Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! (1990)

Excellent adaptation.

Best movie ever!

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

This film is just a childish romantic film that goes along the lines of "if you pull your crush's hair enough times & beat her up, she'll eventually love you". I know apologists these days push this as an ironic take on heterosexual relationships. Actually it's not that deep, you can clearly see the director was trying for a sexy,romantic film with placing camera under the skirts & invoking sympathy for our kidnapping hero. Also if you check back to the days of it's release, you could see it was considered just another romantic comedy. It's only because of the rise of feminism & countless stories of kidnap-victims going public, they changed the tone. Waste of time.

Pedro Almodovar's "Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!" from 1989 is an earlier film from this quirky director. Almodovar's characters are inevitably off the wall and in bizarre situations. This film and its characters are no exception."Tie Me Up!" was given an X rating (later NC-17) for a couple of scenes and in the United States at least, it was quite controversial.The story concerns a recently-released mental hospital patient, Ricky (Antonio Banderas) who kidnaps an ex-porn star, Marina (Victoria Abril) currently making a low-budget horror film. Though the title suggests S&M, there isn't any. Ricky ties her up when he needs to leave the apartment.An expert in carpentry, locksmithing, and other usable occupations, Ricky had actually been leaving the mental hospital when he felt like it and then returning. During one of those times, he had a one-night stand with Marina. Deeply in love with her, he stalks her on the film set and, when she doesn't speak to him, confronts her in her apartment, declaring his love and his intention of marrying her and fathering her children. Marina, of course, would like to escape him, but Ricky makes that difficult. A former heroin addict, Marina has a toothache and explains that nothing will help except strong medicine from her doctor up the street. So Ricky handcuffs her to him and they walk to the doctor's apartment, where Marina receives an injection and a prescription. Later, when she needs more drugs, Ricky goes to the town square to score some and ends up beaten to a pulp. When he returns, Marina is horrified and begins to have real feelings for him. Meanwhile, her sister Lola (Loles Leon) is worried, believing Marina to have disappeared.There is a very long sex scene in this film that took 9 hours to film, with Almodovar using the last take."Tie Me Up!" launched Banderas in the United States, and this is his last film with Almodovar. He plays Ricky beautifully - as an innocent from a troubled background who will do anything to convince this woman to love him. Abril is a sexy and feisty Marina, and, like Ricky, she is a lost soul trying to find her way. Ricky is an orphan; Abril has a mother, sister, and nephew, but both of them are alone in their worlds.Despite the title and the sex, this is actually a sweet tale with likable characters. Almodovar often has a bizarre way of telling a story and making a point, but the results, with few exceptions, are well worth it.

one great movie. The best of almodovar till the date. The performances of banderas and abril are incredible as the script and direction of this crazy, sweet and incredible film of this extravagant Spanish genius. The most amazing thing of this movie is that it makes you wish the villain could win by the end of the movie and you're always rooting for the character of banderas even when you know what hes doing is wrong and that there are better ways to seduce a woman. You can understand him and later on even abril character ends up falling in love with him in own of the sweetest, smoothest and most romantic and passionate sex scenes in the movie history.

Pedro Almodóvar is certainly a controversial director and at first glance a lot of people consider him a man who exploits sex. In fact he does the complete opposite; he studies sexual relationships, sexual tension, sexual desires, lust and love. I've always considered him a remarkable director with the likes of his tightly "knitted" masterpiece Live Flesh and the evocative drama Talk to Her. Though not always appealing to the mass audience (being one of the directors with the dreaded NC-17 inappropriately labelling his films) he has succeeded in attracting critics, movie buffs and other directors to his films. With all the labels and controversy that Almodóvar has had shafted upon himself you'd be surprised at how differently you may interpret his films.Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! Follows the exploits of a man called Ricky (played by Antonio Banderas) who gets let out an asylum and stalks an "actress/porn star" named Marina who he once had sex with. He decides to kidnap her and tie her up, while still feeling guilty at his behaviour he hopes Marina will fall in love with him. The story moves at a very exhilarating pace as the viewer becomes introduced to a series of generally bizarre characters. The film manages to perfectly show the two polar opposites of both Marina and Ricky, yet including the similarities of them both. Ricky is definitely not what you'd call likable and yet of the surface Marina has a vibrant, amiable personality around her. Then once you come to know Marina you'll become uncertain of her "innocent" personality.The film's offbeat sexy style is certainly one that will provoke the viewer, but at times the sexiness is taken away by the character's actions which are important for showing what kind of people they're. Almodóvar's visual style is one that excites and differs between claustrophobia and then opening the wide world the characters are surrounded by to the viewer. I've always considered Almodóvar to use a distinct style that feels as if its theatre, a lot of the scenes feels very staged which I personally adore. The intelligent use of vivacious colour to show the isolating pop culture is one that exhilarates the general feel of the film.The script manages itself so creatively around the characters, as you watch a character suddenly change personality you'll come to realise the script writing helps the scenes burst with charisma and charm. Even with all the charm and wit you'll still find yourself overwhelmed by a sense of outlandish creepiness that undertones the film. The passionate romance seems so unreal and only kicks in for the main characters as the film progresses. For a film that revolves around very little set pieces and characters you'll find yourself involved with the eccentric prowess. The film's superb use of music creates the tones with excellence.The film is certainly not one that is realistic and rather relies on the extreme character's fantasies to decide a resolution of your own. Technically dazzling and structured with such ease there's nothing quite like an Almodóvar work of art. Comic virtuosity enables the film the enchanting versatility and for that you're bound to love it. Downright brilliant, Spanish cinema with an extensive cult appeal and one that manages to captivate and enthral at all times. Not a film for everyone, but I'd say it's one that you should definitely attempt if you're interested in art house cinema.