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In spite of some dark elements, ''Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!'' can be described as a romantic comedy, and the director's most clear love story. Ricky in his violent courtship of Marina follows, in an exaggerate manner, the path of the romantic film genre like those made popular in the late 1950s by [[Doris Day]] with various male film stars; ''[[Pillow Talk (film)| Pillow Talk]]'',(1959) with [[Rock Hudson]];'' [[Move Over, Darling]]'' (1963), with [[James Garner]]; and ''[[That Touch of Mink]]'' (1962), with [[Cary Grant]].<ref name = " Edwards 114"> Edwards, ''Almodóvar: Labyrinth of Passion'', p. 114 </ref>
In spite of some dark elements, ''Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!'' can be described as a romantic comedy, and the director's most clear love story. Ricky in his violent courtship of Marina follows, in an exaggerate manner, the path of the romantic film genre like those made popular in the late 1950s by [[Doris Day]] with various male film stars; ''[[Pillow Talk (film)| Pillow Talk]]'',(1959) with [[Rock Hudson]];'' [[Move Over, Darling]]'' (1963), with [[James Garner]]; and ''[[That Touch of Mink]]'' (1962), with [[Cary Grant]].<ref name = " Edwards 114"> Edwards, ''Almodóvar: Labyrinth of Passion'', p. 114 </ref>


The plot of Atame has some similarities with [[John Fowles]]’s novel ''The collector'', in which a young man – a butterfly specialist- abducts a young woman in order to add her to his collection, and which was subsequently made into the film of the same name by [[William Wyler]].<ref name = " Edwards 109"> Edwards, ''Almodóvar: Labyrinth of Passion'', p. 109 </ref> The novel is a study in male possessiveness, the film, in the thriller genre, is much more a voyeuristic fantasy.<ref name = " Edwards 109"> Edwards, ''Almodóvar: Labyrinth of Passion'', p. 109 </ref>
The plot of Atame has some similarities with [[John Fowles]]’s novel ''The collector'', in which a young man – a butterfly specialist- abducts a young woman in order to add her to his collection, and which was subsequently made into the film of the same name by [[William Wyler]].<ref name = " Edwards 109"> Edwards, ''Almodóvar: Labyrinth of Passion'', p. 109 </ref> The novel is a study in male possessiveness, the film, in the thriller genre, is much more a voyeuristic fantasy.<ref name = " Edwards 109"> Edwards, ''Almodóvar: Labyrinth of Passion'', p. 109 </ref> Bride kidnapping is also a center plot device in the 1954 Hollywood musical ''[[Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (film)|Seven Brides for Seven Brothers]]''.


==Music==
==Music==

Revision as of 15:25, 17 April 2011

¡Átame!
Theatrical release poster
Directed byPedro Almodóvar
Written byPedro Almodóvar
Yuyi Beringola
Produced byAgustín Almodóvar,
Enrique Posner
StarringVictoria Abril,
Antonio Banderas,
Loles Léon
CinematographyJosé Luis Alcaine
Edited byJosé Salcedo
Music byEnnio Morricone
Production
company
EL Deseo S.A
Distributed byMiramax (USA)
Release dates
January 22, 1990 (Madrid),
February 9, 1990 (Barcelona),
May 4, 1990 (USA)
Running time
111 min.
CountrySpain
LanguageSpanish
Box office$4,087,361

Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! (Template:Lang-es) is a 1990 Spanish film written and directed by Pedro Almodóvar, a dark romantic comedy starring Antonio Banderas and Victoria Abril. The plot follows a recently release psychiatric patient who kidnaps an actress in order to make her fall in love with him. He believes his destiny is to marry her and father her children.

The film was highly successful both with critics and audiences in Spain.[1] Its release in the United States was entangled in controversy. It was instrumental in the implementation by the MPAA of a new rating category, NC-17, for films of explicit nature that were previously regarded unfairly as pornographic because of the X rating.[2]

Plot

Ricky, a twenty three years old psychiatric patient, has been deemed cure and is released from a mental institution. Until then he has been the lover of the woman director of the hospital. An orphan, free and alone his goal is to have normal life with Marina Ozores, an actress, former porn star, and recovering drug addict, whom he once slept with during an escape from the asylum.

Ricky discovers Marina’s whereabouts from a film journal which announces the start of her next film. He goes to the studio where Marina is in her last day at work filming the Midnight Phantom, an Euro-horror movie about a hideously mutilated, masked muscleman in love with Marina’s character. The film is directed by Máximo Espejo, an old film director who is confined to a wheel chair after a stroke. Máximo is a gentle mentor to Marina and threatens to throw out a journalist who mentions the words porn and junkie in Marina’s presence. His protection of the actress is not completely innocent since he is sexually attracted to Marina and lust after her, enjoying what could be his last experience of directing a sexy female lead.

