Law of Desire
Chazen Museum of Art 750 University Ave., Madison, Wisconsin 53706
press release: LAW OF DESIRE (LA LEY DEL DESEO)
Spain | 1987 | 35mm | 102 min. | Spanish with English subtitles
Director: Pedro Almodóvar; Cast: Eusebio Poncela, Antonio Banderas, Carmen Maura
A gay love triangle forms the basis for one of Almodóvar’s most erotically charged films. This steamy tale of lust and obsession begins when a director, temporarily abandoned by his lover, hooks up with a closeted stalker (Banderas, young and hunky). When it becomes clear that none of the three can fully possess the others, one of them will have to be eliminated. Law of Desire was the first film produced by El Deseo, the company founded by the Almodóvar brothers, achieving a newfound creative control that is evident in every carefully designed frame. This is one of the most personal of Almodóvar’s early works, and the director has referred to it as “the key film of my life and career.”
Sunday Cinematheque at the Chazen: The Cinema of Pedro Almodóvar
For our Fall Sunday afternoon series at the Chazen Museum of Art, we will screen the beautiful and influential work of contemporary Spanish cinema’s best-known filmmaker, Pedro Almodóvar. A veritable industry onto himself, Almodóvar, as a writer, producer and director, has carved out a substantial slice of the international moviegoing audience for his classically told tales of offbeat lives and offbeat love. Almodóvar is an artist who does not hide his cinematic influences but every aspect of his work – from production design to storytelling techniques - always feels decidedly personal.
All Cinematheque screenings are free and open to the public.