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Review: Bad Education (La mala educación) (2004)
This was certainly a fascinating movie. It was totally different from what I expected. I thought it would be a drama film, but it ended being more of a thriller, though it still was heavy on the character study elements.
I would definitely recommend this movie as an interesting drama/thriller. I would put a trigger warning for child sexual abuse though.
Spoilers.
Story
In chronological sequence, this is the story. Ignacio was a student at a boarding school, where he was abused by a priest Father Manolo. During his time there, Ignacio fell in love with Enrique. Father Manolo found out about their love and wanted to expel Enrique. Ignacio told Father Manolo that he would do anything as long as he didn't expel Enrique (which mean Father Manolo continued to sexually abuse Ignacio). But Father Manolo went back on his promise and ended up expelling Enrique anyway.
Years later, Ignacio became a drug addict, and he wanted to have a sex change. Ignacio reached out to Father Manolo, now going by Berenguer, to blackmail him for money.
While visiting Ignacio at his home, Berenguer fell in love with Juan, Ignacio's younger brother. He would keep stalling with the money so that he could see Juan.
Eventually, Berenguer and Juan did have a sexual relationship. Juan and Berenger concocted a plan to kill Ignacio, as Berenguer obviously didn't want to be blackmailed, but Juan also had his own issues with Ignacio. Juan bought deadly heroin and Berenguer gave it to Ignacio. Afterwards, Berenger and Juan had to lay low, but Juan seemed really disinterested anyway.
Later on, Juan approached Enrique, pretending to be Ignacio. He presented him with a script, The Visit, which was basedon Ignacio and Enrique's time at the boarding school. Enrique liked the story, but he wasn't super enthusiastic with Juan playing Zahara, which was the name of Ignacio's drag queen counterpart.
Enrique had taken a trip to Ignacio's hometown, where he found out that Ignacio had died and that the man he knew as Ignacio was actually Juan. Even so, Enrique accepted Juan as the actor to play Zahara, and also had a sexual relationship with Juan.
When filming for the Visit wrapped, Berenguer visited Enrique and told him that he and Juan had killed Ignacio, which upset Enrique. He knew that Juan was lying and that Ignacio was dead, but finding out that Juan killed his own brother was a shock.
In the epilogue, it was said that the movie brought Enrique and Juan great success, though after about a decade, Juan's career had declined and he was mostly doing television acting. In addition, Berenguer had blackmailed Juan, and it was implied that Juan killed him in a hit-and-run.
So as you can tell, the story is extremely messy. What I saw here was a group of men who were selfish. Certified messes. Yikes.
What I noticed about this story is that it also doesn't have a conclusion. It is just a constant cycle of blackmail. Technically it ended with Juan killing Berenguer for his blackmail. But there is still an opening for Enrique to blackmail Juan. The question is whether Enrique is that kind of person.
In terms of the writing, the metafiction part of the story was definitely a draw. After we found out that "Ignacio" was actually Juan, I had to go back and figure out which scenes were parts of the movie and which were true.
Production
The only other movie I watched from Almodovar was Volver, which I did not like at all, so I was surprised that I enjoyed this movie so much. I think the different here was definitely the quality of the script, because after finding out Almodovar was the director for both movies, I did notice some similarities, such as some the style of direction when within Ignacio and Juan's apartment.
The matter-of-fact direction style of the movie also helped to highlight the fact that all of these people were messes. The way that Ignacio so nonchalantly describe his abuse and his love with Enrique was so factual that it was a bit shocking. But I don't doubt that to Ignacio, he's thought about these things so many times that he can only see them in a matter-of-fact way.
The acting was terrific. I had no complaints about this aspect of the movie.
Characters
Juan/Angel Andrade
I think Juan's schtick was that he was a very determined actor. I think he was an ambitious man, a hustler, and it pushed him to do bad things.
I wasn't really sure for what reason Juan hated Ignacio. Was it because he was locked down by his mother to look after Ignacio, which prevented him from seeking out acting jobs? Was Ignacio using up all the money for drugs? I wasn't super clear about this.
Anyway, I had a hunch that Juan knew that Berenger was in love with him. There was a scene when Berenguer visited Ignacio where Juan was working out in just his shorts, doing some really suggested body rolls and butt wiggles. I really felt like Juan was trying to seduce him, and he obviously suceeded.