When Ricky comes to the set, he steals a few necessary items including the keys to Marina’s apartment and before long; he makes his unwelcome presence in her life. Ricky, with a long-haired wig, does a handstand to try to captivate her attention. Marina does not remember him and quickly dismisses him.

After filming the last scene, Mariana goes home to change for the post shoot party. Ricky follows her to her apartment. When she answers the door, Ricky forces his way in. He grabs her and head butts her, brutally knocking her to the floor when she screams. He covers her mouth and binds her with rope. Marina wakes with terrible toothache which normal painkillers do not counter as she is addicted to stronger drugs. Ricky explains that he has entrapped her so that when she gets to know him better she will fall in love and they will get married and have children. "I'll never love you, ever," says Marina, understandably enraged at being handcuffed, gagged and lashed to the bed. "We'll see," says Ricky, who would do anything to win her heart. Marina is shocked and in pain and eventually persuades Ricky to take her to a doctor who can give her the necessary pain killers. Ricky barely leaves her alone with the doctor and she is unable to communicate her plight. They can not get the drugs in the pharmacy so Ricky goes off to get them on the black market. However, rather than paying the street price, he attacks the dealer to get the tablets.

During the after filming party Marina’s sister, Lola, who is the assistant director in the Midnight Phantom, steals the show with a musical number. Increasingly worried about her sister’s disappearance, Lola visits Marina's apartment and leaves a note. To avoid being discovered, Ricky moves Marina to her next door neighbor’s apartment. The apartment is empty; the owner left his keys with Marina so she could shower his plants while he is away during the summer. In the street again, Ricky is spotted by the dealer who he had attacked and he is vigorously beaten and left unconscious. During his absence Marina makes a desperate but somewhat halfhearted, attempt to escape from her captivity. However when he returns covered with bruises and cuts, she sees his vulnerability and devotion to her, no matter how misguided. She cares for him, binding his wounds and is suddenly struck by the realization that she has fallen in love with her captor. They make love at length and Ricky seems to be on the verge of achieving his aim. They decide to make a trip together to his native village. When he is about to leave to steal a car for the trip, Marina who still considers herself his prisoner, tells him to keep her tied up so that she won't try to escape. However, in Ricky’s absence, Lola reenters the apartment and discovers Marina tied up and rescues her. Marina informs her sister that she is in love with her attacker. Lola is astonished to learn that Marina really no longer wants to be rescued, but support her sister in her effort to find Ricky. In the end Marina goes after Ricky. She finds him in the ruins of his family house in the country. Ricky, Marina and Lola sing together like a true family driving off into the distance.

Cast

Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! marked Almodóvar’s breaking-off with his long time star, Carmen Maura, in a rift that took many years to heal. In any case, Maura at 44 was too old to play the protagonist, a role that demanded a younger actress.[3] Atame was the beginning of a fruitful collaboration with Victoria Abril. Almodóvar had previously considered her for the role of Cristal, the prostitute neighbor in What Have I Done to Deserve This? and Candela, the model fleeing a relationship with a terrorist in Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown.[1] Victorial Abril had a cameo role in Law of Desire.[4] She was already a well established actress identified with strong female characters.[5]

The male lead was played by Antonio Banderas in his fifth and more important collaboration with Almodóvar.[1] His role in Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! launched his career in American films. Loles Léon, a stand up comedic actress, plays Marina’s sassy sister Lola. She had previously appeared as the meddlesome telephonist in Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown. Francisco Rabal, one of Spain foremost actors, took the role of the film director. Almodóvar cast his own mother Francisca Caballero as Marina’s mother. Rossy de Palma, the actress of Picassoesque appearance discovered by Almodóvar in 1986, plays the small role of the drug dealer.

Reception

Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!, Almodóvar’s eight film, was completed in late 1989.[1] Its debut at the Berlin Film festival in early 1990 was inauspicious. The projector broke down and in the following press conference Almodóvar, whose film have not been well understood in Germany, was subjected to heavy questioning about his homosexuality, drug abuse and the Spanishess of his film.[2]

Released in Spain in January 1990, Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! was an enormous success becoming the biggest grossing domestic film of its year, reaching an audience of over a million. It had twice the audience of the most critical acclaimed Spanish film of that year Carlos Saura’s ¡Ay Carmela! , a film starring Almodóvar’s former muse Carmen Maura. ¡Ay Carmela! ended up sweeping the Goya awards.

Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! was generally well received by the Spanish critics.[6] Lluis Bonet, writing in La Vanguardia called the film: "a terrible tender love story", agreeing with the director that the best scene was that in which Marina, initially held hostage by Ricky against her will, finally asks to be tied up by him.[2] This so she will not be tempted to flee from the love he has successfully provoked in her. Critic Javier Maqua in Cinco Dias called Marina’s request as evidence of "the greatest intensity of love".[2][7] Rosy de Palma, who plays a drug dealer in the film, explained that the film’s kidnapping was not to be imitated in real life and was only justified by the "exceptional nature of the characters".[7]

British critics took time to warm up to Almodóvar’s films and dismissed Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!. Lawrence O’Toole in Sight and Sound, described it as:" fairly banal, schematic and essentially humorless".[8]

In the United States the film seemed to offend American puritanism with a lengthy sex scene and by a couple of sequences in which Marina and later her sister Lola, sit on the toilet to urinate.[2] Particularly controversial was the shot of Marina in a bath tub pleasuring her self with a scuba diver toy. Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! was entangled in a rating classification battle and was the subject of heated debate. Eventually released unrated; the film was decried by feminists and women's advocacy groups for what they perceived as the film's sadomasochist undertones and victimization of women. Nevertheless the film grossed $4,087,361 at the North American Box Office, a respectable amount for a foreign language film.

In the U.S.A the film along with Law of Desire and Bad education Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! remains as one of Almodóvar most controversial films.[9] Kidnapping as a method of generating love interest and the sadomasoquism undertones of the film, fired the controversy in the USA.

Antonio Banderas defending the film during an interview in the U.S.A compared Ricky’s courtship antics with those used by Tarzan with Jane in the classical Hollywood movie.[7]

The movie-review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes lists a 74% favorable rating on its "Tomatometer" (based on 17 reviews). The aggregator Metacritic lists a 51% favorable rating, (based on 12 published reviews).

Controversy

There was a legal battle over the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), which determines film ratings in the United States, decision to give Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! an 'X' rating which was normally reserved for hard core pornography.[10] Thus marginalized its distribution and narrowing its chance of box-office success.[11] The film's distribution company in North America, Miramax, filed a lawsuit against the MPAA over the X rating. When the case came to court in New York it gave rise to a general debate on cinema, censorship, and sexuality in the United States.[10]

The attorney for Miramax claimed that A.A.P (Average American Parent) was not well served by a system that was lenient on films with hard violence and drug use while being harsh with films depicting sex.[10] Miramax lost its case in court and the film was ultimately released unrated. However, numerous other filmmakers had complained about the X rating given to their films, and in September 1990 the MPAA dropped the X rating and replaced it with the NC-17 rating. This was especially helpful to films of explicit nature that were previously regarded unfairly as pornographic because of the X rating.[10]

Analysis

The Spanish title ¡Átame! does literally mean, Tie me up!. Almodóvar has consistently denied that Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!’s ropes have any links with sadomasochism.[12] There are not erotic charge to the ropes and gags. [12] Almodóvar explained:" Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! is essentially a love story, or rather a story of how someone attempts to construct a love story in the same way as he might study for a degree: by means of effort, will power, and persistence… when you have nothing, like my main character, you have to force everything. Including love. Ricky has only (as the flamenco singer say) the night, the day, and the vitality of an animal."[13]

Ricky stated ambition is to be a good husband to Marina and a good father to their children; ironically, however it is by adopting a traditional nurturing oral role gendered as feminine that he will bind Marina most closely to him and ensure that any escape she makes will be only temporary. The film’s title line ¡Tie Me Up! is unexpectedly uttered by the actress as a genuine request. She does not know if she will try to escape or not, and when she realizes she has feelings for her captor, she prefers not to be given a chance. Indeed, the relationship between Marina and Ricky is meant, ultimately, to be a parody of how such relationships work, as if heterosexuality (and its consequence, marriage) are almost inevitably equivalent in character to the infamous Stockholm syndrome. The cords that tie us one to another become literal ropey metaphors in the film. It is a tale not of kinky sex, but of a sweeter human bondage, of loose ends tied into lover's knots.

Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! follows in the myth of the Beauty and the Beast and the notion that the savagery of the Beast, is in the presence of Beauty, softener by gentler feelings.[8] This has been a recurrent theme in films like King Kong, Frankenstein and Tarzan the Ape Man. [8] This theme is also present in Spanish Literature. In Calderon de la Barca famous play Life is a dream, the main character, Segismundo, a half man, half beast who has been imprisoned for his whole twenty years once released into the world, finds that his violence is tamed by female beauty.[8]

Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! owes above all tradition of the horror film genre.[8] Marina plays the lead in the horror film Midnight Phantom, in which she defeats the Phantom attempt to kill her, overcoming him and thus subverting the horror film tradition of a woman as victim in a way that parallels Marina’s relationship with Ricky. While filming the Midnight Phantom Lola notes that the film they are working on is "more a love story than a horror story", to which Maximo the director replies, "some times they’re indistinguishable". Midnight Phantom, is not simply a film within the film just as the girl in the Midnight Phantom defeats them monster, so ultimately Marina will succeed in taming Ricky. The lachrymose Ricky is thoroughly domesticated, shopping for softer ropes and more malleable tape, urging Marina to eat her breakfast "before it gets cold". In a way Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! is an extension of the Midnight Phantom and both films mix horror and romance and variants versions of beauty and the beast. In that sense Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! is a dark and stylized fairy tale.

