Law of Desire

1987 "An Outrageously Funny Tale of Lust, Passion and Jealousy!"
7.1| 1h42m| NC-17| en
Details

Pablo, a successful film director, disappointed in his relationship with his young lover, Juan, concentrates in a new project, a monologue starring his transgender sister, Tina. Antonio, an uptight young man, falls possessively in love with the director and in his passion would stop at nothing to obtain the object of his desire.

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Reviews

Pluskylang Great Film overall
Listonixio Fresh and Exciting
Limerculer A waste of 90 minutes of my life
Erica Derrick By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.
ma-cortes Offbeat and sensitive melodrama/Thriller about extreme passions , ¨Amor Fou¨ and a killer on lam , being well acted and directed . Good film including interesting drama , colorful cinematography , sensitive score and fine acting by all-Spanish-star-cast . Almodovar successful thriller/drama , including his ordinary rare characters , twisted situations and eccentric events dealing with a writer/director gay and the men who love him , this sexual disorientation jeopardizes his latest project . As it concerns about a couple of siblings , Pablo and Tina , both of whom have complicated sexual existences . Pablo is homosexual and deeply in love with Juan (Micky Molina) , a young man who won't reply to Pablo's affection . Pablo's brother Tina (Carmen Maura) is a transsexual , angry at men , raising Ada (Manuela Velasco) , and attempting to make it as a player . Pablo takes up with Antonio (Antonio Banderas) , Antonio seeks out Juan , and violence leads to Pablo's grief . Then , it takes place a car crash and Pablo temporarily loss of memory . When memory returns , he learns a dark secret . In horror , Pablo takes on a terrible and disgusting finale .Enjoyable film full of feeling , rare characters plenty of desire and love , haunting mood-pieces , emotive as well as outrageous images , and sense of style . The picture deals with off-the-wall/intense drama , family absurdities , superb scenes , a haunting meditation on love with dysfunctional roles and many other things . Here deals with existences of the three peculiar roles : a filmmaker , his angry lover and a transsexual whose fates will flow in all directions , past , present and future , dragging all of them towards an unsuspected finale . This strange as well as excessive melodrama/triller/intrigue movie in Douglas Sirk style could only have been made by Almodovar . The picture is acceptable but turns out to be inferior to his subsequent entries such as or ¨Live flesh¨ , ¨The flower of my secret¨ , ¨High heels¨ , ¨Atame¨ , ¨All about my mother¨, ¨Talk to her¨ , all of them strong and outlandish dramas . The result is undiluted scabrous flick , filled with crazy strings of plots and sharp images with thrilling situations . As usual , in the most from Almodóvar films , he uses Latin-American songs in his movies movies , from Rancheras , Boleros to tangos through Mexican and Cuban boleros , Pedro has a great musical taste . Unforgettable scenes when there takes place a peculiar shower , this iconic hose scene was shot twice , the first one wasn't useful because the pressure was so big that Carmen Maura fell down . The second time the scene was shot perfectly, but Maura had to dub herself because of the water noise . The best images happen on the ending of the movie when Tina and Ada are kidnapped and Pablo hurries to Tina's rescue and must face a murderer on loose . Nice actors give awesome interpretations as Eusebio Poncela playing a stressed writer unsettled by a triangular love story , and Antonio Banderas as a youth who becomes jealous of Pablo's love for Juan , the latter well performed by Miguel Molina . I liked everyone in the excellent cast , and the male and female actors , especially Carmen Maura , were all very attractive . Furthermore , a notorious support cast such as Helga Line , Nacho Martínez , Germán Cobos , Bibiana Fernández and other delightfully played roles . And Fernando Guillén as Police inspector and his assistant played by Fernando Guillén Cuervo are father and son both in movie and in real life . In addition , a lot of cameos with frequent Pedro Almodóvar actors appear briefly such as Rossy De Palma , Marta Fernández Muro and Victoria Abril . As usual in most of Pedro's movies , there is a small role for Agustín Almodóvar, his brother and producer of the film who plays a lawyer and the same Pedro Almodóvar as a shopkeeper . Rousing musical score, including some marvelous songs , these are the followings : ¨No Me Quitte Pas" written by Jacques Brel , performed by Maysa Matarazzo , Los Panchos : "Lo