I wasn't sure if Juan had intended on using Berenguer to kill Ignacio. My guess was that he just saw an opportunity to take control of the situation. He already had Ignacio on his side because he was Ignacio's brother and was therefore "trustworthy." Now Juan could take control of the other side of the blackmail relationship.
Berenguer said that he wasn't sure if he'd coem up with the murder plan or whether Juan did. Chances are, Juan did, and he sort of gaslighted Berenguer into thinking he did to. As Berenguer and Juan were discussing how to carry out the murder, however, I could already see Juan "removing" himself from the relationship. He kept telling Berenguer that they had to lay low, and kept shooting down his expressions of love, and that he'd miss Juan, etc. So this made it very clear that Juan was using him, at least for the murder.
Now, I think Juan saw a good script in the Visit, and he wanted to use it to get an in in the entertainment business. He obviously wasn't doing well at the theatre troupe, but perhaps if he brought a script with him, that could boost him up.
My guess was that he thought that he would have a bigger chance of being accepted if Enrique thought that he was actually Ignacio. As in, if Enrique was approached by Ignacio's brother, he might not have been moved, but if he was approached by Ignacio, he would've given the script a second thought.
I think Juan was really worked up about not getting the Zahara part at first because if Enrique didn't see him as a Zahara, that meant his acting wasn't good. Ignacio became Zahara, so if Enrique couldn't see Juan as Zahara, he felt that he wasn't doing a good job of pretending to be Ignacio.
I don't know how Juan knew that Enrique knew that he was Juan and not Ignacio, but I guess he figured that as long as he got the role, everything was fine.
I'm guessing that Juan did a good job in the film. After Zahara was killed, we saw that Juan was very emotional. I think that perhaps he was feeling guilt at having killed the true Zahara, Ignacio. Having lived Ignacio's life on screen, I guess Juan came to realize what his brother had suffered through, and to have killed him, Juan had failed as a brother.
Right after filming wrapped, Enrique found out that Juan had killed Ignacio, which Enrique was obviously upset about. Juan tried to smooth things over but that didn't work.
In the epilogue, we found out that Juan had achieved success, but his career had since waned. But he'd been blackmailed by Berenguer, and it as implied that he killed him.
So I think Juan was a pretty evil guy. Not everybody so casually suggests murder, and Juan did it twice, once to his brother and once to his supposed lover, though I think it's safe to say he was just using Berenguer.
The thing about Juan is that he doesn't really have compassion. The only time he showed compassion was after he'd lived Ignacio's life on screen. But his entire idea of getting with Berenguer was a huge betrayal in my mind. First of all, Berenguer was Ignacio's abuser, so Juan getting close with him was very iffy. I don't know if Juan was supposed to know that Berenguer abused Ignacio, but I think he would've known that he'd done something bad to Ignacio. After Berenguer fell in love with him and wanted to be with him, Juan pushed him away, as if he didn't understand why Berenguer was so attached to him.
So upon further thought, Juan is quite a scary character because he's ambitious but very short sighted.
Enrique Goded
Enrique was Ignacio's childhood love, and our point-of-view character. I don't know if Enrique still had feelings for Ignacio, but having been reunited with "Ignacio," I think he felt that there wasn't chemistry there anymore. To be honest, Juan was a bit too overenthusiastic as well, so that probably turned Enrique off as well.
Anyway, Enrique couldn't see Juan as Zahara, and because he didn't have feelings for him anymore, it was easy for him to just see Ignacio in a professional manner.
Where things changed was when Enrique visited Ignacio's childhood home and found out that Ingacio was dead and that Juan was posing as Ignacio. I believe him when he said that he had cast Juan out of curiosity. We also saw that he slept around (e.g. with Martin his production manager) so sleeping with Juan was just something he did on the side for fun.
Honestly I can agree with Enrique in that technically there wasn't any big danger in letting Juan pretend he was Ignacio. He was going by Angel Andrade anyway so the Ignacio/Juan identity thing was just between them. Enrique just wanted to know what Juan was like as an actor.