In spite of some dark elements, Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! can be described as a romantic comedy, and the director's most clear love story. Ricky in his violent courtship of Marina follows, in an exaggerate manner, the path of the romantic film genre like those made popular in the late 1950s by Doris Day with various male film stars; Pillow Talk,(1959) with Rock Hudson; Move Over, Darling (1963), with James Garner; and That Touch of Mink (1962), with Cary Grant.[14]

The plot of Atame has some similarities with John Fowles’s novel The collector, in which a young man – a butterfly specialist- abducts a young woman in order to add her to his collection, and which was subsequently made into the film of the same name by William Wyler.[8] The novel is a study in male possessiveness, the film, in the thriller genre, is much more a voyeuristic fantasy.[8] Bride kidnapping is also a center plot device in the 1954 Hollywood musical Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.

Music

The soundtrack was composed by Ennio Morricone in the style of a thriller and its reminiscent of Bernard Herrmann’s score for Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho. [15] [16] Almodóvar admired Morricone’s soundtrack for westerns, but found the music for Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! conventional and uninspiring, too similar to his work for the film Frantic and used only half of Morricone’s music pieces.[17]

Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! shows prominently two songs. The film closes with the theme Resistire (I will resist) by Dúo Dinámico, a Spanish rock duo from the 1960s, suggesting Marina’s happy resistance to Ricky’s unconventional courtship.[18] [19]The after filming party scene breaks the hardship of the kidnapping scene. It presents Lola, Marina’s sister, played by Loles León singing a bolero Canción del Alma, a song popularized in Latin America by Alfredo Sadel.

DVD release

Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! was released on DVD in the U.S.A available in Spanish with English subtitles. It includes the film’s trailer, but there are no other extras. The region 2 DVD released in the UK includes an interview of Pedro Almodóvar by Antonio Banderas, footage of the premiere in Madrid, poster and still galleries and trailers.

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d Edwards, Almodóvar: Labyrinth of Passion, p. 106
  2. ^ a b c d e Edwards, Almodóvar: Labyrinth of Passion, p. 107
  3. ^ Strauss, Almodóvar on Almodóvar, p. 92
  4. ^ D’Lugo, Pedro Almodóvar, p. 71
  5. ^ Epps& Kakoudaki , All about Almodóvar, p. 111
  6. ^ D’Lugo, Pedro Almodóvar, p. 74
  7. ^ a b c Smith, Desire Unlimited, p. 108
  8. ^ a b c d e f g Edwards, Almodóvar: Labyrinth of Passion, p. 109
  9. ^ Edwards, Almodóvar: Labyrinth of Passion, p. 119
  10. ^ a b c d Smith, Desire Unlimited, p. 117
  11. ^ D’Lugo, Pedro Almodóvar, p. 75
  12. ^ a b Smith, Desire Unlimited, p. 114
  13. ^ Smith, Desire Unlimited, p. 107
  14. ^ Edwards, Almodóvar: Labyrinth of Passion, p. 114
  15. ^ Epps& Kakoudaki , All about Almodóvar, p. 109
  16. ^ Allison, A Spanish Labyrinth, p. 196
  17. ^ Strauss, Almodóvar on Almodóvar, p. 115
  18. ^ Allison, A Spanish Labyrinth, p. 199
  19. ^ Smith, Desire Unlimited, p. 118

References

  • Allinson, Mark. A Spanish Labyrinth: The Films of Pedro Almodóvar, I.B Tauris Publishers, 2001, ISBN 1-86064-507-0
  • D’ Lugo, Marvin: Pedro Almodóvar, University of Illinois Press, 2006, ISBN 0-252-073614 - 4
  • Edwards, Gwyne. Almodóvar: Labyrinths of Passion. London: Peter Owen. 2001, ISBN 0-7206-1121-0
  • Epps, Brad and Kakoudaki, Despina edit. All about Almodóvar. University of Minnesota Press, 2009, ISBN 078-0-8166-4961-7
  • Smith, Paul Julian. Desire Unlimited: The Cinema of Pedro Almodóvar. Verso, 2000, ISBN 9781859843048
  • Strauss, Frederick. Almodóvar on Almodóvar, Faber and Faber, 2006, ISBN 0-571-23192-6

See also

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