Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!
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Movie Reviews of Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!
Movie Review: Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!
Summary: 3 Stars
Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! (¡Átame!) is one of the two movies by renown director Pedro Almodóvar (the other being Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown) that got wide attention in the US, albeit in the art house scene. Nothing since Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! (made in 1990) has gotten nearly as much attention, despite several efforts since than by Almodóvar. Both movies have a similar style, but Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! is a bit more disturbing as it revolves around a kidnapping.Marina Osorio (Victoria Abril) is a former porn actor and junkie trying to make a more respectable living as a B movie actor. Ricky (Antonio Banderas), is a troubled youth who has just been released from a mental institution where he had spent the last several years due to his constant running away from orphanages and reform schools. Somehow Ricky has decided that Marina is his future wife and after some very lame attempts to get her attention on the set of her new movie, decides to break into her apartment and "kidnap" her until she is convinced to love him as he does her.
This seems somewhat straightforward, but most would assume that this would be a terror-filled, disturbing film about stalkers and people who's reality is warped. It is disturbing, but not for those reasons, but rather for its very light-hearted atmosphere and slapstick comedy in the face of this rather serious situation. One might call it a black comedy, but the mood is generally so light, that a better term might be "gray comedy." Marina, though occasionally showing some terror, seems more angry and annoyed at being tied up and kept captive than in fear for her life. One thing ran through my mind when watching this - that quote from Die Hard with the expert commentator on the news talking about how kidnapped victims sometimes go through the "Helsinki Syndrom" and start empathizing with their captors. Well, it does not take all that long for Ricky to actually convince Marina to love him. This again, leads to the very light-hearted and surreal nature of the film, and everything in the film seems to have this quality, almost as if what is happening is not real, but being acted on stage. This relates to the film that Marina is acting in at the beginning of this movie, where likewise, everything is pretty fantastic and unreal.
Other than the shear oddity of this film, the main other noteworthy quality seems to be in its steamy sex scenes with Abril and Bandaras. The film actually got an NC-17 rating due to this, which shows the hypocrisy of the MPAA which gives incredibly violent films like Saving Private Ryan an R, but because of a little sexual content will brand a film with NC-17 and make it hard to sell at the box office in most communities.
The DVD is lackluster, containing no special features except for a Trailer. The anamorphic transfer is a good one, very clear with vibrant colors. The audio is the original mono Spanish and is very clear for a mono soundtrack.
If you are a fan of the offbeat, you may enjoy this film for the shear "different" quality it has compared to most mainstream movies, but its light treatment of very disturbing theme may be too much for others.
Movie Review: LIGHT
Summary: 3 Stars
Light light, Imeans I've seen better. I love Almodovar's movies but this one is yes...light! The good great best point of it is Victoria Abril, Pedro's Muse!? She is hot hot hot!!! She's a porn star who is kidnapped by a fan, and she finally loves loves loves him because of the Stocklom syndrome? Some scenes are really good so that makes the film a soft porno movie! But please they could have thought of anything hotter than Banderas!
>>> Nely
Movie Review: bizarre comedy that recommends an unorthodox way to fall in love
Summary: 3 Stars
This is the story of a mental patient who happens to be a hunk (a very young Banderas), who attempts to use an original method to get a b-film star to fall for him: abducting and then tieing her up. It isn't all that funny if you ask me, but it is well acted and interesting in spots. Really a strange drama. Almodar's later dramas are infinitely superior.Movie Review: Unsophisticated-- primitive desperation as romance for clods
Summary: 1 Stars
I found nothing whatsoever sympathetic about Ricky. His pathetic view of romance is the same as the highschool kids that jump off a cliff together. Her view of the romance was pity for that pathetic. Disturbed individuals will see this validating their own twisted view of romance, not a behaviour to encourage. The story is essentially "The Collector" (1965) with a "they all live happily ever after" ending. Modern cave-man still drags his mate off by the hair, and you all go "oh, isn't that romantic." "The Taming of the Shrew," or "Zandy's Bride," are far better "battle of the wits," romances, if that's how you prefer to define it. This was simply the battle of the witless...Movie Review: Misogynistic Garbage
Summary: 1 Stars
Unfunny and ridiculous plot glorifies disgusting behavior such as drug abuse and violence toward women. Lame attempts at humor fail - are we to believe the woman would fall in love with her attacker and live happily ever after? Come on, the only thing they got right was rating it NC-17. Calling itself a comedy does not a comedy make. There are plenty of other far superior Antonio Banderas films to watch. The single great thing about this film - the amazing Penelope Cruz credits it to what motivated her to become an actress.