But when Enrique found out that Juan was a murderer that's when he viewed him differently, which is how a normal person should. What kind of person would conspire to kill their own brother? Probably someone who was pushed to the brink, but if they've been pushed to that limit, are they even safe to be around? And in hindsight, what did Ignacio do to Juan that was so bad that it required murder?
In the end, I think Enrique was just so tired with Juan, Berenguer, and Ignacio. He read the first line of Ignacio's letter, but at that point, I think Enrique wondered whether it was even worth it. Ignacio was his childhood love, but it was just one relationship. Was it worth all of this blackmail and hurt to keep in touch with Juan and Berenguer?
Father Manolo
Father Manolo was the instigator of everything. He was a priest at a boarding school who abused boys. In the Visit, Father Manolo was portrayed as being deeply in love with Ignacio, even keeping a photo of him in his drawer. But I wondered if that was just an embellishment on Ignacio's part. Abusers typically move on from one victim to the next, so I wondered if Ignacio was really that special to Father Manolo. Of course, what's undeniable was that Father Manolo's abuse made a big impression on Ignacio's life.
Father Manolo later left the boarding school and worked for a publishing company, going by his surname Berenguer. As explained, Ignacio wanted to blackmail him, and in the process of doing so, he fell in love with Juan.
After he fell in love with Juan, Berenguer began being manipulated by him. The difference between Father Manolo abusing boys and falling in love with Juan was that Juan was not a child, and Berenguer was not in a position of power over him.
Nonetheless, Berenguer still acted on selfish motivations. Even though it was clear that Juan wanted nothing more to do with him, he tried to manipulate the situation so that Juan would be reliant on him.
So I guess my interpretation of Berenguer was that he was a man who wanted to control his lovers. Preying on boys was easy because he naturally had power over them. Falling in love with Juan was new territory for him because Juan very clearly was in control of him, but afterwards, Berenguer tried to take back control by telling the truth to Enrique, and later blackmailing him.
Ignacio
Ignacio was the boy who was abused by Father Manolo. He bore a grudge against Father Manolo. He said that it was because he went back on his word and expelled Enrique, but that can't be the only thing. In the clips of young Ignacio, we already saw that he feared Father Manolo and didn't want to be touched by him.
Ignacio became a drug addict, and wanted to get a sex change. We don't know how either of those came about, but I don't think it's a stretch to say that the drug addiction was a way of Ignacio trying to deal with his trauma.
Ignacio himself was not the most morally upright person, but he could not afford to be. He was a mess, and blackmail was his only real way of getting control of a situation (weaponizing his trauma).
Honestly, I feel bad for Ignacio. He was in a bad situation and he was surrounded by people who did NOT want to help him.
Themes
Blackmail
Blackmail and keeping promises was a narrative theme throughout the movie. It started off with Ignacio promising to do whatever Father Manolo wanted if he didn't expel Enrique, though Father Manolo went back on his word. So I guess that experience taught Ignacio that promises aren't worth shit.
Later on, Ignacio blackmailed Berenguer for money, using the letters to a publisher and to Berenguer's wife about his abuse as leverage. Again, Berenguer did not hold up his end of the bargain. Even though he'd been approved for a loan, he kept holding out because he kept wanting to see Juan. And later he killed Ignacio.
Then Berenguer blackmailed Juan. Well, technically I think he just burned his bridges for him, by telling Enrique the truth of what Juan did. But later on, Berenguer did blackmail Juan, probably about his murder of Ignacio.
Selfishness
Many of the characters in this movie were motivated by selfish desires, so much so that they would do terrible things.
Juan was motivated by his acting career, and he would kill for it.
Berenguer was motivated by what he believes is love, but really is control. He believed he was in love with Ignacio. (Though considering we mostly saw Father Manolo through Ignacio's writing in the Visit, Ignacio might've been interpreting Father Manolo's actions as love when really it was just abuse from start to finish)
Ignacio was also motivated by what he believed was love, but was probably revenge. He said that he would take revenge on Father Manolo for expelling Enrique, but as I mentioned above, he had other reasons to hate Father Manolo, including the constant sexual abuse.
Overall
I liked this movie, particularly its portrayal of all of these flawed people and how they were affected, directly and indirectly, by child sexual abuse.
The direction style was not what I would've expected for this kind of story content, but I think it worked. It gave us a different lens in which to see how trauma can affect people, but also gave us some interesting plot to focus on other than the trauma as well.
