Pedro Almodóvar
Matador
Edition 2023
110'
-
1986
-
Drama, Thriller
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Dialogue:
Spanish
Director:
Pedro Almodóvar
Composer:
Bernardo Bonezzi
With:
Assumpta Serna, Antonio Banderas, Nacho Martínez
Matador is a provocative exploration of dark desires, twisted obsessions, and the fine line between lust and death. Directed by Pedro Almodóvar, this seductive thriller weaves together the entangled lives of a tormented bullfighter and a passionate female lawyer, offering a visually stunning and emotionally charged journey into the depths of human sexuality and violence.
This baroque, sensual, and surreal comedy from Almodovar's early period revolves around the connection between sex and death. While variations on the Eros-Thanatos theme often lead to profound contemplations, in Almodovar's case, there is primarily irony, black humor, and fiery theatricality, reminiscent of the best of Cocteau and Bunuel. Diego is a former bullfighter who only becomes aroused when watching slasher films; Maria is a lawyer who treats her lovers like bulls and fatally stabs them in the neck with a hairpin during the climax of lovemaking; Angel is Diego's student who turns to murder. Almodovar provocatively revels in this dark comedy, constantly flirts with the forbidden, but in such a exuberantly playful manner that you can't help but burst into laughter.
"Matador is a typically vibrant, flashy and visual opulent example of Almodovar’s early work. He pursues his favourite pastime of stripping away the layers of bourgeois respectability in search of private vices in a film that showcases his admirable Eighties stock compony of actors." - Classic Movie Review
Image gallery
Credits
Director
Pedro Almodóvar
Composer
Bernardo Bonezzi
With
Assumpta Serna, Antonio Banderas, Nacho Martínez
Scenario
Pedro Almodóvar, Jesús Ferrero
Director of Photography
Ángel Luis Fernández
Editor
José Salcedo
Production studios
Compañía Iberoamericana de TV
More information
Dialogue
Spanish
Countries of production
Spain
Year
1986
Filmography
Pedro Almodóvar
Film político (short, 1974), Dos putas, o historia de amor que termina en boda (short, 1974), La caída de Sódoma (short, 1975), Homenaje (short, 1975), El sueño, o la estrella (short, 1975), Blancor (short, 1975), Tráiler de 'Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf' (short, 1976), Sea caritativo (short, 1976), Muerte en la carretera (short, 1976), Sexo va, sexo viene (short, 1977) Las tres ventajas de onte (short, 1977), Complementos (short, 1977), Salomé (short, 1978), Folle... folle... fólleme Tim! (1978) Pepi, Luci, Bom and Other Girls Like Mom (1980), Labyrinth of Passion (1982), Dark Habits (1983), What Have I Done to Deserve This? (1984), Matador (1986), Law of Desire (1987), Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (1988), Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! (1989), High Heels (1991), Kika (1993), The Flower of My Secret (1995), Live Flesh (1997), All About My Mother (1999), Talk to Her (2002), Bad Education (2004), Volver (2006), The Cannibalistic Councillor (short, 2009), Broken Embraces (2009), The Skin I Live In (2011), I'm so Excited (2013), Julieta (2016), Pain and Glory (2019), The Human Voice (short, 2020), Parallel Mothers (2021), Strange Way of Life (short, 2023)
