Bad Education

2004 1h 45m ES

👍

7.4

SOLID

★7.4TMDB · 1,104

DramaCrime

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

When an old friend brings filmmaker Enrique Goded a semi-autobiographical script chronicling their adolescence, Enrique is forced to relive his youth spent at a Catholic boarding school. Weaving through past and present, the script follows a transvestite performer who reconnects with a grade school sweetheart. Spurred on by this chance encounter, the character reflects on her childhood sexual victimization and the trauma of closeting her sexual orientation.

“Some stories are better left unspoiled.”

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Cast

Gael García Bernal
Ángel / Juan / Zahara
Fele Martínez
Enrique Goded
Daniel Giménez Cacho
Padre Manolo
Lluís Homar
Sr. Berenguer
Francisco Maestre
Padre José
Francisco Boira
Ignacio
Juan Fernández
Martín
Nacho Pérez
Young Ignacio

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Pedro Almodóvar
Writers: Pedro Almodóvar
Languages: Latin, Spanish
Countries: Spain

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Made its money back 8.1× over at the box office.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 22 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 2 languages: Latin, Spanish.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Pedro Almodóvar, shot by José Luis Alcaine. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Alberto Iglesias. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor José Salcedo shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Gael García Bernal and Fele Martínez and Daniel Giménez Cacho carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0275491 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Pedro Almodóvar directs. José Luis Alcaine behind the camera. Alberto Iglesias scores. José Salcedo cuts. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in Spain. Dialogue in Latin, Spanish.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Made its money back 8.1× over at the box office.
2Released 22 years ago.
3Dialogue crosses 2 languages: Latin, Spanish.
4Directed by Pedro Almodóvar, shot by José Luis Alcaine. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Alberto Iglesias. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor José Salcedo shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Gael García Bernal and Fele Martínez and Daniel Giménez Cacho carry the top of the cast.
8IMDB entry: tt0275491 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
9Classified under 27 themes, including "sexual identity", "friendship", "spain", "sexual abuse".
10Released under 12 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: José Luis Alcaine
Original score: Alberto Iglesias
Editing: José Salcedo
Production design: Antxón Gómez
Costume design: Paco Delgado
Makeup / hair: Karol Tornaria
VFX supervisor: Jorge Calvo
Sound: Miguel Rejas
Runtime: 105 min · 1h 45m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $5,000,000
Box office: $40,266,982
Return: 805% of budget
Original language: ES
Certification (US): NC-17
IMDB: Bad Education (2004)

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Pedro Almodóvar

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Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2023-09-04
★ 7/10
This film treads the fine line between providing an entertaining and sexy piece of cinema with the identification of the serious issues of sexual abuse committed if not always by the clergy, then certainly under their auspices, in Franco's Spain. The story centres around aspiring actor "Angel" (Gael Garciá Bernal) who turns up, unannounced, at the door of his former schoolfriend. This man "Enrique" (Fele Martinez) has gone on to become a successful film director and, perhaps optimistically, "Angel" hopes that the unfinished manuscript he has brought might turn out to be his ticket to success. It transpires that these men have not seen each other since school (some 16 years earlier) and that this document is semi-autobiographical - it takes both back to their childhood where, under the supervision of "Fr. Manolo" (Daniel Giménez Cacho) they attended a catholic school where they had sexual encounters with each other and with others with varying degrees willingness. The story is dark, certainly, but here is plenty of humour and shagging as the story unfolds. We are deliberately left to judge the extent to which "Angel" is being truthful, fanciful or just plain enthusiastic, and we are also offered a fairly unique take on how vengeance might be applied. The narrative is complex, the timelines and characters shift making it quite a thought provoking film to both watch and begin to understand. Well worth it, though!

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