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| Plot Synopsis Popular film director Pablo Quintero (Eusebio Poncela) has found a new love in the form of handsome blue-collar Juan (Miguel Molina). Not altogether comfortable with his lifestyle, Juan decides to leave Pablo for a while to contemplate his future. Pablo insists that Juan keep in touch by sending him love letters. Ever the director, he plans to write the letters himself, and have Juan mail them back with his signature. If you think that settles things, you don't know filmmaker Pedro Almodovar. Among the many plot complications in Law of Desire is Pablo's subsequent romance with the possessive Antonio (Antonio Banderas, whose "gay kiss" in the film prompted front-page headlines in the Brazilian press), and Pablo's efforts to film the life story of his sister (Carmen Maura), who started out life as his brother. - Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide Reviews JONATHAN ROSENBAUM From the Chicago Reader Pedro Almodovar's vibrant treatment of gay life in post-Franco Madrid has a lot to recommend it, but little of this has to do with its contrived plot, which bears a queasy resemblance to the earlier Fatal Attraction and resorts to hackneyed devices such as amnesia. What keeps this 1987 movie alive are the characters: a porn director (Eusebio Poncela); his transsexual sister and onetime brother (the wonderful Carmen Maura), whom he casts as the lead in his stage production of Cocteau's The Human Voice; a devout little girl (Manuela Velasco), whom the sister takes over from her lesbian ex-lover (Bibi Andersen) as her own; the director's working-class lover (Miguel Molina); and the lover's neurotic replacement (Antonio Banderas), who causes all the trouble. It's typical of Almodovar's wit that he casts a man as the little girl's real mother and a woman as her false one. In Spanish with subtitles. NC-17, 97 min CHANNEL 4 FILM Antonio Banderas stars in Pedro Almod�var's gender-jumbling tale of obsessive love. Flamboyant and erotic throughout, a young man's fixation with a promiscuous movie director eventually leads to murder. Almod�var was well established the enfant terrible of Spanish filmmaking by the time Law Of Desire was made, and it wasn't a reputation he was interested in losing. A sexually explicit murder-mystery, an outrageous comedy of errors and finally a tongue-in-cheek evaluation of the power of drama itself, this was the film that announced the director's arrival on the international stage, and it's made with no concession to moderation or conventional good taste. Opening with a vigourous masturbation scene, the plot hangs on a bewildering string of constantly shifting alliances. Antonio (Banderas) is obsessed with porn/theatre director Pablo (Poncela). Pablo's former brother is now his transsexual sister Carmen (Quintero). Also on the scene is Pablo's lover Juan (Molina) and the whole lot of 'em are involved in a staging of Jean Cocteau's 'The Human Voice'. There's a car accident, amnesia, Juan ends up murdered and the police try to pin the rap on a character from the play. It's convoluted and purposefully contrived but Almod�var clearly relishes all the messy contradictions. Like much of his best work it's a mix of high camp and impassioned melodrama and it buzzes with with lust for life - and indeed plain old lust - throughout. Verdict A vivid blend of melodrama, camp and comedy, Law Of Desire ranks among the most enjoyable of Almod�var's films from the 1980s. Awards New Generation Award (win)-Pedro Almod�var -1986 L.A. Film Critics Association |
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| THE LAW OF DESIRE 1986 - Spain - 100 min. - Feature, Color AKA - La Ley del Deseo (Original Foreign title) Director - Pedro Almod�var |
| Genre / Type - Comedy, Gay & Lesbian Films, Sex Comedy Flags - Not For Children, Strong Sexual Content, Violence Keywords - bisexual film-director, homosexual, love, love-letter, love-triangle obsession, romance, sibling, transsexual Themes - Love Triangles Tones - Humorous, Racy, Quirky Set In - Spain Color type - Eastmancolor Produced by - Deseo / Lauren Films Released by - Cinevista DVD Street Date - Feb 2, 2004 Languages - Spanish Subtitles - English Screen Format - Color, WS Aspect Ratio - 1.85:1 (DVD) Studio - Blue Light Features - None Specified Cast Eusebio Poncela -- Pablo Quintero Carmen Maura -- Tina Quintero Antonio Banderas -- Antonio Benitez Miguel Molina -- Juan Bermudez Manuela Velasco -- Ada, Child Bibi Andersen -- Ada, Mother Nacho Martinez -- Dr. Martin Helga Lin� -- Antonio's Mother Fernando Guillen Cuervo -- Policeman, Child Marta Fernandez-Muro -- Groupie/Sergeant Maruchi Leon -- Hermana de Juan Pepe Patatin -- Clerk Angie Gray -- Chica Jose A. Granja -- Impossible Model Agust�n Almod�var -- Abogado |
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