butterworth@a1.mscf.upenn.edu (David N. Butterworth) (07/18/89)
MATADOR
Reviewed by David N. Butterworth
Copyright 1989 David N. Butterworth/The Summer Pennsylvanian
MATADOR is a film about sex. Not sex as even the most liberal of us would
admit to knowing it, but obsessive sex -- palpable, intoxicating, self-
destructive. The sexual images in this film are sweaty and engrossing and all
encompassing. MATADOR may be in Spanish with English subtitles but sex -- on
any level -- is a universal language.
Diego Montes, played in the film by Nacho Martinez, is the matador of the
title, El Maestro, retired from bullfighting after having been savagely gored
by a bull in the ring. He walks with a limp, drives a Mercedes and his
chiseled features remind one of a Latin Jeremy Irons. Women would kill for
him, if not on account of him.
Reduced to teaching his art to Spain's young and impressionable, Diego
hopes to mould a young trainee toreador, Angel Gimenez (played with gusto by
Antonio Banderas). Angel reminds him of how he once was, passionate and
altogether fearless.
Diego is surprised at Angel's lack of experience with women, however, and
casts casual aspersions as to the young man's sexuality. Incensed by the very
suggestion, Angel promptly rapes Diego's girlfriend Eva Soler (played by Eva
Cobo in a sensitively understated role) in an attempt to regain his pride and
indirectly punish his mentor.
Concerned by his subsequent brooding, and that he might have done wrong,
Angel's overtly religious mother insists that he tell all in the confessional.
Instead, Angel heads directly for the local police station where he not only
confesses to the rape, but falsely admits to a number of recent murders. If
this is his way of proving his manhood, well ... talk about major
psychological problems!
A pretty young defense attorney, Maria Cardenal (the vivacious Assumpta
Serna), takes on Angel's case. "Four murders are enough to begin with," she
tells him. But we later discover that her interests are less with Angel than
with his tutor. She sees her involvement with the young prodigy as a way of
getting closer to Diego, a man with whom, we learn, she has more than a passing
interest. The interest is mutual, however. Diego follows her into a movie
theater showing King Vidor's DUEL IN THE SUN. While the two barely acknowledge
each other's presence, the resulting scene is a classic of flaring nostrils and
heavy breathing.
Maria, we discover, is a lot like the character in Erica Jong's FEAR OF
FLYING. She, too, is in search of the ultimate orgasm, that which transcends
all others. She has followed Diego's bloody career in the arena from afar,
collecting his memorabilia, adoring his very being. She admits that, at the
moment of sexual climax, she imitates him, using a stiletto-shaped hairpin as
her picador's lance.
When it becomes apparent that Angel's connection to the murders was a
complete fabrication, the film's emphasis shifts to Diego and we discover that
not only are his hands less than clean, but neither are those of his fervent
admirer Maria.
Other than the videotaped recording of his final day in the ring, a morbid
reminder which Diego watches with curious fascination, there are no scenes of
actual bullfighting in this picture. Human beings become, in effect, the bulls
of Diego's trade. "Women are like bulls," he instructs Angel. "Once you close
in on them, it's easy." And sex, if it is to be exciting, must lead to death.
Maria gets her kicks from skewering her unsuspecting sexual partners in
the throes of passion. And, similarly, Diego has found that he cannot hang up
his sword upon leaving the ring. He still finds the nape of the neck between
the shoulder blades a wondrous place, a place where life ends and death begins.
These are two people obsessed by the same sick fantasy. They are not the kind
of people you would want to take home to meet your mother!
This obsession with the marriage of sex and death has never been made more
apparent than in this film. That director (and co-screenwriter) Pedro
Almodovar keeps these dark and dirty dealings amusing throughout is a credit to
him and his craft. Almodovar, whose previous credits include last year's
Academy Award nominee WOMEN ON THE VERGE OF A NERVOUS BREAKDOWN, draws a fine
line between acceptability and poor taste.
The film is never sordid, however, always upbeat and attainable, and the
director's ability to handle such primal themes with comedic resourcefulness is
most invigorating. This is not something one would expect from a film which
opens with a scene of its leading character masturbating to video images of
women being tortured, beheaded and mutilated.
The only disappointment in the film is its reliance on a somewhat hokey
denouement concerning psychic phenomena and an eclipse of the sun. This film
is, after all, a murder mystery and these clues, placed at the very end, help
the police solve the bitter crimes. However, this ending seems jarring and out
of place in a film full of bizarre characters and less-than conventional
images. But if you're in the mood for a stylish piece of erotica, then MATADOR
should leave you panting for more.
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| Directed by: Pedro Almodovar David N. Butterworth - UNIVERSITY OF PA |
| Rating (L. Maltin): *** Internet: butterworth@a1.mscf.upenn.edu |
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