Matador [1986] dir Almodovar

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Matador (1986)


http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091495/

Matador is a 1986 film by Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar about a student matador, Ángel Jimenez (Antonio Banderas), who confesses to murders he didn't commit. Themes include sex, death, and religion.

Assumpta Serna ... María
Antonio Banderas ... Ángel
Nacho Martínez ... Diego
Eva Cobo ... Eva
Julieta Serrano ... Berta
Chus Lampreave ... Pilar
Carmen Maura ... Julia
Eusebio Poncela ... Comisario
Bibiana Fernández ... Vendedora Flores (as Bibi Andersen)
Luis Ciges ... Guarda
Eva Siva ... Asistenta María y Diego
Verónica Forqué ... Periodista
Pepa Merino ... Secretaria María
Lola Peno ... Alumna 1ª
Marisa Tejada ... Alumna 2ª

Matador is a dark, complex story that centers on the relationship between a former bullfighter and a murderous female lawyer, both of whom can only experience sexual fulfillment in conjunction with killing. The film offered up desire as a bridge between sexual attraction and death.

Matador drew away from the naturalism and humor of the director’s previous work into a deeper and darker terrain. Almodóvar established the interrelation between sexuality and violence as seen in his cinematographic quotation of the final sequence from King Vidor’s Duel in the Sun. The violent elements of the film caused some controversy. Almodóvar justified his use of violence explaining "The moral of all my films is to get to a stage of greater freedom." Almodóvar went on to note, "I have my own morality. And so do my films. If you see Matador through the perspective of traditional morality, it's a dangerous film because it's just a celebration of killing. Matador is like a legend. I don't try to be realistic; it's very abstract, so you don't feel identification with the things that are happening, but with the sensibility of this kind of romanticism".