no room for anything else). Occasionally the odd gem might slip under the radar (Amelie, most notably), but we are generally a stubborn bunch - anything with subtitles can be safely disregarded as foreign nonsense by most muliti-plex denizens.
Pedro Almodovar though, is one European filmmaker with a consistent (if commercially miniscule) presence on this proud island of ours. The giant of Spanish cinema for the past two decades, he is also the darling of the British art-house scene thanks to movies such as Todo Sobre Mi Madre (All About My Mother) and Hable Con Ella (Talk To Her). His successful crossover probably stems from his flamboyant style. Bad Education is nothing like the grainy, offbeat output traditionally touted by pretentious European liberals it is a loud, luridly colourful romp. The content may be sensitive and a touch controversial, but it is a sideshow to the Tarantino-esque dialogue and a plot that could have been penned by Elmore Leonard. The characters are so orange-skinned and white of tooth, they could have been airlifted in from Venice Beach. This is Costa Del Hollywood.
The story is simple but twisted audaciously and fantastically around past and present, fact and fiction. Enrique (Fele Martinez) is a film director short on ideas. He is approached by an old school friend, Ignacio, who is now a jobbing actor looking for work. Enrique is intrigued but suspicious the two were pre-pubescent lovers at their strict Catholic school, but have not seen each other since. Ignacio leaves behind a screenplay he has written called 'The Visit' which is a factual account of the abuse he endured as a child coupled with an entirely made-up ending in which he confronts and blackmails the priest who molested him.
The film criss-crosses between realities seamlessly. We follow Enrique through the script and his ensuing detective work as he becomes obsessed with Ignacio and making a movie out of 'The Visit'. Unwittingly he becomes embroiled in the shady world of Ignacio, his younger brother Juan and the elusive Father Manolo 'star' of 'The Visit' but now a publisher rather than a man of the cloth. By the end, all truths are blurred and laced with bluff and deceit. In the blink of an eye, the movie shifts from revenge black comedy to a more standard murder mystery and it is to Almodovar's credit that you don't even notice.
All in all, the pace is cracking, performances perfect and it is visually sumptuous, but the really admirable thing about Bad Education is that it doesn't preach. Here is a movie about homosexuality, institutional child abuse, transvestisism (if that is a word) and paedophilia. These issues are integral to the plot, yet completely incidental to the moral tone and I don't think the big studios in America would be able to comprehend that. Ignacio spent his childhood being raped by his teacher, but his motives for revenge are driven by greed rather than regret at his lost innocence. Manolo's character would have been demonised in Hollywood (I can just imagine an interminable court scene where Ignacio tearfully points to him in the dock amid much frowning and righteous indignation in the public galleries) but here he is simply another character. The film-director, the actor, the transvestite and the paedophile This film lets us make up our own minds on how we feel about them. Most people know that fiddling with small boys is wrong we don't need traumatic flash-backs and heart-wrenching scenes of redemption or condemnation to ram it down our throats.
It is similarly refreshing to see a film where homosexuals are not all card-carrying, Gucci-clad interior designers armed with Chihuahuas and pithy one-liners. That said, some of the sex-scenes in Bad Education do go marginally beyond what is strictly necessary to the story. I certainly wouldn't want to watch it with my Granny, and those people who uphold more traditional family values may wish to steer clear also. Personally I giggled childishly at the sight of all these bronzed gentlemen bulging in their tighty-whities.
A final thought: Without wanting to sound condescending, I would urge people to give foreign films more of a chance. This is one of the better-advertised offerings, but it still to me ages to find a cinema actually showing it. I concede there is much fun to be had by sticking with US and UK output, but eating steak every day would soon become dull (and play havoc with your bowels) and there are plenty of tasty little 'amuses bouches' being served up by our foreign friends.
8/10
Pedro Almodovar though, is one European filmmaker with a consistent (if commercially miniscule) presence on this proud island of ours. The giant of Spanish cinema for the past two decades, he is also the darling of the British art-house scene thanks to movies such as Todo Sobre Mi Madre (All About My Mother) and Hable Con Ella (Talk To Her). His successful crossover probably stems from his flamboyant style. Bad Education is nothing like the grainy, offbeat output traditionally touted by pretentious European liberals it is a loud, luridly colourful romp. The content may be sensitive and a touch controversial, but it is a sideshow to the Tarantino-esque dialogue and a plot that could have been penned by Elmore Leonard. The characters are so orange-skinned and white of tooth, they could have been airlifted in from Venice Beach. This is Costa Del Hollywood.
The story is simple but twisted audaciously and fantastically around past and present, fact and fiction. Enrique (Fele Martinez) is a film director short on ideas. He is approached by an old school friend, Ignacio, who is now a jobbing actor looking for work. Enrique is intrigued but suspicious the two were pre-pubescent lovers at their strict Catholic school, but have not seen each other since. Ignacio leaves behind a screenplay he has written called 'The Visit' which is a factual account of the abuse he endured as a child coupled with an entirely made-up ending in which he confronts and blackmails the priest who molested him.
The film criss-crosses between realities seamlessly. We follow Enrique through the script and his ensuing detective work as he becomes obsessed with Ignacio and making a movie out of 'The Visit'. Unwittingly he becomes embroiled in the shady world of Ignacio, his younger brother Juan and the elusive Father Manolo 'star' of 'The Visit' but now a publisher rather than a man of the cloth. By the end, all truths are blurred and laced with bluff and deceit. In the blink of an eye, the movie shifts from revenge black comedy to a more standard murder mystery and it is to Almodovar's credit that you don't even notice.
All in all, the pace is cracking, performances perfect and it is visually sumptuous, but the really admirable thing about Bad Education is that it doesn't preach. Here is a movie about homosexuality, institutional child abuse, transvestisism (if that is a word) and paedophilia. These issues are integral to the plot, yet completely incidental to the moral tone and I don't think the big studios in America would be able to comprehend that. Ignacio spent his childhood being raped by his teacher, but his motives for revenge are driven by greed rather than regret at his lost innocence. Manolo's character would have been demonised in Hollywood (I can just imagine an interminable court scene where Ignacio tearfully points to him in the dock amid much frowning and righteous indignation in the public galleries) but here he is simply another character. The film-director, the actor, the transvestite and the paedophile This film lets us make up our own minds on how we feel about them. Most people know that fiddling with small boys is wrong we don't need traumatic flash-backs and heart-wrenching scenes of redemption or condemnation to ram it down our throats.
It is similarly refreshing to see a film where homosexuals are not all card-carrying, Gucci-clad interior designers armed with Chihuahuas and pithy one-liners. That said, some of the sex-scenes in Bad Education do go marginally beyond what is strictly necessary to the story. I certainly wouldn't want to watch it with my Granny, and those people who uphold more traditional family values may wish to steer clear also. Personally I giggled childishly at the sight of all these bronzed gentlemen bulging in their tighty-whities.
A final thought: Without wanting to sound condescending, I would urge people to give foreign films more of a chance. This is one of the better-advertised offerings, but it still to me ages to find a cinema actually showing it. I concede there is much fun to be had by sticking with US and UK output, but eating steak every day would soon become dull (and play havoc with your bowels) and there are plenty of tasty little 'amuses bouches' being served up by our foreign friends.
8/10