Year:1990
Director: Pedro Almodovar
Country: Spain
Language: Spanish
After a series of black comedies, Spanish director Pedro Almodovar hit international fame with his 1988 Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown. It earned the best Foreign Film Oscar nomination, while being a critical and commercial success. It was also a change for Almodovar, whose films had previously featured bizarre sexual content, gore and other content deemed inappropriate for mainstream Hollywood. The Spaniard appeared to be in full control after Women and could have played it safe in terms of his next project, however he chose to go back to his risque content and helped changed the rating system because of it. The film was not pornographic enough for an X, but was too discerning for an "R", so it was one of the first films to receive an NC-17 rating in the US
Antonio Banderas plays Ricky; an unbalanced but charasmatic former mental patient takes a porn star prisoner named Marina in the hopes of convincing her to marry him. She is very reluctant, so he ties her up. Will this method prove endearing?
This "romantic comedy" is in no way conventional by any means. Almodovar clearly doesn't care about political correctness or the usual cliches, as his main character is shown physically abusing his love interest. Tie Me Up's overarching theme is the irrationality of desire, an imperative that frequently makes its own rules. Ricky and Marina are an interesting case study in amour fou, though clearly not role models by anybody's standard.
Feminists were justifiably appalled by the way Almodovar demonstrates Ricky's behavior, suggesting that it's fine to humiliate and subjugate women if one claims they are motivated by pure passion. I found it hard to find the humour, or the romance, in this picture. Not once did I find myself laughing, although perhaps it is because the comedy was lost in translation. Certainly a unique film that does speak of truth; sometimes the psychopath does get the girl. Some women do seem drawn to abusive people who justify their cruel actions as "out of passion". Nobody should be Ricky, but some are, and some get what they want because of it.
In conclusion, the ending plays out very much like a bizarro Graduate. Tie me Up! Tie Me Down! is a challenging picture that will make sexually inhibited viewers nervous. For some, this may be great fantasy, but it wasn't my cup of tea. Still, it's quite a different vision. I may re-visit it in the near future. 2.5/5
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