Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #38570 in DVD
• Released on: 2001-01-16
• Rating: X (Mature Audiences Only)
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Formats: Anamorphic, Color, DVD, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: Spanish
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 111 minutes

Amazon.com essential video
Perhaps only Pedro Almodóvar could come up with a story about a mental patient who stalks and kidnaps an ex-porn star--and turn it into a tender love story. But that's exactly what happens in Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!, a lively installment from the Spanish director's wacky middle period (after the scruffy early films, and before his mature melodramas). Two of Almodóvar's sexiest stars, Antonio Banderas and Victoria Abril, play the leads: a cracked young man with dreams of bourgeois domesticity, and an actress who used to specialize in porno and heroin. Despite that fact that he binds her limbs with cord when he leaves the house, he always returns with a cheerful "I'm home!" For all Almodóvar's outrageousness, there's a touch of classical Hollywood in his construction. And while this movie is not for the politically correct, it does play by its own warped rules. --Robert Horton

From The New Yorker
This Pedro Almodóvar's movie gets off to a fast start, like a windup toy, but it runs out of momentum early, and Almodóvar can't figure out how to start it up again. The story, about a released mental patient (Antonio Banderas) who follows a sexy actress (Victoria Abril) and then takes her prisoner, seems to tie the director's wild imagination down, and his efforts to keep his (and the audience's) blood circulating betray some desperation. Neither the kidnapper's romantic obsession nor his captive's eventual love for him is especially convincing. And we don't fully enjoy the perverse humor of the situation, either: we've seen the victim subdued by a hard slap, and that image is too strong to forget. The limpness of "Tie Me Up!" suggests that Almodóvar is either a confused director or a tired one-probably a bit of both. It's as if he had made the movie solely to satisfy the public's demand for a new Almodóvar film. Also with Francisco Rabal, Loles Leon, and Lola Cardona. Screenplay by Almodóvar. In Spanish. -Terrence Rafferty
Copyright © 2006 The New Yorker

Customer Reviews

The Wild & Erotic World of Almodovar
Pedro Almodovar followed up the success of his international hit, "Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown," with this wild, erotic comic fantasy starring his long-time leading man and soon-to-be Hollywood star, Antonio Banderas.

Fresh from his incarceration from an asylum in Madrid, Banderas plays a ex-lunatic who leaves in search of the object of his affection, a popular Spanish porn star (played by Victoria Abril).

After meeting, then kidnapping her, Banderas' character is more determined to make her fall in love with him, and does whatever he needs to do in order to win her love. However, Abril, refuses to love a man who has made her a prisoner of her own home. The title, which is a translation of its' original Spanish title, "Atame!," reflects the method Banderas uses to coax and subdue Abril's character in falling in love with him (he ties her up in her bedroom).

While the story seems far-fetched at times, the chemistry that Banderas and Abril emit makes the film work. Supporting actresses Maria Barranco and Rosie de Palma lend their unique comic talents in helping the director weave a tale of love and desire that only Almodovar can tell.

Upon release in the United States, this film was slapped with the newly created and feared NC-17 rating due to his sexual themes and minor violence. Compared to R rated films of the present such as "Basic Instinct" and "The Matrix," this film is tame. Refusing to edit his work, Almodovar criticized the MPAA for its' decision to market the film with an NC-17 rating. Due to this rating, the film did not do too well at the box office as expected.

This film marks Banderas' final film in Spain, before departing to the United States to start his successful career in Hollywood. The film contains glimpses of Banderas' backside, as well as a whole lot of Abril's figure, and the sexual scenes are soft-core porn quality. If you are offended by glimpses of the naked body or sexual themes, then skip this film.

"Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!" is one of Almodovar's rare gems. As a true master of the Spanish cinema, his work truly reflects his gifted talent. A great film with a comic ending!

A fun dark comedy
If you are easily turned off my dark humor, this movie is not for you. This movie can evoke strong feelings, so either you will love it or hate it. I am one on the I loved it side. This movie is by Aldomovar, a director that often pushes the normal limits of society. Where else can a drug addicted movie star, become kidnapped and fall in love with her captor (played by Antonio Bandaras). A very enjoyable movie for the right person.

Subverting types!
When originally writing this film, Pedro Almodovar asked himself the question "Can love be calculated or sketched the same way one could study for an exam?" This is certainly the conviction of the Antonio Banderas character who seeks to capture his former lover and eventually convince her of her love for him. Although one could initially interpret the theme of the film as overtly misogynist - man tries to physically force woman to love him - gender stereotypes are typically subverted in true Almodovarian fashion.

It would seem that the women are the figures of power in this film and both Ricky and wheelchair-bound film director Maximo are at a loss in trying to seduce the object of their desire in any conventional sense. They are both addicted to Marina, but the only thing she's ever been addicted to is heroin. By the end of the film the Antonio Banderas character is almost totally domesticated, making food, cleaning the appartment, making sure Marina has enough drugs etc.

There's also the reference to the Sacred Heart at the beginning of the film and masochism has often been perceived in some of the more archaic rituals of our Roman church.

None of these subtleties were apparantly noticed by the American classification board who initially wanted to give this film an 'X' rating because of playing with toys in the bath! (?)