Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! , deals with a deranged former mental patient , Ricky (Antonio Banderas) takes a soft-porn star prisoner , Marina (Victoria Abril , Almodovar's regular) , in the hopes of convincing her to marry him. But Marina , addictive in all things , soon becomes willing accomplice in Ricky's fantasies . A love story...with strings attached!
Pedro Almodóvar brings us a very mixed bag of outlandish characters , rapid dialogs , and absurd situations on a luxury flat and at a shooting , including R-rated sex scenes . Almodovar goes back to the darkest terrain of ¨Law of Desire¨ , concentrating on the relationship between soft-porn actress Marina and two men who attempt to control her . The more benign is her director -nicely played by veteran Francisco Rabal- in the movie-within-the movie , a genial , wheelchair-bound obsessive who leaves romantic messages on her answering machine and beguiles his lonely hours watching her masturbate on video . Austerily enjoyable and brightly colored film that contains wisted comedy , drama , thrills , chills , and haunting resultings . It can be very funny and very dramatic at the same time , so it was the perfect combination for me . In this peculiar flick Almodóvar established again his uniquely poetic and visually striking style . Almodovar turns a standard hostage thriller into a grim examination of the power games implicit in a couple , including Stockholm Syndrome . The story is not massively strong , but it is not bad either , as Almodóvar strings a few o different threads together and that , along with tension and skin going on throughout tends to ensure the movie is always interesting and thrilling . There are several naughty sex scenes and others really masochist as sadistic , as he kidnaps her in her apartment , beats her up while he goes out to score drugs for her . Resulting to a very black comedy in the vein of Buñuel's ¨Belle de Jour¨ or subsequent ¨The Skin I Live In¨ (2011) by Almodovar himself and worthy the comparison. Almodovar withholds all comment , and many will hate his refusal to moralise , others will relish to opportunity to think for themselves . The performance is also standout element of the film . As main cast is pretty good , excels a young Antonio Banderas as the unbalanced but alluring ex-patient who has spent the better part of his life in a psychiatric facility , and Victoria Abril as the tarnished actress who's pursued with pathological obsession . Along with customary actors from Almodovar factory's : Loles León , María Barranco , Rossy de Palma , Julieta Serrano and various familiar Spanish faces , such as : Lola Cardona , Emiliano Redondo , Jose Maria Tasso , Manuel Bandera , among others.
Luxurious and colorful cinematography by the prestigious cameraman José Luis Alcaine . The music by Oscar winner Ennio Morricone , is very good in which it fits the style and feeling of the film . The motion picture was realized in his peculiar style by Pedro Almodovar ; he often uses symbolism and metaphorical techniques to portray circular story lines , though here he directs a special dramedy , including his ordinary touches . Oscar-winning Spanish auteur Pedro Almodovar has made a name for himself with a series of unabashedly melodramatic titles , mixing comedy, drama, sex and violence , getting great successes . The openly homosexual director has shown an affinity for oddballs and outsiders, populating his films with transvestites and all of whom had previously been relegated to the closet. Almodovar directs throughout with splendid zip and he usually portrays strong female characters , gays and transexuals along his life , winning some important international prizes . He also showed a talent for working with women, and throughout his 40 year career has placed notorious actresses such as Penelope Cruz , Marisa Paredes or Victoria Abril . 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. Almodovar subsequently made other hits , such as : Labyrinth of passions , Law of desire , Women on the verge of a nervous breakdown , Bad education , All about my mother , Talk to her , Broken embraces , The Skin I Live In and many others . The "Almodóvar phenomenon" has reached all over the world , making his films very popular in many countries .
Pedro Almodóvar brings us a very mixed bag of outlandish characters , rapid dialogs , and absurd situations on a luxury flat and at a shooting , including R-rated sex scenes . Almodovar goes back to the darkest terrain of ¨Law of Desire¨ , concentrating on the relationship between soft-porn actress Marina and two men who attempt to control her . The more benign is her director -nicely played by veteran Francisco Rabal- in the movie-within-the movie , a genial , wheelchair-bound obsessive who leaves romantic messages on her answering machine and beguiles his lonely hours watching her masturbate on video . Austerily enjoyable and brightly colored film that contains wisted comedy , drama , thrills , chills , and haunting resultings . It can be very funny and very dramatic at the same time , so it was the perfect combination for me . In this peculiar flick Almodóvar established again his uniquely poetic and visually striking style . Almodovar turns a standard hostage thriller into a grim examination of the power games implicit in a couple , including Stockholm Syndrome . The story is not massively strong , but it is not bad either , as Almodóvar strings a few o different threads together and that , along with tension and skin going on throughout tends to ensure the movie is always interesting and thrilling . There are several naughty sex scenes and others really masochist as sadistic , as he kidnaps her in her apartment , beats her up while he goes out to score drugs for her . Resulting to a very black comedy in the vein of Buñuel's ¨Belle de Jour¨ or subsequent ¨The Skin I Live In¨ (2011) by Almodovar himself and worthy the comparison. Almodovar withholds all comment , and many will hate his refusal to moralise , others will relish to opportunity to think for themselves . The performance is also standout element of the film . As main cast is pretty good , excels a young Antonio Banderas as the unbalanced but alluring ex-patient who has spent the better part of his life in a psychiatric facility , and Victoria Abril as the tarnished actress who's pursued with pathological obsession . Along with customary actors from Almodovar factory's : Loles León , María Barranco , Rossy de Palma , Julieta Serrano and various familiar Spanish faces , such as : Lola Cardona , Emiliano Redondo , Jose Maria Tasso , Manuel Bandera , among others.
Luxurious and colorful cinematography by the prestigious cameraman José Luis Alcaine . The music by Oscar winner Ennio Morricone , is very good in which it fits the style and feeling of the film . The motion picture was realized in his peculiar style by Pedro Almodovar ; he often uses symbolism and metaphorical techniques to portray circular story lines , though here he directs a special dramedy , including his ordinary touches . Oscar-winning Spanish auteur Pedro Almodovar has made a name for himself with a series of unabashedly melodramatic titles , mixing comedy, drama, sex and violence , getting great successes . The openly homosexual director has shown an affinity for oddballs and outsiders, populating his films with transvestites and all of whom had previously been relegated to the closet. Almodovar directs throughout with splendid zip and he usually portrays strong female characters , gays and transexuals along his life , winning some important international prizes . He also showed a talent for working with women, and throughout his 40 year career has placed notorious actresses such as Penelope Cruz , Marisa Paredes or Victoria Abril . 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. Almodovar subsequently made other hits , such as : Labyrinth of passions , Law of desire , Women on the verge of a nervous breakdown , Bad education , All about my mother , Talk to her , Broken embraces , The Skin I Live In and many others . The "Almodóvar phenomenon" has reached all over the world , making his films very popular in many countries .