74 reviews
Sales Rank: 19799

Format: Ac-3, Color, Dolby, Dvd-video, Subtitled, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: English (Subtitled), Latin (Original Language), Spanish (Original Language)
Rating: R (Restricted)
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 106
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6

ISBN: 1404985441
UPC: 043396113510
EAN: 9781404985445
ASIN: B0007XBM7U

Theatrical Release Date: 2004
Release Date: April 12, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Free Upgrade to 1st Class Shipping on Single Cds and Dvds... Regular shipping rates apply for all other items and International orders. All items fully guaranteed. Your satisfaction is our main goal.

Similar Items:

	Y Tu Mama Tambien
	Amores Perros
	Volver
	The Motorcycle Diaries (Widescreen Edition)
	The Crime of Padre Amaro

Editorial Reviews:

Amazon.com
Writer/director Pedro Almodovar's dark, sexy Hitchcock homage is his best work since his Oscar-winning All About My Mother, and deepened by a sun-dappled sadness. Handsome, enigmatic Angel (Gael Garcia Bernal) arrives at the Spanish movie offices of director Enrique Goded (Fele Martinez) and happily proclaims that he's actually Enrique's long-lost school chum Ignacio--an announcement that is both less than convincing and more than it seems. A novice actor, Angel pitches a semi-autobiographical screenplay in which he's determined to star, a revenge-laden reflection of the doomed love he and Enrique shared as boys before a pedophile priest cruelly intervened. The script, and the lost days it recalls, carefully unfurls into a series of brooding movies-within-movies and memories-inside-memories, which allow the sensual, multiple-role-playing Bernal to give the performance of his young career--among other things, he makes a stunningly convincing drag queen--and Almodovar the opportunity to movingly suggest that people will pay any price to ensure that their stories are told. --Steve Wiecking

Customer Reviews: Read 69 more reviews...

5 out of 5 stars

Transvestite junkies and pedophile priests October 21, 2008
Childhood friends Ignacio and Enrique haven't seen each other in decades, until one day when, out of the blue, Ignacio shows up at Enrique's house with a story that he has written based on their childhood experiences. Ignacio (Gael Garcia Bernal), now an actor, wants Enrique (Fele Martinez), now a director, to turn his story into a movie and cast him in the lead role.

Pedro Almodovar has always set out to provoke audiences with confronting images and themes that are often described as perverted by his detractors, and nothing has changed with "Bad Education". In fact, "Bad Education" is probably one of the more offensive of Almodovar's movies. If you don't think you can handle a film containing pedophile priests, a very unplatonic relationship between two young boys, transvestite junkies and assorted gay sex scenes, then give up now and try "Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown" instead (probably the least offensive entry in Almodovar's filmography). However, if you feel that you can handle it, then I strongly recommend this film as it, like Almodovar's other more recent movies, is really amazing.

I started watching Almodovar films after hearing his earlier works compared with the films of John Waters. It is true that Almodovar's earlier films (such as "What Have I Done to Deserve This?") are dark comedies in the same vein as those of Waters, but unlike Waters, who never really developed as a filmmaker, Almodovar has transitioned from making films simply for shock value to making films that really have something to say about human nature (although, still have a shock element to them).

"Bad Education" can be viewed at a number of levels: as a mystery; as a homage to film noir; as a study of the impact of childhood abuse on adults; or as an examination of the different ways in which adults can abuse each other, and I'm sure there are other ways of seeing it, too. Just when you think you've got a handle on the story, it changes, and similarly, just as you think you understand one of the characters, he changes, too. This is particularly the case with Gael Garcia Bernal's character, which is the reason why I love this film so much. The audience's perception of Bernal's character constantly changes throughout the film and I found myself thinking about just who this person really was for days after finishing this film. My fascination with this character is assisted by the fact that he is played by Bernal, who is not just a pretty face, but also an incredibly talented actor. I have enjoyed seeing Bernal in other films (in particular "Don't Tempt Me"), but to see him working with Almodovar, who has a talent for bringing out the best in his actors, is a real joy.

5 out of 5 stars

Smokin' in the Boy's Room September 28, 2008
Frequently compared to American director, Douglas Sirk, Spain's Pedro Almodovar switches into Hitchcock mode with his twisty, sexually provocative thriller, "Bad Education". Maintaining the bright, primary colors that dominate and help define his films, Almodovar ditches his usual comic archness, and amps up the melodrama in a tale piling layer upon layer of desire, deception, betrayal, and lies, with inevitably murderous results.

Star Gael Garcia Bernal shines in the multiple roles of drag queen, Zahara, bad boy Juan, and the ambitious actor, Angel. A lush-lipped, sensuous film actor, Bernal provides "Bad Education" with a throbbing energy that sets the complicated plot(s) in motion. In 1980's Spain, the boyishly seductive Ignacio arrives at the office of his old, childhood friend, a film director named Enrique. Ignacio has a script based on their alleged boyhood experiences in a Catholic boarding school, most disturbing of which is Ignacio's continued molestation at the hands of pedophile priest, Manolo. In the script, Ignacio grows up to become exotic performer, Zahara, who finally returns to the church to confront Manolo, and the demons of the past. The more Enrique reads of the script, the further the lines between fantasy and reality are blurred. As Enrique is driven to determine the circumstances surrounding an unexplained death, deceptions are revealed; while some characters are not who they seem to be, others resurface in completely different guises. The mysteries deepen, with dark, enigmatic Bernal holding the answers, if not all the cards.

The cinematography is up to Almodovar's usual luxe standards, the writing clever and intense, the plot as engrossing as it is unbelievable. In addition to Bernal's fine acting, Fele Martinez is also excellent in the role of Enrique. He gives a genuinely moving performance as a man who believes (wrongly) that his long-lost love has returned. As Father Manolo, Daniel Gimenez Cacho is effectively slick and creepy as a pedophile taking no chances that his crimes will be uncovered, while Lluis Homar (who looks a little like Kelsey Grammer) is convincing as a horny, blackmailed businessman, whose lust propels him into an ill-advised murder plot.

There's a lot going on here. Because of its myriad plotlines and twists, "Bad Education" is a film that demands attention; otherwise, it's easy to become hopelessly lost in, both, the film-within-a-film and the numerous lies that serve as "backstories" for the characters. There's also a "Vertigo"-like quality to this film, with pedophilia replacing necrophilia as the squirm-inducer.

"Bad Education" is also a very gay film, probably Almodovar's gayest since "Law of Desire" (albeit minus Carmen Maura or that film's over-the-top humor). Almodovar more often works with a company of women actors, allowing their stories to unfold from a distinctly feminine perspective. And while I love "All About My Mother", "Volver", and their sister films, it's interesting to see Almodovar's occasional foray into the testosterone-fueled territory of homoerotica.

While "Bad Education" was released with an NC-17 rating, it isn't especially explicit, so I find that rating puzzling. There is no frontal nudity (except that which is encased in underwear) and the sexual situations are tastefully handled; even the priest/boy interludes are suggestive, rather than in-your-face, no worse than what's been shown on cable television. And aside from the men kissing and some bare behinds, there's not much here that you couldn't see in a PG-13 film, or maybe an R-rated film, at most. "Basic Instinct", for example, is much more explicit than this movie! The movie "Towelhead", in theaters now, reportedly shows more interaction between an adult (male) and minor (female) than "Bad Education", so I have to wonder if there's still not a hint of homophobia present in the current rating system.

While not a delicious wallow like "Law of Desire", "Bad Education" offers a darker, more somber look at the complexity of human behavior and the vaguaries of sexuality. One of Almodovar's best!

4 out of 5 stars

a touching, complex story with great performances from the entire cast August 28, 2008
A poignant, cinematically-breathtaking film with a plot so convoluted, I'm going to have to rewatch the movie just to see where all the storylines intersect and converge. Gael Garcia Bernal is sexy, charming, and lethal in his layered performance of Angel, Juan, and Zahara. This is my introduction to Pedro Almodovar and I am pleased to report that I'm intrigued enough to watch the rest of his filmography.

5 out of 5 stars

Bravo! May 18, 2008
That was perhaps one of the most well written, well directed foreign films I've seen in the past few years! There were a lot of graphic sex scenes but they were very tastefully directed. The writing and the plot were original and intriguing. Bravo, Pedro Almodovar!

3 out of 5 stars

Visually Striking and Audaciously Acted But Ultimately Hollow Inside March 28, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful

Pedro Almodovar's individualistic filmmaking style is on full display in this florid 2004 melodrama, but oddly, the heart that propelled the wonderful Talk to Her (Hable con Ella) seems to be missing. What results is a rather disappointing addition to the otherwise humanistic Almodovar canon, a classic case of style over substance. The convoluted plot begins in the present with an apparent flashback about an episode in the past, then presents that story as a film within the film, and finally the two parallel stories become a hybrid that seems to pay tribute to forties Hollywood film noir.

