Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! [1990]

Amazon.co.uk Review

Perhaps only Pedro Almodóvar could come up with a story about a mental patient who stalks and kidnaps an ex-porn star--and turn it into a tender love story. But that's exactly what happens in Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!, a lively installment from the Spanish director's wacky middle period (after the scruffy early films, and before his mature melodramas). Two of Almodóvar's sexiest stars, Antonio Banderas and Victoria Abril, play the leads: a cracked young man with dreams of bourgeois domesticity, and an actress who used to specialize in porno and heroin. Despite that fact that he binds her limbs with cord when he leaves the house, he always returns with a cheerful "I'm home!" For all Almodóvar's outrageousness, there's a touch of classical Hollywood in his construction. And while this movie is not for the politically correct, it does play by its own warped rules. --Robert Horton

Customer Reviews:

Best Almodovar film ever.......2007-12-13

Very good story, funny script, great acting. A film that breaks through all sorts of barriers, like Pulp Fiction did. A true classic.

Hilarious and entertaining.......2007-05-28

Like a lot of Spanish films this is quirky and sexually explicit, and like some other Almodovar films (Hable Con Ella for example) quite morally ambiguous.

The plot is that Banderas' character kidnaps Victoria Abril's character and aims to keep her tied up until such time as she falls in love with him. However, it is hard to see Banderas' character as a straightforward "bad guy". He is clearly delusional and has mental health problems, which does not excuse what he's doing of course but enables at least a degree of empathy (EMPATHY not sympathy). Abril is no angel either - having a dependance on narcotics and of course, being a porn actress. Along the way there are some amusing characters who have some downright hilarious lines. The hemiplegic film director in particular is very funny.

I think that the film makes you challenge your own morals as you may - perhaps unwittingly - find yourself won over by Banderas'. If you like straightforward Hollywood good guy/bad guy stuff then this is probably not for you.

It's beautifully and colourfully shot, very well acted, entertaining throughout... and a soundtrack from Ennio Morricone doesn't hurt does it?

Unbelievable relationship.......2007-01-30

I found the relationship between Ricki and the porn star unconvincing. He's just broken into her flat having escaped from a mental institution; she's evidently terrified but then we're supposed to believe that she would accompany him to visit a doctor, go shopping, etc., when she was still an unwilling victim. I kept wondering why on earth doesn't she raise the alarm when she's in a public place. There are some funny moments such as the toy scuba diver in the bath. The scenes in the night-club were a welcome diversion but somehow didn't gel with the main story. The film had an incoherent quality. The theme of a sick-minded man imprisoning a woman was explored in The Collector by John Fowles, which is a more plausible story.

one to watch.......2006-06-30

if you have not watched any other almodovar films then you may find this a little shocking. for almodovar however it is typical. extreme relationships and open sexuality seem to be some of his main themes so this isn't necessarily a film to wathc with your parents!
Banderas is fantastic, you can hardly take your eyes off him, but victoria abril makes a worthy opposite for him. watch out for some of the almodovar favourites dotted about the place- his brother, mother and various others appear.
this is a great film in it's own right, and one of my favourites. there are some great extras too- a spanish language interview between banderas and almodovar, and also the madrid premiere party. and don't be put off by the fact that everything is in spanish, banderas shines in his native language!

Hilarious and shocking - typical Almodovar.......2006-02-09

This is the film that launched Antonio Banderas to the rest of the world, his biggest hit at the time with Almodovar, and a worthy film to do such a job. Banderas plays a lonely man released from an institution, with one thing on his mind, to ‘rescue’ Victoria Abril’s character (an ex porn star, now film star) and protect her for life, a promise he made her when they slept together 1 night. As she doesn’t remember him, he has to kidnap her so that she will finally remember and love him. This film is typical Almodovar from this period, shocking, fabulous and hilarious and one of his best. When Abril finally remembers Banderas, it is hysterical.
The extra; finally on an Almodovar film we get extras, in this case a half hour interview recorded in 2002 with the director and Banderas, which is very funny and shows that both men are very charming and down to earth, and well worth watching.

Customer Reviews:

More like self-indulgence.......2008-02-13

The film could have been all the things that the synopsis suggests it is. However, the script lacked credibility, the story lacked real understanding of the characters [who were two-dimensional - in other words, actors pretending to be "troubled" in a vaguely meaningful way].

A somewhat depressing film, and ultimately silly.

UK DVD:

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