Pulp Features

There is no in between as far as Pedro Almodóvar is concerned. You either love him or hate him. In any case, his reputation for uncanny scenes, twisted humor and sexual situations that would have been unthinkable - let alone filmable - in Franco’s Spain (the dictator, not the director) have earmarked a career that is still going strong. Almodóvar’s work is strange and fascinating, sure to offend the purists and the moralists at every turn.

His films are not for the born-againers, so to speak.

One of Almodóvar’s earliest works was Matador, with Antonio Banderas as an aspiring matador, who faints at the sight of blood. His trainer, retired matador, Diego Montes (played with amazing arrogance by Nacho Martinez), has been forced from the bullring due to a goring and no longer able to kill bulls, he kills women. (One of the darkly humorous opening scenes shows Martinez masturbating in front of a TV screen. One expects him to be watching pornography until when the camera shifts to the screen and he is seen masturbating to murder scenes from horror films). The matador encounters a lady attorney, played by Asumpta Serna, who coincidentally, is a serial killer herself, killing bullfighters. The two of them meet, have sex, then kill each other, leaving Banderas and the matador’s lover, Eva Cobo, behind.

Several other films followed and continue to follow, all with a cast of strange or oddball characters. Banderas has since moved on for the bright lights and bigger paycheques offered by Hollywood and it is probably safe to say that many of his fans would surely hate these earlier, pre-macho man works in which he plays either a wimp or a bungling idiot. Tie Me Up, Tie Me Down, for example, has Banderas as a dim witted kidnapper in love with a drug addicted porno star, played by Victoria Abril. In the end, after all they go through together, they fall in love.

Almodóvar, who started out making silent, super 8mm short films as an amateur, has certainly come a long way, rising to the position of one of Europe’s most controversial and recognized directors. With his rise to stardom, his budgets have increased, where he has been able to work with more name actors and others. Ennio Morricone, for example, who provided music for Tie Me Up, Tie Me Down.

Others who have appeared in Almodóvar films as regulars or for one shot deals include Rosy De Palma, Concha Hidalgo, the late Paco Rabal (as a lust-driven film director in Tie Me Up, Tie Me Down), Nacho Martinez (who returned off of Matador, years later, to be in High Heels), Veronica Forque, Chus Lampreave and Julieta Serrano. He has also used famed… uh… “showgirl”, Bibi Anderson in various spots in his films.

Not everyone likes Almodóvar’s brand of dark humour. In fact, when Matador came out, many bullfighting fans – who were expecting something like Blood & Sand or The Sun Also Rises - were outright offended, failing to see that it was a comedy.

Regardless, one momentary and chilling scene stands out that no one missed. As the matador and his soon to be victim/suicide partner drive to a chalet where they will terminate their lives, he stops and buys flowers from a vendor. The vendor offers to read his palm, and then draws back in horror when the recipient’s destiny is revealed. The matador gives her a little grin, shrugs, and moves on, as if to say, “Yeah…you got it right…”

Not for everybody, but beloved by his growing legion of fans, Pedro Almodóvar will be someone to watch for a long time to come. With the formation of the Deseo production company to crank out his films, finances and distribution should no longer be the problem they once were, leaving him plenty of way to create, make people laugh and even, occasionally, offend.

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