ĦAtame!

 (Spain)

By VARIETY STAFF

El Deseo. Director Pedro Almodovar; Producer Agustin Almodovar (exec.); Writer Pedro Almodovar; Camera Jose Luis Alcaine Editor Jose Salcedo; Music Ennio Morricone Art Ferran Sanchez
 
Victoria Abril
Antonio Banderas
Loles Leon
Julieta Serrano
Francisco Rabal
Rossy de Palma
 

In contrast to Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, this film harks back to Pedro Almodovar's earlier features where sexuality was a central theme. He has moved away from sight gags, shock tactics and glamorized kitsch, which have been molded into a subtler narrative.

Yarn concerns Ricki (Antonio Banderas), a 23-year-old man who is released from a mental institution. He sees a picture of Marina (Victoria Abril) in a film buff magazine. She is a hooker and porno actress he once paid to spend a night with, and Ricki decides to marry her.

Ricki forces his way into her apartment and declares his intentions. After a scuffle, he decides to tie her to the bed, certain that she will learn to love him. The relationship between the protagonists gradually shifts from that of captor and captured to lovers. Meanwhile, the elderly porno film director, who is confined to a wheelchair, teams up with Marina's sister Lola (Loles Leon) to try and find the missing thesp.

Almodovar's inventive direction, superb lensing by Jose Luis Alcaine, a fine score by Ennio Morricone and top technical credits make pic a pleasure to watch. The film has the same Spanish framework as its predecessors, reflecting the modern, amoral, sex and drug culture of modern Madrid, intertwined with long-entrenched religious and social values. Abril and Banderas are compelling to watch as the central couple.

(Color) Available on VHS, DVD. Extract of a review from 1990. Running time: 101 MIN.