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Rating: 7 stars

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All movies seen on 01/24/2020

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Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! (1989)

Directed by Pedro Almodóvar

Drama | Romance | Crime

Most recently watched by lordofthemovies

Overview

Recently released from a mental hospital, Ricky ties up Marina, a film star he once had sex with and keeps her hostage.

Rated NC-17 | Length 102 minutes

Actors

Victoria Abril | Antonio Banderas | Loles León | María Barranco | Rossy de Palma | Julieta Serrano | Francisco Rabal | Lola Cardona | Montse G. Romeu | Emiliano Redondo | Oswaldo Delgado | Concha Rabal | Alberto Fernández | José María Tasso | Angelina Llongueras | Manuel Bandera | Virginia Díez | Juana Cordero | Francisca Caballero | Francisca Pajuelo | Víctor Coyote | Carlos García Cambero | Alito Rodgers | Tamaki | Malena Gracia | Agustín Almodóvar | Rodolfo Montero | Miguel García | Pedro Losada

Viewing History (seen 1 time)

Viewing Notes

Already in two films I’ve seen this year 30 years apart I’ve noticed similarities in Almodovar’s style/set dressing. I’m eager to view more of his films now to see if these carry over (can’t recall from the other films of his that I’ve seen).

It’s very cool that this was released by Criterion. By all accounts this was the film that really put Antonio Banderas on the map. This is what I gather from the interview between him and Almodovar in the supplements. I believe this is the youngest I’ve seen Banderas in a film (29 years old at the time). He’s really good as the slightly bent stalker/kidnapper playing against a terrific Victoria Abril who was 30yo at the time of release tho she’s playing older than him in the film (he’s 23 in the movie).

Usually these types of storylines where the guy stalks the woman and forces her to like him are too skeevy for my tastes (like the one I viewed the other day ‘Ekk Deewana Tha’ that also involved filmmaking!). This movie I’m more inclined to give a slight pass b/c the kidnapper is fresh out of a mental institution (happens in the first 5 minutes or so) and he’s not altogether right in his head. He’s been obsessed with a porn actress and wants to make her his wife and knows that she will fall for him if she only gets to know him.

Labeled as a dark comedy I don’t find much humor in this but I do feel the romance by way of Stockholm Syndrome and woman who needs a life change falling for this strange man. Somehow it works and becomes something rather charming. It’s wild this was given an X-Rating when it was handed to MPAA in 1990 for US distribution. Ultimately it was rated NC-17 being one of the movies that led to that rating. This I read in the liner notes (the included booklet is very good). But the nudity/sex isn’t any more provocative than what we saw in the 70s or even today. Maybe it’s more suggestive viewing two people have sex which is quite titillating but quite soft overall.

I like that the movie being made in the film is a horror flick and very giallo. Almodovar said he always wanted to make a b-movie a la Roger Corman (I LOVE that he cites Corman as an influence) and this was one way to do that; putting that film into another film. There are a lot of toys / action figures on display including an entire row of He-Man figures. Fast forward to PAIN AND GLORY and you see a whole lot of Bearbricks. I dig that he’s into these trinkets kinda like the Spanish brother to Mexico’s Guillermo del Toro.

There is an extra of the cast singing “Resistiré” (“I will resist” a Spanish song featured in the movie) during the premiere in Madrid in 1989. It is so fucking great. First, Banderas is awesome. Second, it’s great they have a consumer cam in the limo to the premiere showing them singing then cut to the cast on stage in front of the audience singing. I love seeing 29yo Banderas having the time of his life.

Of course this movie is not available streaming (maybe on the Criterion Channel?) but I wouldn’t mind owning it to dig into more of the features and absorb more the film.

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