Feßle mich!

After all I heard and read about this movie, I think this one of the most commonly misunderstood movies ever. It is not a comedy (although sometimes bizarre). It is NOT a glorification of violence. It is not about S/M or Bondage (which occurs between consenting parties). It's message is NOT that if you tie up and beat a woman, she will love you in return.

This is a movie about two people who are unable to master life on their own. This has led Ricky to the mental ward and Marina to being a drug-addicted porn star, who just happens to have a streak of luck because a movie director is completely obsessed with her. In the end, the two have found each other and it looks as if together, they can find the happiness and home they always were looking for. Beautiful...

Yes, Ricky's method of convincing Marina to love him is horrible and unacceptable. His attitude toward women and life in general is seriously twisted, and he just cannot think of any other way to get what he needs to fulfill his desire of living what he considers an ordinary life. Why does Marina fall for it? Probably because he's the first person who ever seemed to care about her. He fights to get her, he fights to help her. Even if his interest in her is ruthless and possessive, it is a genuine, deep interest and that is what she has been missing all her life.

I found Atame to be a fascinating and remarkable movie. Watch it open-minded and try to look beneath the pure surface of the plot, and you will be moved and captivated by its beauty.

An unbalanced but alluring former mental patient (Antonio Banderas) takes a porn star (Victoria Abril) prisoner in the hopes of convincing her to marry him.

How can anyone deny the beautiful, almost dreamlike use of color in this film? Trying to find anything comparable is a challenge. The musicals of Jacques Demy? No, not even those.

"Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!" comes from a strong pedigree, as it follows in the myth of Beauty and the Beast and the notion that the savagery of the Beast is, in the presence of Beauty, tamed by gentler feelings. This has been a recurrent theme in films like "King Kong", "Frankenstein" and "Tarzan the Ape Man". Some have even drawn parallels to "Seven Brides For Seven Brothers" in that kidnapping can lead to romance.

The soundtrack was composed by Ennio Morricone in the style of a thriller and is reminiscent of Bernard Herrmann's score for Alfred Hitchcock's "Psycho". This music changes the whole tone. Some consider the film a "dark romantic comedy" and others even say there is a hint of horror in there. Much of the mood relies on the music -- with a lighter tone, this could just be an "offbeat" romantic comedy and not a "dark" one -- there is very little about the film that is dark besides the music.

Ricky (Antonio Banderas) is released from a mental hospital. He is obsessed with former porn actress Marina Osorio (Victoria Abril) who he slept with once before. She's trying to go straight and working for a lascivious director. Ricky breaks into her home and takes her prisoner. He wants to make her fall in love with him but she doesn't remember him.

Filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar delivers another sexually daring movie. The most memorable scene is probably Marina in the bathtub with a scuba diver toy. Both Banderas and Abril are compelling leads. If anything, I would like for them to spend the entire time in the apartment as a two person play. It would be intriguing to see Almodóvar push his writing skills and let his two stars play with the material.

Antonio Banderas was truly in his form and height of career when he was cast in Almovodar's Spanish movies. Banderas portrayed innocence and simplicity of character in these early movies that Hollywood always seems to make large and gloss over any sort of character development. There is something that Hollywood seems to drain away and leave behind in the character of people, yet Banderas/Almovodar capture so perfectly the average man/woman and portray them in interesting ways. Atame (Tie Me Up, Tie Me Down) is a delicious little movie about a crook who falls in love with an actress. To get her attention, he kidnaps her and the fun begins. Almovodar's movies are always filled with quirky characters, funny dialogue and plot twists. To see Antonio Banderas at his finest playing a simple man who falls in love but has some issues..Atame is a cute, touching movie to rent.

As this film opens Ricky learns that he is to be released from the mental institution that he has been confined to for the last few years. Upon release he immediately sets about finding Marina, a woman he spent the night with after escaping a year previously. Marina is now a 'proper' actress but at the time she met Ricky she was a porn star with a drug problem. Ricky goes to the film set then follows her home; once inside her apartment he knocks her out and ties her up. When she awakens he tells her that it is his intention that she will fall in love with him.

I found this film to be a lot of fun; it is frequently very funny, occasionally very sexy and more than a little bit morally twisted! Victoria Abril and Antonia Banderas are really solid as Marina and Ricky making it is easy to believe their characters' rather different relationship. Early on there is a sense of menace as Ricky kidnaps and threatens Marina, this however is tempered by various more humorous elements such as them needing to get medication for her toothache and Ricky's disguises in a couple of scenes. The way the story is filmed is more in the way of a romantic comedy then anything menacing; lots of bright colours and an airy apartment rather than subdued tones and some stark grey cellar. Some may find the ending rather offensive but if you don't take the film too seriously it is easy to accept and enjoy. Overall I'd certainly recommend this to anybody looking for a 'rom-com' with a twist; it won't be for everybody though thanks to the way our two leads get together.

These comments are based on watching the film in Spanish with English subtitles.