I liked this movie, but it's not for everybody because of the sexual abuse content.
I would definitely recommend this movie as an interesting drama/thriller. I would put a trigger warning for child sexual abuse though.
Spoilers.
Story
In chronological sequence, this is the story. Ignacio was a student at a boarding school, where he was abused by a priest Father Manolo. During his time there, Ignacio fell in love with Enrique. Father Manolo found out about their love and wanted to expel Enrique. Ignacio told Father Manolo that he would do anything as long as he didn't expel Enrique (which mean Father Manolo continued to sexually abuse Ignacio). But Father Manolo went back on his promise and ended up expelling Enrique anyway.
Years later, Ignacio became a drug addict, and he wanted to have a sex change. Ignacio reached out to Father Manolo, now going by Berenguer, to blackmail him for money.
While visiting Ignacio at his home, Berenguer fell in love with Juan, Ignacio's younger brother. He would keep stalling with the money so that he could see Juan.
Eventually, Berenguer and Juan did have a sexual relationship. Juan and Berenger concocted a plan to kill Ignacio, as Berenguer obviously didn't want to be blackmailed, but Juan also had his own issues with Ignacio. Juan bought deadly heroin and Berenguer gave it to Ignacio. Afterwards, Berenger and Juan had to lay low, but Juan seemed really disinterested anyway.
Later on, Juan approached Enrique, pretending to be Ignacio. He presented him with a script, The Visit, which was basedon Ignacio and Enrique's time at the boarding school. Enrique liked the story, but he wasn't super enthusiastic with Juan playing Zahara, which was the name of Ignacio's drag queen counterpart.
Enrique had taken a trip to Ignacio's hometown, where he found out that Ignacio had died and that the man he knew as Ignacio was actually Juan. Even so, Enrique accepted Juan as the actor to play Zahara, and also had a sexual relationship with Juan.
When filming for the Visit wrapped, Berenguer visited Enrique and told him that he and Juan had killed Ignacio, which upset Enrique. He knew that Juan was lying and that Ignacio was dead, but finding out that Juan killed his own brother was a shock.
In the epilogue, it was said that the movie brought Enrique and Juan great success, though after about a decade, Juan's career had declined and he was mostly doing television acting. In addition, Berenguer had blackmailed Juan, and it was implied that Juan killed him in a hit-and-run.
So as you can tell, the story is extremely messy. What I saw here was a group of men who were selfish. Certified messes. Yikes.
What I noticed about this story is that it also doesn't have a conclusion. It is just a constant cycle of blackmail. Technically it ended with Juan killing Berenguer for his blackmail. But there is still an opening for Enrique to blackmail Juan. The question is whether Enrique is that kind of person.
In terms of the writing, the metafiction part of the story was definitely a draw. After we found out that "Ignacio" was actually Juan, I had to go back and figure out which scenes were parts of the movie and which were true.
Production
The only other movie I watched from Almodovar was Volver, which I did not like at all, so I was surprised that I enjoyed this movie so much. I think the different here was definitely the quality of the script, because after finding out Almodovar was the director for both movies, I did notice some similarities, such as some the style of direction when within Ignacio and Juan's apartment.
The matter-of-fact direction style of the movie also helped to highlight the fact that all of these people were messes. The way that Ignacio so nonchalantly describe his abuse and his love with Enrique was so factual that it was a bit shocking. But I don't doubt that to Ignacio, he's thought about these things so many times that he can only see them in a matter-of-fact way.
The acting was terrific. I had no complaints about this aspect of the movie.
Characters
Juan/Angel Andrade
I think Juan's schtick was that he was a very determined actor. I think he was an ambitious man, a hustler, and it pushed him to do bad things.
I wasn't really sure for what reason Juan hated Ignacio. Was it because he was locked down by his mother to look after Ignacio, which prevented him from seeking out acting jobs? Was Ignacio using up all the money for drugs? I wasn't super clear about this.
Anyway, I had a hunch that Juan knew that Berenger was in love with him. There was a scene when Berenguer visited Ignacio where Juan was working out in just his shorts, doing some really suggested body rolls and butt wiggles. I really felt like Juan was trying to seduce him, and he obviously suceeded.