Dudo" ('I doubt it') , 'If you go away' with the sweet voice of Emiliana Torrini , "Guardo Che Luna" composed by G. Malgoni . Pedro chooses this kind of songs , Rancheras , Boleros, tangos , etc. have something in common : They are about tragedies , lost love , betrayal , desire , lust , hate and passion . Colorful and luxurious cinematography by Angel Fernandez who photographed Almodóvar's first films as ¨Dark Habits¨ , ¨What Have I Done to Deserve This?" and ¨Matador¨. This one-of-a-kind picture was realized in his particular style by Pedro Almodovar ; he often uses symbolism and metaphorical techniques to portray circular story lines though here he directs a special melodrama , including his ordinary touches . Almodovar directs throughout with splendid zip and he usually portrays strong female characters and transsexuals and along his career getting some important international prizes . 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. The "Almodóvar phenomenon" has reached all over the world , making his films very popular in many countries . Oscar-winning Spanish director Pedro Almodovar who made successes such as Labyrinth of passions , Women on the verge of a nervous breakdown , Bad education , Broken embraces , The Skin I Live In , Volver and many others . The latest from acclaimed Spanish director , Pedro Almodovar's I'm So Excited , a mediocre comedy.
Red-Barracuda The most significant aspect of The Law of Desire is the fact that it was so accepted in Spain at the time of its release. It was put forward by the authorities as the movie to represent the country in 1987. Bearing in mind that Spain had only come out of a fascist dictatorship not much more than a decade earlier, this simple fact is a testament to how far the country had moved on in such a short period of time. The reason for this is that this is an unashamedly gay themed film, one that celebrates homosexuality and depicts it without issue.The film itself is about a love triangle between three men. Like several other Pedro Almodóvar films it's a melodrama with thriller elements. It features an extremely daring performance by Antonio Banderas in a role where he is required to perform in some full-on gay love scenes. These moments made the film front page news in Spain but it did nothing to stop Banderas subsequent rise to stardom. For me, however, this is a middling movie. It's not amongst the director's best. In my view, its interest lies more in its historical significance as opposed to it's worth as a film.
Spikeopath I once read that Pedro Almodovar wanted to reach out his audience via their hearts, their minds and their genitals, with this, my first experience with the director, he most certainly sticks to his aims. The film opens with a young man masturbating upon the orders of his director, from here on in the tone is set for what is, a bonkers, yet highly entertaining picture.The plot revolves around the sexual adventures of gay director Pablo Quintero and his transsexual sister, Tina, her struggle with men and the duty of bringing up a young daughter who she fathered when she was a he!, still with me?. Into their lives comes Antonio Benitez, he's sexually fascinated with Pablo but gets his nose put out of joint upon learning of Pablo's love of another guy called Juan, things are about to get darkly unnerving.Law Of Desire is stylish and full of tricky eccentricities, it's also very much in your face with its blatant urge to be seedy, however it's backed up by wonderful performances from Antoino Banderas {Benitez}, Carmen Maura {Tina} and Eusebio Poncela {Pablo}, whilst it's director is clearly a talent that was, at this time in his life, making films with attitude and a devil may care spirit. 7/10
tdsergito The story is simply about a love affair intruded upon by a pathologically jealous third party. If somebody in this day and age feels that sexual orientation destroys a career in film, the person who believes such stuff clearly doesn't get out much.I liked the film. I do not ask much of a film, other than it be somehow entertaining, so I cannot pretend to any expertise as a critic. I suspect that many critics simply look for new ways to say they liked or did not like any work they view. If I were not trying to fill ten lines of space, I would stop with the clear and brief comment that I liked the film.In any event, for those who are not of a Victorian mindset and who realize that gay love affairs are no more pathological than any other love affairs, I recommend this movie.The film is not likely to be playing at local theaters, and I am finding it difficult to locate a video or DVD of the movie in Mexico; however, it is worth it to me to see the film again.