Almodovar (Vol. 2) DVD | Movie Mail UK | DVDs and Blu-ray films direct

Star Review

After the extreme storylines of his first features, peppered with masochist housewives, porn-writing nuns and death by hambone, Pedro Almodóvar's oeuvre began to mature in the mid-1980s. Although still excessive, his style now allowed less heightened emotions from his actors, and permitted audiences to emphathise with his characters, rather than simply look on in shock. In Flower Of My Secret, the potentially laughable Leo behaves ostentatiously, yet her deep love for her distanced husband is movingly portrayed. Carmen Maura's male-female transsexual lesbian in Law of Desire is similarly a warm, likeable character rather than a freak. But an early Almodóvar film would not be an Almodóvar film without outrageous moments, and here he gives us explicit gay sex in Law Of Desire, a murderess whose weapon of choice is a hatpin in Matador, and, most controversially, a lengthy rape scene played for laughs in the barking mad Kika. All four films on this set have great moments, but the pick of the bunch is Law Of Desire, which features a heady depiction of the nature of love and obsession and wonderful performances, particularly from Maura and a pre-Hollywood Antonio Banderas.

Alex Davidson on 1st May 2006

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