Pedro Almodóvar’s Bad Education (2004) and the Artistry of Spanish Queer Cinema

Bad Education/La mala educación (2004) [Source: IMDb]

Pedro Almodóvar’s film Bad Education, originally titled in Spanish as La mala educación, was released in 2004.

Here is an English translation of one of the lines spoken (in Spanish) by Ignacio, one of the film’s central characters:

“I’m thinking that just this moment I lost my faith. And without faith, I no longer believe in God or hell. And if I don’t believe in hell I’m no longer afraid. And if I’m unafraid I am capable of anything” (Smith, 181).

Bad Education/La mala educación (2004) [Source: IMDb]

The sociopolitical background of the film

1. Bad Education released the same year as the terrorist bombings and massacres on commuter trains in Madrid in 2004, and there were countless ways in which both Spanish citizens as well as foreigners such as those of Ecuadorian and Kurdish communities within the city mourned and displayed support for the affected.
2. During this period, Almodóvar had accumulated a vast, diverse audience over his almost twenty-five-year…