The focal character is Enrique, a young and successful director who is searching for inspiration for his next production. He receives a visit from an old school friend, Ignacio, who provides it with a short story he brings with him called "The Visit". Based on their childhood, it involves Ignacio being sexually abused by a priest at the school they attended together. Indeed, he permitted the abuse in order to get Enrique out of some trouble. Lurid melodrama, as only Almodovar can serve up, ensues, and an imagined reunion occurs between the abusive priest and the two childhood friends and first-loves. Spinning off Enrique's film-set, the director deftly switches narrative voices to make the abuser the victim, and the moral ambiguity of the central characters becomes heightened. Despite the audacious creativity behind the change in perspective and some strong acting, the problem with this approach is that one ends up not feeling much sympathy for any character in the film.

In a dramatic turnabout from his comparatively stoic Che Guevara in The Motorcycle Diaries, Gael Garcia Bernal effectively goes for the audacious in playing Juan/Angel, the homme fatal and struggling, petulant actor, as well as the blonde, sultry Zahara, a transvestite and cabaret singer. But even his efforts are not enough to offset the endless layering of the stories and imagined histories that continue to redirect the story ad nauseum. It's too bad since the basic story feels like Almodovar's most autobiographical film, moving as it does from a Catholic school in 1960s Spain to liberated 1980s Madrid, a period and setting with which the director is personally intimate. He also seems to be making a statement about recent scandals in the Catholic Church where they have willingly turned a blind eye to crimes of abuse against helpless children.

Ultimately, the movie is about his love of depicting erotic role-playing more than anything else and how reality and fiction merge. You will see traces of Hitchcock's Vertigo and Marnie and Billy Wilder's Double Indemnity in the labyrinthine of identities taken on by the characters. The film, nonetheless, falls short of these classics as Almodovar takes on more than he is willing to commit emotionally leaving the viewer with a rather cold feeling at the end. Granted it has all of the director's omnipresent visual flair, including the striking opening titles and the Bernard Herrmann-like music (courtesy of Alberto Iglesias), this is a disappointment for all the talent involved. The 2005 DVD has quite a few extras starting with an informative and very engaging commentary track from Almodovar. Two deleted scenes (without subtitles) are included, a total of five minutes, as well as a minute-long behind-the-scenes montage and footage from the red carpet at the AFI Film Festival. There is also an extensive photo gallery and several trailers for the film.

24-Volt Tools, 36 Volt Tools, Autism, Bb Rifles, Blu-Ray Movies, Bmx Bikes, Carry On Luggage, Coleman Powermate, Dewalt 18-Volt, Duffel Bag, Livescribe, Mountain Bikes, Mybook, Mypassport, Road Bikes, Weber, Uniden, Cordless Phones, Scanners, Loving Family , Razor , Trail Ripper, Heavy Duty, Pasta Maker, Can Openers, Wine Openers, Wine Stoppers, Wine Racks, Wine Glasses, Champagne Glasses, Wine Cooler, Puzzle Rings, Kettle, Ice Tea Maker, Can Openers, Knife, Cutlery, Cutlery Sets, Martini Glass, Margarita Glasses, Teakettles, Juicers, Espresso Machines, Ice-Cream Machines, Ceiling Rack, Pot Racks, Coffee Brewer , Stand Mixers, Hand Mixers, Spice Rack, Jar Spice Rack, Cookie Jars, Porcelain Fairy Dolls, Miniature Dolls, Ethnic Dolls, Food Steamer, Pressure Canner, Electric Breast Pump, Phiten Necklace, Ice Shaver, Electric Ice Crusher, Snickers Candy Bars, Speer Bullets, Oster Clippers, Magic Bullet Blender, Kitchenaid Blender, Oster Blender, Vitamix Blenders, Sierra Bullets, Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker, Sonicare Toothbrush, Electric Toothbrush, Dog Grooming Tools, Quit Smoking Patches, Commit Nicotine Lozenge, Nicotine Gum, Nicorette Gum, Swimming Pool Toys, Banzai Water Slides, Inflatable Water Slides, Plastic Kiddie Pools, Rubber Ducks, Water Toys, Baffin Shoes, Victorinox Knives, Hunting Knives, Survival Knives, Camping Lantern, Camping Food,