An unbalanced but alluring former mental patient takes a porn star prisoner in the hopes of convincing her to marry him.An unbalanced but alluring former mental patient takes a porn star prisoner in the hopes of convincing her to marry him.An unbalanced but alluring former mental patient takes a porn star prisoner in the hopes of convincing her to marry him.
- Awards
- 8 wins & 19 nominations
Loles León
- Lola
- (as Loles Leon)
María Barranco
- Berta
- (as Maria Barranco)
Montse García Romeu
- Montse
- (as Montse G. Romeu)
Alberto Fernández
- Productor
- (as Alberto Fernandez)
José María Tasso
- Anciano Psiquiátrico
- (as Jose Maria Tasso)
Virginia Díez
- Bailarín Tango
- (as Virginia Diez)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe sex scene between Ricky (Antonio Banderas) and Marina (Victoria Abril) took nine takes to get right and about nine hours to film. Pedro Almodóvar chose to use the ninth and last take as, by that time, the two actors had worked themselves up into a sweat, making the scene appear to be even more authentic. Elia Kazan later remarked that he thought it was one of the best sex scenes in a film that he had ever witnessed.
- GoofsWhen Ricky accepts the offer to take Marina out to search for painkillers for her toothache, she puts on a tiny white dress that only goes down to the tops of her thighs and only just barely conceals her crotch and buttocks in order to cover her completely naked body underneath it. When they both return to Marina's apartment, she takes off the dress, but now she is naked except for a pair of white panties that were not there before.
Featured review
Gloriously Beautiful
An unbalanced but alluring former mental patient (Antonio Banderas) takes a porn star (Victoria Abril) prisoner in the hopes of convincing her to marry him.
How can anyone deny the beautiful, almost dreamlike use of color in this film? Trying to find anything comparable is a challenge. The musicals of Jacques Demy? No, not even those.
"Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!" comes from a strong pedigree, as it follows in the myth of Beauty and the Beast and the notion that the savagery of the Beast is, in the presence of Beauty, tamed by gentler feelings. This has been a recurrent theme in films like "King Kong", "Frankenstein" and "Tarzan the Ape Man". Some have even drawn parallels to "Seven Brides For Seven Brothers" in that kidnapping can lead to romance.
The soundtrack was composed by Ennio Morricone in the style of a thriller and is reminiscent of Bernard Herrmann's score for Alfred Hitchcock's "Psycho". This music changes the whole tone. Some consider the film a "dark romantic comedy" and others even say there is a hint of horror in there. Much of the mood relies on the music -- with a lighter tone, this could just be an "offbeat" romantic comedy and not a "dark" one -- there is very little about the film that is dark besides the music.
How can anyone deny the beautiful, almost dreamlike use of color in this film? Trying to find anything comparable is a challenge. The musicals of Jacques Demy? No, not even those.
"Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!" comes from a strong pedigree, as it follows in the myth of Beauty and the Beast and the notion that the savagery of the Beast is, in the presence of Beauty, tamed by gentler feelings. This has been a recurrent theme in films like "King Kong", "Frankenstein" and "Tarzan the Ape Man". Some have even drawn parallels to "Seven Brides For Seven Brothers" in that kidnapping can lead to romance.
The soundtrack was composed by Ennio Morricone in the style of a thriller and is reminiscent of Bernard Herrmann's score for Alfred Hitchcock's "Psycho". This music changes the whole tone. Some consider the film a "dark romantic comedy" and others even say there is a hint of horror in there. Much of the mood relies on the music -- with a lighter tone, this could just be an "offbeat" romantic comedy and not a "dark" one -- there is very little about the film that is dark besides the music.
helpful•91
- gavin6942
- Sep 20, 2014
Details
Box office
- Gross US & Canada
- $4,087,361
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $65,299
- May 6, 1990
- Gross worldwide
- $4,089,145
- Runtime1 hour 41 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content