Politically Incorrect A film where a mentally disturbed man kidnaps and imprisons a woman, threatens her life, in the hope that she will eventually fall in love with him would be morally offensive had it been made by an American of the Republican Party or a member of the NRA. However, this was made by one of the hippest, happening filmmakers in the world, Pedro Almodovar. It's my understanding that Donald Trump flirted with the idea of becoming a filmmaker. Just imagine if Donald Trump had produced or directed this film before going into politics! Hillary Clinton and Elizabeth Warren would have bled from the eyes! Call me crazy, but I think this movie would be viewed far more negatively today.Because of this, we have a film that can be openly enjoyed not only by lovers of edgy cinema, but also by people who dig it because it excuses the treatment of a woman as the rightful property of whatever man acts on his obsession over her. Even a man who has a questionable reputation regarding women, (i.e. Bill Cosby, Bill Clinton, Donald Trump, Islamic true believers} could publicly declare this to be one of their favorite films without fear that women will get angry and judgmental. Well, maybe not Trump. Still, it's a film that can reasonably appeal to the entire political spectrum.This sort of movie may give hope to any man or culture believing that courtship involving kidnapping, tying up and gagging someone is not a disgusting, offensive crime. If you're a woman, try imagining being kidnapped and held prisoner not by the young & handsome Banderas, but by the smelliest, creepiest guy imaginable. A guy who probably lives in a rusty, leaky trailer on a dirt road surrounded by weeds, used tires, junk cars and broken furniture. If you're a man, imagine that woman is your daughter or your wife.SPOILER ALERT! SPOILER ALERT! DON'T READ ANY FURTHER IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE MOVIE AND DON'T WISH TO KNOW THE INCREDIBLE PLOT TWIST! Not only does the mentally disturbed kidnapper eventually have sex with the object of his obsession, it is she who initiates it! If you don't mind the context within the story of the film, it's a beautifully erotic scene. I like the look of pleased surprise that came over Banderas face when she started kissing him. Despite his wishful thinking when he kidnapped and bound the woman, even threatened her with bodily harm and death, he clearly did not expect her to become so sexually aggressive! But the happy ending doesn't stop there! She not only accepts him as her mate, her sister happily accepts him as a new member of the family! Maybe she wants sex with him too!

a-tsitsos After watching Almodovar's Atame i stood a little bit and had some thoughts about what i saw(something that happens almost every Almodovar film).The way that Almodovar tells he story is brilliant.Banderas's role makes the viewer that the plot will be evolve into a triller rather than a romance comedy.Almodovar once again chooses a female for the lead and once more he succeeds serving the action around his characters.The plot is such a unique story about a psychological ill man who loves madly an ex-porn star and kidnaps her,tying her down in her own apartment.He wants her to love him,but his sometimes violent methods seem that he won't complete his goal,but then there's the plot twist.Almodovar,whose movies are a mean of shocking the after Franco Spain,does indeed shock again.People in the time that the movie was realized didn't have used to live in a free Spain so the ignored some of their personal rights.Almodovar helps them to know their rights and respect the different.In this movie you get to know about real feelings,love and how it can be grown in the most odd places,in the oddest situations.Ricky evolves from an violent former mental patient into a love subject.Marina evolves from a ex porn star now on her zenith of fame into an understanding lovely woman who after many pleasures gets to know true love.Another funny element is Almodovar's alter ego the director of the movie Marina stars in.It is said from the director himself that he is a director of women so does Almodovar.Although it might not be Almodovar's best it is certainly a have to watch.I personally had a great time watching the movie.I don't believe that only Almodovar's fans watch this film as it is not his most shocking of his career(not like La mala Educacion,The Skin I Live In).A beautiful movie whose happy ending leaves you a sweet taste for tomorrow.

Paul Du Charme III Pedro Almodóvar creates an interesting film to add to the romantic comedy category. One is led to believe that this film is not a comedy until various plot devices reveal just how far Ricky (Antonio Banderas) is willing to go to capture the heart of Marina (Victoria Abril). Different perhaps from other films from Almodóvar, is the female centered plot. This time it is shared between both male and female. Ricky is released from a mental institute with various handyman skills that prove useful in his pursuit of Marina. Marina is a former porn star and drug addict. These two have met once before the story's events. After a short trip to the set in which Marina works, Ricky witnesses what should have been the end of the film being shot. It can then be inferred that Ricky is not the only one with an obsession with Marina, but also the director of the film being shot in the movie. Quickly after, Ricky quickly sets out to work on getting Marina to love him by giving her the chance to understand him. He makes his way into her apartment and ties her up. While Marina is relatively helpless against Ricky, being physically tied up, she has also tied Ricky up emotionally as he can think of nothing else but her. Perhaps not heartwarming in the soft sense, but his dedication and determination is something to be noted.

