Sunday, March 18, 2018

DVD/150: LA LEY DEL DESEO (Law of Desire) (Pedro Almodóvar, 1987)

Here it is, the film that started it all when I saw it thirty years ago...  "A Spanish John Waters" I was assured (along with a free ticket) but I was completely swept away by the sensory overload of Almodóvar's cinematic vision... 


Pablo is a successful film director in 1980s Madrid with a younger lover Juan but doubts his commitment; his main emotional support is his exuberant transsexual sibling Tina - she was once his brother but eloped with their father to Morocco who left Tina after her sex-change.


Tina and Pablo dote on Ada, the young daughter of Tina's absent lesbian lover but their lives are thrown into danger when Pablo picks up a young obsessive fan Antonio.


When Antonio murders Juan, Pablo and Tina face his law of desire...


Excellent performances from Eusebio Poncela and Antonio Banderas are dwarfed by Carmen Maura's stunning, career-defining performance as Tina.


Shelf or charity shop?  One of my favourite films of all time...  as long as I have a shelf, it stays on it.


No comments: