Matador [Widescreen]

In “Madador”, Pedro Almodovar’s fifth feature, the director combines sex and death in quintessential Almodovar style. After his earlier, more outrageous comedies (“What have I done to deserve this”, “Dark habits”, “Labyrinth of passion”), Almodovar moved into more sombre terrain with this mediation on eroticism, death and bullfighting. Of course this doesn’t mean that “Matador” doesn’t have it’s own share of outrageous moments, as it mixes notions of machismo and sadomasochism to lurid effect. The film’s perverse story revolves around two fatalistic star cross lovers, one an ex-bullfighter (Nacho Martinez), the other a serial killing lawyer (Assumpta Serena), both bound together by their taste for blood and an erotic predilection for murder. The film draws in many varied influences, most notably the 1946 Hollywood melodrama, “Duel in the sun”, another sumptuous paean to sexual perversity and death. Cast includes Antonio Banderas, Carmen Maura and Eva Como. In Spanish with English subtitles.