Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! (1990)
Directed by Pedro Almodóvar
After being released from a mental hospital, a troubled young man tracks down an actress he once had sex with and forces her into captivity, determined to make her part of his life.
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What critics compared Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! to
Antonio Banderas returns to work with Almodóvar for the first time in over 20-years, since his memorable performance "Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!."
After nearly two decaes, Almodovar reunites with his "Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!" star Antonio Banderas, this time playing prestigious plastic surgeon Dr. Robert Ledgard, who lost his wife in a car fire years earlier and has spent his time since trying to create a synthetic skin.
Antonio Banderas, who last made a film with Almodovar in 1990 (“Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!”), is lifeless as the plastic surgeon obsessed with Vera and providing her with “the best skin in the world.”
Banderas had previously worked with Almodóvar on his notorious Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! (1990), whose X-rating from the MPAA became fodder for controversy (happily fueled by U.S. distributor Miramax) and helped lead to the development of the NC-17.
Strong cast consists largely of Almodovar vets, led by Banderas (reteaming with the director for the first time in the 21 years since "Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!"), who makes Robert a fascinatingly seductive figure even as one recoils from the sick ends to which he takes his special gifts.
Antonio Banderas (in his first film for Almodovar since Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! in 1990) stars as Dr. Robert Ledgard, a plastic surgeon who can only be described as a mad scientist.
It's almost a parody of a foreign film like Pedro Almodovar's excellent Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! (1990), which is all about sex on the surface, but also explores love and trust issues around its sex story and does so with wisdom and humor.
These include “Henry & June” (the first NC-17 title), “Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!,” “Happiness,” “Mysterious Skin,” and, now, “Killer Joe,” an inky dark comedy from director William Friedkin -- who might’ve garnered an NC-17 for “The Exorcist” or “Cruising” if it had existed when he made them.
(The NC-17-rated film arouses the type of controversy that Miramax, back in the late 1980s, would have had a field day with its marketing campaigns, like for Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! and The Cook, the Thief, His Wife, and Her Lover.)
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That said, those unfamiliar with Almodovar's previous films (such as "Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!" and "Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown") may be taken aback by the strong sexual undercurrents and off-kilter sensibilities.
It's not surprising Almodovar's heroines are often actresses, such as the TV personality Carmen Maura played in "Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown" or the jaded second-string star (Victoria Abril) awakened to the possibilities of romance in "Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!".
While my favorite, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown at least has farce to fall back on, both this and Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! (though, esp.
Like the captive heroines of "Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!," "Blue Velvet" and even "Beauty and the Beast," she becomes emotionally involved with her captor.