Matador (1986)

I am not sure what to expect when the opening scene is a man masturbating to torture porn, a term that was probably not even invented in 1988.

From there we go to alternating clips of Antonio Banderas asking the ex-bullfighter Nacho Martínez about women and he compares getting a woman to bullfighting, while we watch someone do exactly that. We are no, of course, prepared for the necrophilia twist in that encounter.

We find our boy, Antonio, and he is a boy in this film, in a strict Catholic household. I would have to guess that his mother was Opus Dei. He attempts to rape his neighbor and confesses to four murders which we know he did not do. This is just Almodóvar's take on religion and repression. He revisits that subjects again in the film, so it must me a theme for him.

But, then the story shifts to Nacho and Assumpta Serna, with Eva Cobo in a minor role. This is where the story gets interesting with the police trying to solve the four murders and the real murderers trying to lay it on Antonio.

It gets bizarre at the end with Antonio seeing the killers in his mind and leading the police to them. But, they arrive too late as the climax of sex and death occurs simultaneous with an eclipse. How weird is that?

Fmovies: This is an excellent film, and adds to the great collection that Almadovar has created. If you aren't disturbed by gratuitous sex and violence, then you should definitely give this a try. The characters introduced mimic the screenplay and directing perfectly. One of the most creative plot lines ever; includes a matador with some sort of death fetish, a necrophiliac, a matador in training who faints at the sight of blood, and many more great characters which lead to sickly hilarious scenes. The camera work is also mind blowing. The different levels Almadovar reaches with the cinematography will make this a movie to remember. But be warned. If you are disturbed by a Clockwork Orange Don't rent this one.

Before I saw this movie in late 80-s I knew something about culture, tradition and 'spirit' of Spain, the country which inspired me for years. This movie made an enormous impression on me as it gave me very deep insight into 'real Spanish spirit', i.e. what does death mean to Spanish people in the light if their tradition and culture.

The personality of ex-matador and his behaviour underlined by his words - 'to stop to kill means to dye for me', on the other hand a high class woman being 'infected' with death, treating Diego as her God of Death, and these two 'lost worlds' slowly approaching each other into a fatal bitter end, which was filled with the most beautiful tune ever made (Esperame en el cielo mi corazon...) all this creates an unforgettable and distinctive impression after watching this movie.

Pedro Almodovar you gave us a great piece of art, I believe there are some more pictures that you can bring to us in the future.

Thanks Pedro..............

Matador fmovies. Every Artist has a reoccurring theme, that he successfully or unsuccessfully explores and tries to capture through out his life time, and that eventually becomes his, what we might call - style. With Ingmar Bergman it's the detachment from life and confronting death, with Woody Allen, the comical absurdity of man-woman relationship, with Filliny it's the nostalgia for the lost, often irreplaceable innocence of childhood. In case of Pedro Almodovar though, to put it lightly, it's unorthodox, sex crazed love stories. (love that guy!)

I had watched three films by him (Bad Education, Law Of Desire, Talk To Her), and all of them were rather twisted, but this one is defiantly the weirdest love fable I had ever seen or read Â… even by his standards.

The story begins with a young man, (played by heavenly-gorgeous, 18 year old Antonio Banderas) who is studying to be a matador, under a world famous, but retired, due to an injury, Maestro. One night after being suspected of being a homosexual, he decides to prove his masculinity and toughness by attempting to rape Maestro's girlfriend. But being in reality a very innocent and tender soul, he literally faints before anything happens, when she accidentally cuts her finger.

The girls reports him, and while being questioned, the cops hang on him three more murders. Apparently there have been bodies popping up through out the city, with all the victims assaulted in the same strange manner - at the height of their sexual arousal, they are stabbed in the back of their necks, with a hair pin, with the same technique a toreador brings a bull down.

And now, brought together by serendipity, the female lawyer, who had come to defend Antonio, and is investigating the case, is beginning to have a sort of an "affair" with the Maestro. Both of them being obsessed with sex, violence and mostly important death, which they find the most arousing thing in the world. Imagine Romeo and Juliet, only where they both not only desire each other sexually, but also long for each other's death.

I had personally often wondered, why the element of violence is so often present in sex. Even when one makes love, no matter how gentle, there will be some hair pulling, slight choking or biting. To experience pain and dominance, seems to be counterintuitive to receiving pleasure, yet something in our wiring arouses us by that. With books like "Fifty Shades Of Grey' bondage and sadomasochism had become house hold names, and practices. But what I can't wrap my brain around is why do these seemingly, logically unpleasant activities arouse us?

The theme in this film, of the desire to kill the one you love, and to define death and brutal violence as sexy, that is bound to make an indelible imprint on your soul and to stay with you for the rest of your life.

This 5th feature of Almodovar is one of his best (along with Labyrinth of passion & Kika) as far as I am concerned, and if not his best then for sure his most provocative flms. As usual, Almodovar explores some of the darkest sides of human sexuality, and deals with perversity as dealing with any every-day life subject.

For once more, the notorious film-maker, at great shape, entertains with his trademark raving, hilarious, politically incorrect dialogs, pace and style and while dealing with dark (necrophilia) or serious (religious oppression) subject matters, it manages to be very funny and entertaining. What's great with Almodovar is that you simply CANNOT label his films. Is it comedy? nope. Is a thriller? nope. Is it a crime film? nope. This is Almodovar, so all pretenders go see another million dollar US product . But to all the admirers of unique and original films, this is definitely recommended, if you can tolerate with some weird humour, a bit sexy visuals and nudity and some violence. Matador is ART!

Matador is an early Almodovar work that explores the relationship between sex and violence through the medium of bullfighting. It follows a love quadrangle between a retired matador, his repressed student, the matador's lover, and the student's lawyer, as a series of murders takes place in Madrid. Dark comedy ensues in the midst of murder investigations and extremely loud eighties fashions.

The performances make this decidedly odd film work. Assumpta Serna is great as the lawyer, while Antonio Banderas makes an early appearance as her client. Carmen Maura also has a small role, even though her character is somewhat lacking in development. The characters remain convincing even as the plot spins into the out right bizarre.

Some viewers might complain that the film's explicit sex and violence make it little different from an exploitation film, and indeed it opens with a character masturbating to a slasher movie. Furthermore, its commentary on sex and violence at times seems pretentious. However, the film is far more creative and well made than any exploitation film, and is well worth your time.