ma-cortes
Offbeat and sensitive melodrama/Thriller about extreme passions , ¨Amor Fou¨ and a killer on lam , being well acted and directed . Good film including interesting drama , colorful cinematography , sensitive score and fine acting by all-Spanish-star-cast . Almodovar successful thriller/drama , including his ordinary rare characters , twisted situations and eccentric events dealing with a writer/director gay and the men who love him , this sexual disorientation jeopardizes his latest project . As it concerns about a couple of siblings , Pablo and Tina , both of whom have complicated sexual existences . Pablo is homosexual and deeply in love with Juan (Micky Molina) , a young man who won't reply to Pablo's affection . Pablo's brother Tina (Carmen Maura) is a transsexual , angry at men , raising Ada (Manuela Velasco) , and attempting to make it as a player . Pablo takes up with Antonio (Antonio Banderas) , Antonio seeks out Juan , and violence leads to Pablo's grief . Then , it takes place a car crash and Pablo temporarily loss of memory . When memory returns , he learns a dark secret . In horror , Pablo takes on a terrible and disgusting finale .Enjoyable film full of feeling , rare characters plenty of desire and love , haunting mood-pieces , emotive as well as outrageous images , and sense of style . The picture deals with off-the-wall/intense drama , family absurdities , superb scenes , a haunting meditation on love with dysfunctional roles and many other things . Here deals with existences of the three peculiar roles : a filmmaker , his angry lover and a transsexual whose fates will flow in all directions , past , present and future , dragging all of them towards an unsuspected finale . This strange as well as excessive melodrama/triller/intrigue movie in Douglas Sirk style could only have been made by Almodovar . The picture is acceptable but turns out to be inferior to his subsequent entries such as or ¨Live flesh¨ , ¨The flower of my secret¨ , ¨High heels¨ , ¨Atame¨ , ¨All about my mother¨, ¨Talk to her¨ , all of them strong and outlandish dramas . The result is undiluted scabrous flick , filled with crazy strings of plots and sharp images with thrilling situations . As usual , in the most from Almodóvar films , he uses Latin-American songs in his movies movies , from Rancheras , Boleros to tangos through Mexican and Cuban boleros , Pedro has a great musical taste . Unforgettable scenes when there takes place a peculiar shower , this iconic hose scene was shot twice , the first one wasn't useful because the pressure was so big that Carmen Maura fell down . The second time the scene was shot perfectly, but Maura had to dub herself because of the water noise . The best images happen on the ending of the movie when Tina and Ada are kidnapped and Pablo hurries to Tina's rescue and must face a murderer on loose . Nice actors give awesome interpretations as Eusebio Poncela playing a stressed writer unsettled by a triangular love story , and Antonio Banderas as a youth who becomes jealous of Pablo's love for Juan , the latter well performed by Miguel Molina . I liked everyone in the excellent cast , and the male and female actors , especially Carmen Maura , were all very attractive . Furthermore , a notorious support cast such as Helga Line , Nacho Martínez , Germán Cobos , Bibiana Fernández and other delightfully played roles . And Fernando Guillén as Police inspector and his assistant played by Fernando Guillén Cuervo are father and son both in movie and in real life . In addition , a lot of cameos with frequent Pedro Almodóvar actors appear briefly such as Rossy De Palma , Marta Fernández Muro and Victoria Abril . As usual in most of Pedro's movies , there is a small role for Agustín Almodóvar, his brother and producer of the film who plays a lawyer and the same Pedro Almodóvar as a shopkeeper . Rousing musical score, including some marvelous songs , these are the followings : ¨No Me Quitte Pas" written by Jacques Brel , performed by Maysa Matarazzo , Los Panchos : "Lo Dudo" ('I doubt it') , 'If you go away' with the sweet voice of Emiliana Torrini , "Guardo Che Luna" composed by G. Malgoni . Pedro chooses this kind of songs , Rancheras , Boleros, tangos , etc. have something in common : They are about tragedies , lost love , betrayal , desire , lust , hate and passion . Colorful and luxurious cinematography by Angel Fernandez who photographed Almodóvar's first films as ¨Dark Habits¨ , ¨What Have I Done to Deserve This?" and ¨Matador¨. This one-of-a-kind picture was realized in his particular style by Pedro Almodovar ; he often uses symbolism and metaphorical techniques to portray circular story lines though here he directs a special melodrama , including his ordinary touches . Almodovar directs throughout with splendid zip and he usually portrays strong female characters and transsexuals and along his career getting some important international prizes . His first feature film, Pepi, Luci, Bom (1980), was made in 16 mm and blown-up to 35 mm for public release . In 1987, he and his brother Agustín Almodóvar established their own production company : El Deseo, S. A. The "Almodóvar phenomenon" has reached all over the world , making his films very popular in many countries . Oscar-winning Spanish director Pedro Almodovar who made successes such as Labyrinth of passions , Women on the verge of a nervous breakdown , Bad education , Broken embraces , The Skin I Live In , Volver and many others . The latest from acclaimed Spanish director , Pedro Almodovar's I'm So Excited , a mediocre comedy.
lastliberal
You will find all the familiar Almodovar devices here: telephones, drug use (cocaine in particular), dysfunctional families, sexual ambiguity, pedophile priests, and hospitals. These themes permeate his work, but they are woven intricately throughout this film.Pablo (Eusebio Poncela) is a writer/director of fantastic movies. He gets into the snares of an obsessive (Antonio Banderas in a great performance) who has a fatal attraction and will kill for his love. At the same time, he has to deal with his transvestite sister played by Carmen Maura (Volver, Women on the Verge, Matador) in another magnificent role.It is a melodrama about love as that is the overriding need for Banderas and for Maura, who has given up on men since her father left her. It is also about family. Of course, there is a crossing of genres as there is some comedy, but that is minor.Another magnificent Almodovar film.
Bloom6000
I first saw snippets of this film ages ago and finally saw the whole film. Prior to watching this film, I've read countless hyped-up, mixed reviews over it. People say it's a great comedy, others say it's a kinky, perverted piece of work. I guess when this film was released in 1986, people didn't know what to make of it. And now after seeing this film, I don't blame them.I watched this film originally expecting a thriller. It has some thriller elements in it, especially towards the end, but the main plot - a gay film director pursued by a psychopath - is often overshadowed by the quite inappropriate story of the director's "sister" and her struggle to raise an ex-lover's daughter.You can see here a young Antonio Banderas as the 'baddie' of this film. Apparantely this was the first film where Antonio performs very hot sex scenes with another male actor.So is the film good? Yes... only if you're a fan of any of the cast, or of the director, or of dark kinky Spainish films in general. What are the flaws?... well there aren't any that I can pick out. It's a decent film with decent directing. Nothing to get too excited over.Perfect to watch on a quiet Saturday night.