Graham Greene A love story with strings attached; Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! (1990) is without question Almodóvar's most unconventional romance to date, expressing a number of themes that seem to continually contradict one another, while still managing to offer the usual ideas of meta-fiction and narrative self-reflexivity that Almodóvar's work is noted for. The film is also worth seeing for the subtle way in which the director develops and extends upon recognisable elements from his previous films, Matador (1987) and The Law of Desire (1987) - both of which focus on the ideas of obsession and domination within the context of an unconventional relationship - but extends upon these issues with a kind of manic, melodramatic kitsch that can be seen in the directly preceding Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (1988) and the subsequent Kika (1993). Like Kika, the film would become one of Almodóvar's most derisive and controversial projects - particularly in the US - and although the presentation is often tamer than one might expect, the film nonetheless attempts to provoke the audience through a continual contrast of violence and tender sensuality, and the various other issues that the characters convey.When your story revolves around a recently released mental patient kidnapping a recovering junkie porn actress in an attempt to make her fall in love with him through a combination of physical force and psychological manipulation, we know that certain elements are going to push the audience further than we might normally expect. However, in light of this, it is surprising how natural Almodóvar manages to make this bizarre relationship, creating a tone, both visually and thematically, that works in establishing this skewed, off-kilter world and the multifaceted complexities of his characters. If you keep in mind that the film is intended as farce - with the bold stylisations, larger-than-life characters and Almodóvar's great sense of musicality when it comes to the pitch, tone and energy of his performances - then you should be able to appreciate the film for what it is and what it is trying to achieve. On the one hand it is an incredibly entertaining film, with the great sparring between the two central protagonists and a veritable ensemble of larger than life supporting characters, including the legendary Francisco Rabal as a lascivious, wheelchair-bound film director focusing his creative energies into a final masterpiece, a sleazy epic about dangerous desires, lust and obsession (sound familiar?), but it is also an extremely thought-provoking and compelling piece of work that is open to deeper interpretations.The dynamics within the relationship are nicely structured, with the character of Ricky initially standing out as a two-dimensional crazy person who is compelled to form a relationship with Marina after the couple shared a passionate one night stand almost a year before. The fact that Marina is able to cope with the situation, eventually taking the position of power, ultimately says a great deal about both of these characters, their lives and their back stories, and how the ending of the film could hold some kind of dramatic weight, even in light of its central abstractions. It helps that the performances from Banderas and Abril are as spirited and committed as they are; with both characters capturing that sense of confidence and strength punctuated by loneliness and a subtle fragility. Seeing work like Women on the Verge..., Kika and the film in question, you wonder why Almodóvar never made a full blown musical (what with those great big, theatrical sets, overwhelming Technicolor and sweeping crane shots). You can see these influences in much of his work, but instead of allowing the elements to explode into a wild collage of opulent self-indulgence (like the first half of Kika), the director manages to instead anchor the film to the personalities of his characters, their dynamics and relationship, and the complex interplay that will eventually develop between them.Long time viewers of Almodóvar's work will immediately recognise the self-referential nature of the story, with the "film-within-a-film" aspect apparent right from the very start, with that continual Almodóvar-like framing devise, wherein the story within the film becomes a comment on the story itself. Alongside this central design we also have the character as a performer, an actress in this case, and a secondary character who is both an artist and delusional. As a result, we never quite know who to trust as the film progresses from one wild extreme to the next; with Almodóvar's always interesting directorial quirks and eccentricities creating an odd tone that can be seen as part crime thriller, part kinky sex comedy. Again, this style is well suited to the director's work and can be seen in everything from Matador, The Law of Desire and the acclaimed Live Flesh (1997). Though it has clearly proved to be problematic for many viewers (judging from the plethora of negative reviews listed online), I'd have to argue in its defence. For me, Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! is a great deal of fun; provocative certainly, with the continual contrast between violence and sensuality, humour and terror, but also filled with the usual wit, flair, depth and imagination that we've come to expect from the director and his work.