Review of Matador (1986) by Stuart K — 05 Sep 2012
Pedro Almodóvar had done campy yet humourous films like Pepi, Luci, Bom, Labyrinth of Passion and What Have I Done to Deserve This? But, Almodóvar wanted to do more complex and challenging films, with more serious themes.
While his early works hinted at seriousness, here Almodóvar got the chance to do it, and it's a complex and mysterious drama, but Almodóvar has his usual touches all over the place. In Madrid, student bullfighter Ã?ngel Jimenez (Antonio Banderas) is worried that his teacher Diego (Nacho MartÃnez), who was a bullfighter but now spends most of his days masturbating over sick horror films, doesn't think that Ã?ngel is "manly enough.
" It doesn't help that Ã?ngel was brought up in a strict Catholic household, with a very viciously strict mother (Julieta Serrano). This repression has lead to Ã?ngel confessing to crimes he didn't commit.
But, in a moment of despair, Ã?ngel ends up raping Diego's girlfriend Eva (Eva Cobo), and Ã?ngel's lawyer, MarÃa Cardenal (Assumpta Serna) seems to have a hidden agenda all of her own which no-one else seems to know about.
Almodóvar seems to have taken a page from Brian De Palma's films like Obsession (1975) and Body Double (1984) for this film, while Almodóvar has considered this to be one of his weaker works, it's a very good film, but it requires your full attention, as it is quite confusing and at times hard to keep up with.
But, it has some good performances, and it led to Almodóvar getting international recognition.
This review of Matador (1986) was written by Stuart K on 05 Sep 2012.
Matador has generally received positive reviews.
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