Main Cast: Victoria Abril, Antonio Banderas, Loles Leon, Julieta Serrano, Francisco Rabal
Release Year: 1990
Country: ES
Run Time: 105 minutes
MPAA Rating: NC17
Plot
"I'll never love you . . . ever!" the sexy and attractive Marina (Victoria Abril) states emphatically to the love-struck Ricky (Antonio Banderas). You know she means what she says because when she makes this statement she is handcuffed and lashed to a bed, not exactly the proper way to warm anyone up for romance. Yet in Pedro Almodovar's Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! the way to a woman's heart is depicted as being held in captivity until the Stockholm Syndrome kicks in. The film concerns the plight of Marina, a "B"-movie diva trying to adjust to her recent success after years of porno films and drug addiction. But then into her life comes Ricky, a part-time handyman and full-time mental patient, who, during one of his past escapes from the mental ward, had spent the night with Marina -- who gave in to him during one of her less-discerning moments. Since then, Ricky has been thinking of her constantly. Determined to win her affections, he kidnaps Marina, holding her captive in her own apartment and trying everything to convince her to love him -- then they could marry and have a big family. All Ricky's attempts to woo Marina fail. Finally, after taking a severe beating from some street thugs, he strikes a chord in Marina's nurturing heart so that when her sister Lola (Loles Leon) finally discovers her plight, Marina no longer wants to be rescued. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
Review
Pedro Almodóvar takes an warmly unorthodox look at relationships in Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!, a romantic comedy with a plot similar to William Wyler's thriller The Collector. Despite the tawdriness indicated in the title, this is not just a steamy tale of kinky sex practices, but rather a dark comedy with a compelling relationship at its center, both characters literally struggling for power and desperate for love. Rather than populate the film with tons of zany, colorful characters like in his previous films, Almodóvar chooses to let the camera focus on the two attractive leads, each possessing a strong screen presence. Antonio Banderas broods with boyish passion as dull-witted mental patient Ricky, showing enough vulnerability to make him adorable. His behavior is shown as a result of his overwrought lovesickness, coupled with a complete lack of subtlety. Veteran actress Victoria Abril brings enough strength to the character of Marina to make it faulty to dismiss her as just a victim. Keeping the action confined to Marina's bedroom in long close-up shots with a swelling musical score from Ennio Morricone, the film feels more like a '50s romantic drama than the shocker its critics claimed it to be. Though it received a public outcry and an NC-17 rating upon release, this love story of a kidnapper and victim is surprisingly told with compassion. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
Maria Barranco; Rossy de Palma - Drug Dealer on Scooter; Lola Cardona - Directora Psiquiatrico; Montse G. Romeu - Periodista; Emiliano Redondo - Decorador; Angelina Llongueras - Montadora; Manuel Bandera - Bailarin Tango; Agustín Almodóvar - Farmaceutico; Rodolfo Montero - Guarda Jurado; Carlos Garcia Cambero - Hermano de Lola; Miguel Garcia - Gitano Viejo
Credit
Jose Cossio - Costume Designer, Jose Maria de Cossio - Costume Designer, Pedro Almodóvar - Director, José Salcedo - Editor, Ennio Morricone - Composer (Music Score), Esther Garcia - Production Designer, Jose Luis Alcaine - Cinematographer, Agustín Almodóvar - Producer, Enrique Posner - Producer, Pedro Almodóvar - Screenwriter
Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! (Spanish: ¡Átame!) is a 1990 film by Pedro Almodóvar, a Spanish drama starring Antonio Banderas and Victoria Abril. The film was somewhat controversial upon release, and it earned an NC-17 rating in the United States from the MPAA.
Plot summary
The film follows Ricky (Banderas), a young man recently released from a mental institution, who has been obsessed with Marina (Abril), an actress, former porn star, and recovering heroin addict, since the pair shared a one-night stand one year before the drama of the film. Ricky was orphaned at the age of three, and afterward subjected to the state system of foster-childhood and psychiatric care. He is a wily and ambiguous character with an imbalanced personality. He kidnaps Marina, and admits that his plan is to make her fall in love with him, live with him, and produce his children. Eventually, Marina does fall into some kind of love with him, however still considers herself his prisoner, and tells him to keep her tied up so that she won't try to escape. Subsequently, she reluctantly escapes with the assistance of her sister Lola (Loles León), but the lovers are eventually reunited.
Perhaps the major focus of the film explores how sex affects personal relationships. Sex is shown to be a prime determinant of emotions and actions. It directs, in no small part, the entirety of the dramatic content of the film. It is the seed of obsession. The obsession over sex drives Ricky to kidnap. It drives the paralyzed, porn-watching, wheel-chair-bound director (Francisco Rabal), into a neurotic pursuance of Marina. It initiates a softening of Marina's attitude towards her captor.
The film also deals with victimization and violence. Victim and predator blur, and violence and love are mixed together curiously. Almódovar deals with all serious topics in a very even-handed manner. In this film, it is clear that violence and victimization produce predatory and so-called "crazy" behavior (i.e. behavior worthy of psychiatric detention). Marina is a victim as much as Ricky - exploited for her beauty as a porn star, she becomes abuser and addict of smack. She is so used to being treated as a sexual object that she ultimately falls for the battered and imbalanced Ricky. At the end of the film she reminds one of the two young, run-away lovers of The Graduate. She seems entirely unsure and confused.