I wasn't sure if Juan had intended on using Berenguer to kill Ignacio. My guess was that he just saw an opportunity to take control of the situation. He already had Ignacio on his side because he was Ignacio's brother and was therefore "trustworthy." Now Juan could take control of the other side of the blackmail relationship.
Berenguer said that he wasn't sure if he'd coem up with the murder plan or whether Juan did. Chances are, Juan did, and he sort of gaslighted Berenguer into thinking he did to. As Berenguer and Juan were discussing how to carry out the murder, however, I could already see Juan "removing" himself from the relationship. He kept telling Berenguer that they had to lay low, and kept shooting down his expressions of love, and that he'd miss Juan, etc. So this made it very clear that Juan was using him, at least for the murder.
Now, I think Juan saw a good script in the Visit, and he wanted to use it to get an in in the entertainment business. He obviously wasn't doing well at the theatre troupe, but perhaps if he brought a script with him, that could boost him up.
My guess was that he thought that he would have a bigger chance of being accepted if Enrique thought that he was actually Ignacio. As in, if Enrique was approached by Ignacio's brother, he might not have been moved, but if he was approached by Ignacio, he would've given the script a second thought.
I think Juan was really worked up about not getting the Zahara part at first because if Enrique didn't see him as a Zahara, that meant his acting wasn't good. Ignacio became Zahara, so if Enrique couldn't see Juan as Zahara, he felt that he wasn't doing a good job of pretending to be Ignacio.
I don't know how Juan knew that Enrique knew that he was Juan and not Ignacio, but I guess he figured that as long as he got the role, everything was fine.
I'm guessing that Juan did a good job in the film. After Zahara was killed, we saw that Juan was very emotional. I think that perhaps he was feeling guilt at having killed the true Zahara, Ignacio. Having lived Ignacio's life on screen, I guess Juan came to realize what his brother had suffered through, and to have killed him, Juan had failed as a brother.
Right after filming wrapped, Enrique found out that Juan had killed Ignacio, which Enrique was obviously upset about. Juan tried to smooth things over but that didn't work.
In the epilogue, we found out that Juan had achieved success, but his career had since waned. But he'd been blackmailed by Berenguer, and it as implied that he killed him.
So I think Juan was a pretty evil guy. Not everybody so casually suggests murder, and Juan did it twice, once to his brother and once to his supposed lover, though I think it's safe to say he was just using Berenguer.
The thing about Juan is that he doesn't really have compassion. The only time he showed compassion was after he'd lived Ignacio's life on screen. But his entire idea of getting with Berenguer was a huge betrayal in my mind. First of all, Berenguer was Ignacio's abuser, so Juan getting close with him was very iffy. I don't know if Juan was supposed to know that Berenguer abused Ignacio, but I think he would've known that he'd done something bad to Ignacio. After Berenguer fell in love with him and wanted to be with him, Juan pushed him away, as if he didn't understand why Berenguer was so attached to him.
So upon further thought, Juan is quite a scary character because he's ambitious but very short sighted.
Enrique Goded
Enrique was Ignacio's childhood love, and our point-of-view character. I don't know if Enrique still had feelings for Ignacio, but having been reunited with "Ignacio," I think he felt that there wasn't chemistry there anymore. To be honest, Juan was a bit too overenthusiastic as well, so that probably turned Enrique off as well.
Anyway, Enrique couldn't see Juan as Zahara, and because he didn't have feelings for him anymore, it was easy for him to just see Ignacio in a professional manner.
Where things changed was when Enrique visited Ignacio's childhood home and found out that Ingacio was dead and that Juan was posing as Ignacio. I believe him when he said that he had cast Juan out of curiosity. We also saw that he slept around (e.g. with Martin his production manager) so sleeping with Juan was just something he did on the side for fun.
Honestly I can agree with Enrique in that technically there wasn't any big danger in letting Juan pretend he was Ignacio. He was going by Angel Andrade anyway so the Ignacio/Juan identity thing was just between them. Enrique just wanted to know what Juan was like as an actor.
But when Enrique found out that Juan was a murderer that's when he viewed him differently, which is how a normal person should. What kind of person would conspire to kill their own brother? Probably someone who was pushed to the brink, but if they've been pushed to that limit, are they even safe to be around? And in hindsight, what did Ignacio do to Juan that was so bad that it required murder?
