Pedro Almodovar has to be one of my all time favorite directors. If I was ever to have the privilege of directing movies, I think he would be at the top of my lists of inspirations. There are similar themes that run throughout all of his films--sex, mistaken identity, women, death--and he employs the same distinctive style--camp, melodrama, bright colors. This said, his films rarely become tedious, or repetitive. Like all great directors he ha had his share of pictures with opportunities for improvement, but his masterpieces Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, Talk to Her, and All About About My Mother transcend style and theme, and create a new artistry that is solely his own (my favorite of his is Volver, but that is personal taste, and I know intellectually that it does not compare with the former three).
Live Flesh is not one of those masterpieces, however there are scenes in this film that brim with creativity, spontaneity, and life; he does work that ranks among my most favorite scenes of his. It is a story of how carnal desires lead people down the wrong path even though they might have good intentions, and how--on occasion--those with duplicitous intent end up getting all that they want and more.
The movie opens on a prostitute (Penelope Cruz) and her madame trying to get to a hospital as she goes into labor. The baby comes to quickly and they have to birth the boy on an out-of-service bus. He is born on Christmas. The boy is Victor, and the plot begins 20 years later with him tracking down a girl that he had met a week previous. She is a young junkie (possibly also a hooker, but they never say so explicitly), and he shows up at her apartment much to her displeasure. After a bout of frustration a gunshot goes off signaling the arrival of two cops: Sancho, an alcoholic wife-beater, and David (played by Javier Bardem). After a another tussle between Sancho and Victor, a second gunshot goes out hitting David in the spine.
Years later Victor is released from prison with vendetta on his mind, and a plan in hand. Sex becomes his weapon of choice, although he is a 26 year virgin, and he starts on a quest to break the hearts of those that put him away. He finds the junkie, now rehabilitated and married to the wheelchair-ridden David, and forces his way back into her life. He also meets another woman, Clara, from whom he receives instructions in the art of sex. She offers more to the plot than first meets the eye, however, and will prove central to the rest of the story.That is all that I want to say about the plot. As I mentioned before, Almodovar's films are all about melodrama, and this story unfolds like a telenovela with twists around every corner, and characters fueled by impulse.
My main issue with this film is that many of the relationships happen with very little precedence. I did not understand why some people reformed their ways, or why they would choose to fall for the people that they did. The cahracters in this film try things on the spur of the moment, but the longer lasting and more meaningful relationships seemed slightly like they were created simply for the purpose of the plot. But perhaps my imagination is simply not good enough to fill in the holes.
That point addressed, I thought this movie was wonderful. That acting was terrific from most of the cast--Bardem was a bit shaky, but Liberto Rabal (playing Victor) is a beautiful man with beautiful talents who held his own as the lead. The first 15 minutes of the film are amazing, are glorious, are everything I love about the movies. I only wish that it continued on for more of the film. There were terrific moments throughout, but I wish that it had been maintained consistently. If that were the case I might rank it among his best work--the potential was there.
3.5/4
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