Almodovar presents another liberal film

Press, 11 September 1989, Page 6

Almodovar presents another liberal film

at the cinema

hons petrovic

LAW OF DESIRE Written and directed by Pedro Almodovar Films like “Law of Desire” (Metro), the homoerotic black comedy by the new Spanish enfant terrible, Pedro Almodovar, certainly could not have been made in his home country while Franco was alive. Since Spain’s return to democracy, however, a new liberal spirit has brought amazing freedom in sexual attitudes and drug abuse that must still offend the discreet charm of the bourgeoisie. But such licentious freedom in film-making is nothing new in Europe and Almodovar carries on gayly the flamboyant tradition of such other openly homosexual directors as France’s Jean Cocteau, and the more recently departed perpetrator of kinky kitsch, West Germany’s Rainer Werner Fassbinder. What the three have in common is the ability to blend the fantastic with the commonplace, to both intrigue and outrage the audience, to inject outrageous black humour, and then get away with it, all with their sensitive understanding of human nature and a brilliant technique in film-making that often surpasses the choice of their subject. Not to be forgotten in this grand tradition is another Spaniard, Luis Bunuel, who may have been straighter in sexual orientation, yet usually had to work in France to produce, in collaboration with Salvador Dali, the sacrilegeous “L’Age d’Or” in 1930, and “Belle de Jour” mord'-than 30 years later.

Almodovar also creates a topsy-turvy world in which all old preconceptions must be left at the box office. His triangle of lovers are all male, and the main character’s sister used to be his brother until she had a sex change to please her father with whom she had an affair while still a boy. When the father leaves her, she is put off men and now prefers affairs with women. This incredibly sordid story is not revealed until late in the film and, of course, until then we have never suspected that the luscious Tina (Carmen Maura) is not all that she is cracked up to be. Almodovar also likes to shock. He begins the film with a handsome youth

being instructed by an offcamera voice to undress, kiss himself in a mirrror and then lie on a bed and masturbate. After feeling rather discomfited by these goings-on,' and before one has had a chance to establish what the film is really about, one discovers that this is merely the making of a film within the film — and Almodovar’s first joke. We have been warned, at least, never to take anything too seriously, yet one cannot help but become involved in the complex love life of Pablo (Eusebio Ponela), a filmmaker who obviously has never heard of A.I.D.S.

By mixing the affairs of Pablo and Tina, Almodovar weaves a complicated comic web that changes its narrative thread, however, when the story turns into a murder investigation.

In this sense, “Law of Desire” can never be judged as a coherent, disciplined film, for Almodovar allows his fancy to take him wherever it will, and throws out a challenge to the audience to follow him. By never taking the writer-director too seriously, you may find yourself seduced also.

Almodovar’s work is relatively new to New Zealand, with his bizarre tale of love and death in the ring, “Matador,” being screened for only one week earlier this year. At the recent film festival, his “Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown” was much better received and proved that Almodovar could tell a joke with a straight face. That film is bound to enjoy a longer run when it returns to Christchurch.

Almodovar has got to the stage where his work is now being taken seriously internationally. His films certainly can no longer be dismissed as the erotic fantasies of a gay film-maker, but deserve to be seen as crazy but compassionate slices of life, encompassing very human foibles and feelings.