Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! (1990)

It is really weird how a film with such a funny and silly (as it seems at first) plot can generate so much emotion. This is the characteristic of all Pedro Almodovar films anyway. “Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!” is not one of his masterpieces but there are two things I’d like to keep;.

The first is the reply of the director of a film (in the movie), to the remark that his film is more a love story than a horror film: “It is hard to tell them apart”! How true!

The second is the closing song of the film, “Resistiré“, which is one of the main dimensions of the film and I liked so much, that its translated lyrics follow:

When I loose all the games
When I sleep in the arms of solitude
When I find there’s no way out
And night won’t let me rest

When silence frightens me
When I no longer stand on my feet
When memories rebel
And push me against the wall

I will resist, to keep on living
I will into iron to toughen my skin
And even if the winds of life blow harder
I;ll be like the reed that bends
but does not break

I will resist, to continue living
I’ ll endure the bumps and never give up
And although my dreams are broken into pieces

I will resist, I will resist …

The Skin I Live In (2011)

 It’s being two weeks since I’ve seen this film. It’s being almost two years since I started this blog because of another Almadovar film! Yet, there were so many things that were unanswered in my mind about it. Things that kept me from writing this post, till now.

This film may be considered as being … two films! The first one, is the obvious story unfolding before our eyes as the plot progresses. Pedro Almodóvar is a master in surprises, guaranteeing that beneath the surface that we see, there are things we hardly expect to find. Actually, by contemplating the totally unexpected, one may find himself close to the director’s vision! There is an excellent setup, justifying the motives and actions of the film’s heroes. Situations that one is totally unaware of, actions that have an enormous and unexpected impact in the lives of people involved, disproportional prices to be paid… Just seeing the first level of the film, is a rewarding experience. One may think that it is nothing more than a tale on vengeance. There are some questions emerging however… The end of the film is one of them.

The second film is an allegory, the true meaning building on the presented story. This is presented below. In my humble opinion, one must see the film first and contemplate on it for some time before proceeding with the post 🙂 The rating is at the end.

Broken Embraces (2009)

It is really funny: Pedro Almodóvar was not of my favorite directors. Although I did enjoy the movies I’ve seen because of their anarchic approach and exaggeration of human figures, after a couple of days, it was hard  for me to remember the movie as a whole. Was I missing the main idea? May be. “Broken embraces” is however a different movie. The funny thing is that it triggered me to start writing this blog.

One will find in the movie the “usual” Almodóvar hilarious discussions between its characters :). But this is not the strong point of the movie. This movie really touched me for several reasons. It is a movie about love and obsession which takes away love’s very essence. About people and passion. About misconceptions and misunderstandings. About the truth, which when revealed, is healing people. About having in life a second chance when one thinks everything is lost. A well written story, like a thriller, a puzzle which reveals its parts, its links and dependencies along the way, doing so in a majestic way, without getting the spectator tired of the back-and-forth in time.

What may I say about the film’s photography? There are scenes that may stand alone as photographs, as paintings. Well, I did admire those…

I enjoyed every actor’s performance. But Blanca Portillo was really amazing.
From another point of view, it is a movie which partially talks about a movie! Who knows if Douglas Hofstadter is a movie fan: if he is, may be he would put in GEB another section about movies addressing the concept of recursion!

But do not let this last comment put you off-track :). If you have not seen the movie, do see it! Hope you’ll enjoy it as much as I did!

My rating: 10/10