Tie
Me Up Tie Me Down (1990)
(aka
Atame!)
Pedro Almodovar's film of bondage and heterosexuality
is hardly perverse at all. Maybe the passage of a few
short years has demurred the level of indecency in the
film, but I don't think so. It's hard to believe that
this rather mild film raised so much ire back in the
day, not because of it's misogyny but rather because
of it's supposed perversity. The film has really only
one mildly shocking moment and that's when Victoria
Abril, as supposed former porn star Marina, uses a toy
scuba diver in the bathtub to do a little muff diving.
Nothing in the relationship she has with newly released
mental patient Ricky (Antonio Banderas) is as downright
kinky as that.
Instead, Banderas ties her up much as he would a kidnap
victim, which is what she is. The film isn't kinky at
all, rather it's an odd societal study of male/female
relationships. It is more likely to cause debate over
whether women like to be treated as "victims" or "hostages"
or equal partners in heterosexual relationships. This
is doubly profound coming from a director who hails
from a nation where machismo is everything.
Banderas is pretty good here as a man who kidnaps
a porn star to "make her fall in love with him." The
plot, which Almodovar really doesn't want to dwell on,
tells us little enough about him or her. I supposed
it important that he is a orphan mistreated by the system
and she is a porn actress trying to go legit in the
movies. Is Almodovar saying all men are crazy when it
comes to love? Is he saying all females are whores who
are "forced" by society to be good girls? Is this supposed
to be an analogy of the archetypal Spanish courtship
where a man must "force" a woman to fall in love with
him by becoming her master? Her keeper?
Almodovar gives us few answers. His film simply is.
On the helpful side, he gives us a sister to Marina,
played by Loles Leon, who looks after her sibling and
even accepts Banderas when she is sure it is what her
sister wants. (Only, as is so truthful, to further confuse
the girl) On the less than helpful side, Almodovar throws
in a subpolt involving a director (Francisco Rabal)
who is enchanted with Marina but who is so old he cannot
"pursue" and "tame" her. This is a bit confusing as
one wonders if he is a "father" figure (too Freudian
to even begin to discuss) or if he is simply "fate."
The acting here is top notch even if we don't get
all of the implications here. Abril is equally sassy
and sexy as Marina. Her feelings for Ricky go all over
the map and Abril is as adept at one end of the spectrum
as she is the other. Banderas, likewise, is both frightening
and sexy. There is danger here and it is never more
alluring than when Banderas puts on a long-haired wig
and becomes some sort of demented rock star wannabee.
He is obviously living in a dream world and, like moths
to a flame, we are lured into it as is Marina.
The most wonderful aspect of the film, however, aside
from Almodovar's omnipresent brilliant use of color
and religious imagery, is the score by Ennio Morricone.
As dangerous and alluring as Ricky, as sultry and as
passionate as Marina, the music only serves to further
plunge us into this interesting and titillating situation.
Note: Story by Almodovar who writes the script with
Yuyi Beringola.
The Nepotism Factor: Augustine Almodovar as pharmacist.
Review written in 1998
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