The Worst Film Ever

i must have seen a different film!!

It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties. It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

I guess that most people will know what they are letting themselves into. And I say this, because this movie was shown at the Berlin Film Festival this year (2010) as retrospective. I didn't know anything about the story and was quite surprised by the beginning of the movie. And I can tell you, that I'm sure that quite a few people who watch mainstream movies would have walked out of this movie, if they were in this ... but as I said, many most have known.Apart from a few walk-outs, most people stayed (maybe the even knew the movie, because they had seen it before?). And it changes pace after that "offensive" beginning (thankfully) and becomes more of a personal story. One with many weird and quirky characters. All portrayed very nicely by the actors. And while quite a few scenes have visual or dialog highlights, the movie itself seems to have dated.It's not only the predictability of the plot, but while the weird mannerisms of the characters are nice, they also tend to obnoxious at times too. As one of the first movies Almodovar made, this is pretty solid, but it won't be everyones taste (not that his newer movies are ... just saying)

I once read that Pedro Almodovar wanted to reach out his audience via their hearts, their minds and their genitals, with this, my first experience with the director, he most certainly sticks to his aims. The film opens with a young man masturbating upon the orders of his director, from here on in the tone is set for what is, a bonkers, yet highly entertaining picture.The plot revolves around the sexual adventures of gay director Pablo Quintero and his transsexual sister, Tina, her struggle with men and the duty of bringing up a young daughter who she fathered when she was a he!, still with me?. Into their lives comes Antonio Benitez, he's sexually fascinated with Pablo but gets his nose put out of joint upon learning of Pablo's love of another guy called Juan, things are about to get darkly unnerving.Law Of Desire is stylish and full of tricky eccentricities, it's also very much in your face with its blatant urge to be seedy, however it's backed up by wonderful performances from Antoino Banderas {Benitez}, Carmen Maura {Tina} and Eusebio Poncela {Pablo}, whilst it's director is clearly a talent that was, at this time in his life, making films with attitude and a devil may care spirit. 7/10

In what has now customarily become known as the New Queer Cinema, Almodovar's "Law of Desire" must be seen as a landmark film. Opening with a naked man masturbating and being guided through the motions by the disembodied voice of 'the director', this turns out to be something of a red-herring, though it does establish that the film's central character is a director, (Almodovar?), and that he is gay. What follows is a teasing Hitchcockain menage-a-trois murder yarn, (not mystery), in which the homosexuality of the protagonists is very much to the fore and is hardly seen as 'an issue', (a major breakthrough in what was a mainstream Spanish movie of its day). Indeed "Law of Desire" was the film which really established Almodovar internationally and while gay-themed movies were finally making their mark in 1987 few were quite as explicitly erotic or as pleasurably in-your-face as this.Its cast was largely made up of what only be described as players from Almodovar's stock company and in a fine cast Antonio Banderas and Carmen Maura are the stand-outs; he as a pathologically disturbed 'fan' whose obsession with Eusebio Puncela's director leads to murder and she as the director's transsexual 'sister', a deliriously giddy performance and yet played mostly 'straight' by Maura.If not quite as deep as Almodovar's later movies there is nevertheless much to enjoy here, (and although dealing with tragic issues Almodovar teases out the black comedy for all its worth). Now, of course, a great deal of the fun is in slotting the film into the Almodovar canon and seeing exactly where it fits in relation to the movies that followed it.

Outrageous, extremely enjoyable, over-the-top melodrama about a straight psychopath (Antonio Banderas) prepared to go gay to further his career with a homosexual film director (Eusebio Poncela). A feast of familiar faces for anyone familiar with Almodovar's career. Carmen Maura as the director's transsexual sister, happily dispensing cocaine to hospital patients, knocking out policemen and engaging in the in-scene to end all in-scenes with the beautiful Bibiana Fernandez, the mother of her adopted daughter, when anyone in the know would recognize Fernandez as Spain's most famous transsexual in real life! About halfway through, Almodovar's loopiness slips into high gear and the laughs come thick and fast. Just don't expect too much believability towards the end. Interesting to see so many faces from Almodovar's pitch-black comedy Matador, made the previous year and in this viewer's opinion far superior. Still, Law of Desire is too way over the top not to be enjoyable. Just don't throw your popcorn at the screen.