In the end, I think Enrique was just so tired with Juan, Berenguer, and Ignacio. He read the first line of Ignacio's letter, but at that point, I think Enrique wondered whether it was even worth it. Ignacio was his childhood love, but it was just one relationship. Was it worth all of this blackmail and hurt to keep in touch with Juan and Berenguer?
Father Manolo
Father Manolo was the instigator of everything. He was a priest at a boarding school who abused boys. In the Visit, Father Manolo was portrayed as being deeply in love with Ignacio, even keeping a photo of him in his drawer. But I wondered if that was just an embellishment on Ignacio's part. Abusers typically move on from one victim to the next, so I wondered if Ignacio was really that special to Father Manolo. Of course, what's undeniable was that Father Manolo's abuse made a big impression on Ignacio's life.
Father Manolo later left the boarding school and worked for a publishing company, going by his surname Berenguer. As explained, Ignacio wanted to blackmail him, and in the process of doing so, he fell in love with Juan.
After he fell in love with Juan, Berenguer began being manipulated by him. The difference between Father Manolo abusing boys and falling in love with Juan was that Juan was not a child, and Berenguer was not in a position of power over him.
Nonetheless, Berenguer still acted on selfish motivations. Even though it was clear that Juan wanted nothing more to do with him, he tried to manipulate the situation so that Juan would be reliant on him.
So I guess my interpretation of Berenguer was that he was a man who wanted to control his lovers. Preying on boys was easy because he naturally had power over them. Falling in love with Juan was new territory for him because Juan very clearly was in control of him, but afterwards, Berenguer tried to take back control by telling the truth to Enrique, and later blackmailing him.
Ignacio
Ignacio was the boy who was abused by Father Manolo. He bore a grudge against Father Manolo. He said that it was because he went back on his word and expelled Enrique, but that can't be the only thing. In the clips of young Ignacio, we already saw that he feared Father Manolo and didn't want to be touched by him.
Ignacio became a drug addict, and wanted to get a sex change. We don't know how either of those came about, but I don't think it's a stretch to say that the drug addiction was a way of Ignacio trying to deal with his trauma.
Ignacio himself was not the most morally upright person, but he could not afford to be. He was a mess, and blackmail was his only real way of getting control of a situation (weaponizing his trauma).
Honestly, I feel bad for Ignacio. He was in a bad situation and he was surrounded by people who did NOT want to help him.
Themes
Blackmail
Blackmail and keeping promises was a narrative theme throughout the movie. It started off with Ignacio promising to do whatever Father Manolo wanted if he didn't expel Enrique, though Father Manolo went back on his word. So I guess that experience taught Ignacio that promises aren't worth shit.
Later on, Ignacio blackmailed Berenguer for money, using the letters to a publisher and to Berenguer's wife about his abuse as leverage. Again, Berenguer did not hold up his end of the bargain. Even though he'd been approved for a loan, he kept holding out because he kept wanting to see Juan. And later he killed Ignacio.
Then Berenguer blackmailed Juan. Well, technically I think he just burned his bridges for him, by telling Enrique the truth of what Juan did. But later on, Berenguer did blackmail Juan, probably about his murder of Ignacio.
Selfishness
Many of the characters in this movie were motivated by selfish desires, so much so that they would do terrible things.
Juan was motivated by his acting career, and he would kill for it.
Berenguer was motivated by what he believes is love, but really is control. He believed he was in love with Ignacio. (Though considering we mostly saw Father Manolo through Ignacio's writing in the Visit, Ignacio might've been interpreting Father Manolo's actions as love when really it was just abuse from start to finish)
Ignacio was also motivated by what he believed was love, but was probably revenge. He said that he would take revenge on Father Manolo for expelling Enrique, but as I mentioned above, he had other reasons to hate Father Manolo, including the constant sexual abuse.
Overall
I liked this movie, particularly its portrayal of all of these flawed people and how they were affected, directly and indirectly, by child sexual abuse.
The direction style was not what I would've expected for this kind of story content, but I think it worked. It gave us a different lens in which to see how trauma can affect people, but also gave us some interesting plot to focus on other than the trauma as well.
I liked this movie, but it's not for everybody because of the sexual abuse content.