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| One telling, humorously ambiguous poster, ripe with sexual innuendo for Pedro Almodovár's Labyrinth of Passion |
A female nymphomaniac pop star falls in love with a gay, Middle-Eastern prince.
Labyrinth of Passion is written by Terry Lennox (Hungry for You (1996)) and Spanish master filmmaker, co-writer/director Pedro Almodóvar (Folle... Folle... Fólleme Tim! (1978)), whose 3rd feature it is.
It was made at the height of the Movida Madrileña period in Spanish film, near its end: A period of artistic wildness, experiments in sexuality and drugs, frivolity and hedonism coming after Spanish dictator Franco's death in 1975 and before the fatal arrival of AIDS in the 1980s.
The one-line plot outline above is just the main narrative center of the film, which is also about a dry cleaner's daughter, who is raped by her delusional father every other day; a gay terrorist who falls in love with the prince he is supposed to assassinate; a psychotherapist who is mad to make love to an old gynecologist, who loathes sex, until he has sex with his daughter. And a porn star. And a punk band. ...
It sounds chaotic and wild, and it is, and yet somehow it doesn't feel nearly as wild as it sounds. Some of that comes from the fact that all the incest and sex talk in Labyrinth carries no weight or importance with it whatsoever. The way it handles incest is shallow, (some will say offensive), if we need to be honest, and we need to since incest is such a serious issue.
It is all made in a sort of liberated craze, where none of the actions of the characters bear much weight; perhaps because Almodovár here swears to the super-light screwball comedy format, and still wants to throw heavy topics into his film.
In any case, Labyrinth of Passion is not a very good film. It among Almodovár's weakest films that I have seen, and it looks like a bunch of experiments and film-schooling in direction and storytelling that obviously paid off, because Almodovár became so incredibly good at it just a little later on, (his Law of Desire (1987), for instance, is a fantastic film.)
The fun basic idea that the script here reportedly came out of was that Madrid should be seen as the world's most important city; 'a city everyone came to, and where anything could happen.' This locally championing optimism carries some on into the finished film, but Almodovár has also admitted about the film himself: "I like the film even if it could have been better made. The main problem is that the story of the two leads is much less interesting than the stories of all the secondary characters. But precisely because there are so many secondary characters, there's a lot in the film I like."
While Labyrinth of Passion is not funny or smart enough to be a good film, and narratively is something of a jumble, it does feature Antonio Banderas (Law of Desire (1987)) in his second film, (the first, (1982), premiered 8 days before Labyrinth of Passion), among many other Spanish actors, of whom none, however, can be said to really stick out and distinguish themselves in this film. Banderas plays
the gay terrorist, who becomes infatuated with the prince he is
supposed to help assassinate. With his heightened sense of smell, he
tries to find the prince again in Madrid. Banderas is certainly one of the film's mollifying elements.
Related posts:
Pedro Almodóvar: 2019 in films - according to Film Excess
Pain and Glory/Dolor y Gloria (2019) - Almodóvar's 8½
I'm So Excited!/Los Amantes Pasajeros (2013) - Almodóvar flees with unfavorable comedy
The Skin I Live In/La Piel que Habito (2011) or, Almodóvar's Extreme Make-Over
Broken Embraces/Los Abrazos Rotos (2009) or, Mysteries in Love and Life
Talk to Her/Hable con Ella (2002) - Almodóvar's beautiful coma love drama
Live Flesh/Carne Trémula (1997) or, A Spanish Fix
The Flower of My Secret/La Flor de Mi Secreto (1995) - Paredes star turn in charming Almodóvar work
High Heels/Tacones Lejanos (1991) - Superficially worthwhile Almodóvar crime melodrama
Labyrinth of Passion/Laberinto de Pasiones (1982) - Sexual mix-ups in screwball Madrileña style
Cost: 21 mil. ESP, approximately 161k $
Box office: 98.6 mil. ESP, approximately 755k $ (Spain only)
= Big hit (returned 4.69 times its cost)
[Labyrinth of Passion premiered 25 September (San Sebastián Film Festivail) and runs 100 minutes. The budget, though small, was more than 3 times that of Almodóvar's preceding film, Pepi, Luci, Bom and Other Girls on the Heap/Pepi, Luci, Bom y Otras Chicas del Montón (1980). Shooting took place in Spain, including in Madrid, co-financed by local cinema chain Alphaville. One of Alphaville's Madrid cinemas kept screening the film at midnight for a decade. The film played solely in Spain until several years later, when it started spreading to more markets, as Almodóvar's star grew. Almodóvar returned with Dark Habits/Entre Tinieblas (1983). Cecilia Roth (El Angel (2018)) returned in Octubre, 12 (1982, short) and theatrically in Best Seller (1982); Imanol Arias (De Sable et de Feu (2019)) in La Colmena (1982); and Banderas in Y del Seguro... Líbranos Señor! (1983). Labyrinth of Passion is fresh at 92 % with a 7.60/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]
What do you think of Labyrinth of Passion?
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