Matador

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Dani G I think this is the first non-comedy of Pedro's filmography. It still feels very raw, but it still shows a lot of prowess from its previous films, approaching more the style it will develop in his subsequent films... Rated 2.5/5 Stars •  Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 08/25/25 Full Review M R A pretty dark comedy/mystery film. Very well acted and a weird story to be honest. But good overall. The performances are excellent. But it's like the whole film just led to that one punchline in the end. It felt quite inconclusive to me, but it works. Grade: 80/100 B- Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 10/02/23 Full Review Audience Member Movie sucks, just fast forward to the interesting parts Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/28/23 Full Review слободан е No me ha gustado mucho! Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member Seductive on the eye, and dreamlike in the fantasy of Sex and Violence. Very convicted and lucid. Rated 4.5/5 Stars •  Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 01/14/23 Full Review Audience Member Diego Montes (Nacho Martínez) is a bullfighter, forced into early retirement by a goring, and he finds sexual gratification viewing videos of violent deaths. In retirement he teaches bullfighting, and among his students is Ángel (Antonio Banderas), a diffident young man who suffers from vertigo. After class one day, Diego asks Ángel if he is homosexual, noting that he is not experienced with women. Ángel says he is not and vows to prove himself. Later that day, Ángel attempts to rape Eva (Eva Cobo), a model who is both his neighbour and Diego's girlfriend. As she is leaving him, she trips in the mud and gashes her cheek. At the sight of her blood, Ángel faints.The next day, Ángel's mother insists that he go to church as a condition of living in her home. After mass, she insists that he go to confession, but instead of confessing to the priest, he goes to the police station to confess to the rape. When Eva is brought to the station, she says he ejaculated before penetrating her and declines to press charges. Alone with the police detective (Eusebio Poncela), Ángel notices photos of dead men with the same wound. He confesses to having killed them. The detective then asks about two missing women, who were also students of Diego, and Ángel confesses to killing them as well. Although Ángel is able to lead the police to the bodies of the missing women, buried outside Diego's home, the police detective is not convinced. He questions how Ángel could have buried them there without Diego's knowledge, then discovers that Ángel has an alibi for the murder of one of the men. Finally, he discovers that Ángel faints at the sight of blood. Meanwhile, Ángel's lawyer, María Cardenal (Assumpta Serna), the killer of the men, begins to suspect that Diego killed the two women students. She takes Diego to a remote house where she has been collecting memorabilia related to Diego since she first saw him kill a bull. They return to Diego's home, where Eva, who wants to convince Diego not to break up with her, overhears enough to realize that they are the killers... Pedro Almodovar´s "Matador" is a dark tale of sadism, masochism, bullfighting, perverted sexualities and sexual violence and outsiders on the edge of society with a twist of dark humour. Made during the La Movida Madrileña (a countercultural movement that took place mainly in Madrid during the Spanish transition after Francisco Franco's death in 1975. It represented the resurrection of the economy in Spain and the emergence of a new Spanish identity.) I reckon Almodovar saw his chance to go all in with with this depraved story at that point and do whatever to "shock" people in the cinema. It´s a dynamic film with a slightly crazy plotline draped in strong colours as we often have seen Almodovar´s films. It is a bit theatrical in the acting and performances, but that also fits the film. We do get great performances from specifically the stunning Assumpta Serna and Nacho Martinez while Banderas is not 100% convincing in my eyes. Not Almodovar´s best, but well worth a watch for the unique story and the performances. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/21/23 Full Review Read all reviews

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