PEARLS FROM A CONTROVERSIAL MASTER : "LA MALA EDUCATION"

By the time I got to Mala Education, thanks to the positive effects of Carne Tremula and Atame (see above) I was already very, VERY positively inclined towards Mr. Almodovar. After La Mala Education, I actually became a fan. This film has soared into my top ten of favorite films of all times, I was so bowled over by bits of it, I am very much afraid this humble review will not be able to do it justice. Be it the actual structure of the story, be it the beauty of the shots, be it the sheer level of emotion so successfully portrayed in the film, no matter which way you look at it I guarantee that you will find something to bowl you over in this one… (Good Heavens I haven’t gushed like this about a film in AGES!! I must be becoming jaded! :S )
Enrique Goded (Fele Martinez) is a young and successful director. He is suffering from mild writers block and is searching, along with his production manager, for their next project. The search is proving unusually fruitless until an actor looking for work barges into the studio. Enrique is prepared to chuck him out but the young man (Gael Garcia Bernal) tells him his name. He is Ignacio Rodriguez, Enrique’s first love from back when they were in boarding school when they were very young. He is looking for work, but he has also brought Enrique an idea for a film; it is a story based on their childhood experiences. They are not all very happy memories. The whole experience bowls Enrique over, although it was many years ago, he has never quite forgotten Ignacio, the boarding school or the things that happened there. The trip down memory lane however, will lead to dark places and the revelation of secrets Enrique couldn’t have even dreamt of in his wildest imaginings…
I am chomping on the bit to tell you what happens next. Believe me. But the surprise factor is the whole point of this film, and it is the way the surprises slowly come to light, hinting at their existence first, then slowly unfurling that make this film such a beautiful work of art. Having a good story, we have often said, is the crux of making a good film. The way one actually tells the story however, is also important. And if one has a brilliant story that one is capable of telling in a beautiful way, well… One becomes as famous a director as Almodovar.
Male obsession is again at the forefront of this film. However, the consequences of the obsession are under the microscope for this performance. And the obsession is not quite the same as the one in the first two films we looked at. Ok, I think you all probably heard at some point that this film speaks of child-abuse. Putting two and two together you have probably figured out that the abuse took place in Ignacio and Enrique’s boarding school. However, the obsession of Father Manolo (the perpetrator of the abuse) has results that are longer lasting than any of us can imagine – and I don’t just mean to the abused, I’m talking about the people around the abused, the “outer ripples” of the pebble thrown in the water if you will. But it isn’t only negative feelings that live on. The young love between Enrique and Ignacio, we find, has lived on despite not being together for years. And while they are never able to actually speak of their love face to face again (I’ll let you watch the film and figure out what that means) they still communicate, and the way this emotion lives on is simply beautiful. The third thing Mr. Almodovar explores in this film is the lengths to which human beings are prepared to travel to get their desire. Some people will give up anything, change completely, do absolutely anything and stoop to any depth to get their heart’s desire, be it success or revenge. And even though they may seem monstrous in a way, if we look at them objectively, we can’t help but pity them. Especially if we see where and how this driving ambition was born.
I am sure you are as aware as I am of the parallel themes in Almodovar’s films. The truly astounding thing is that although similar themes exist, they are never “the same”. Each one is a variation, a beautiful variation on the same theme and a masterpiece in its own right. This film is a brilliant look into the human soul, warts and all. Don’t let the subject matter (child abuse) put you off watching it. It is harrowing and very much a part of the film but the whole thing is tasteful. And the consequences of such an act… Well that at least is something we owe the victims to open our eyes and look at, no?