An examination on the effect of Franco-era religious schooling on the lives of two friends.<BR>&nbsp;

An examination on the effect of Franco-era religious schooling on the lives of two friends.

Neither a remake nor a sequel, but a truly original film from Pedro Almodovar, and one he has been working on for over a decade. Bad Education begins when Ignacio, played by Garcia Bernal visits old school friend and filmmaker, Enrique played by Fele Martinez with a script partly based on their own childhood romance. In it, a young Ignacio recounts how we was sexually abused by his school principal, and years later, Ignacio, now a transsexual named Zahara, has come back to seek revenge. Inspired by the story, Enrique agrees to make the film. But the more he questions what is real ? the bigger the deception becomes. Bad Education is a movie within a movie. There are multiple identities, plot twists, and it spans 3 decades. In other hands, this might be impossible to follow, but Almodovar's skill as a storyteller sweeps aside all complications. The cinematography and expressive score by Alberto Inglesias are just as seductive as the script, which is a sophisticated blend of fantasy, romance, comedy, but most of all film noir with Gael Garcia Bernal playing a version of the Femme Fatale. Bad Education is a thrilling guessing hame and an intelligent film about forbidden subjects.