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Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! Details

1990 Certificate 18
  • 60
  • from 6935 members

Antonio Banderas caught the world's attention with his portrayal of Ricky, an orphaned mental patient who stalks and kidnaps Marina (Victoria Abril), a porn actress and junkie, in order to make her love him in this decided departure for iconoclastic Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodovar. Suspense, tension, and uneasy humour mingle .. Read more

Starring Victoria Abril, Antonio Banderas, Francisco Rabal, Loles Leon
Director Pedro Almodovar
Genres Drama, World Cinema

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Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!

Antonio Banderas caught the world's attention with his portrayal of Ricky, an orphaned mental patient who stalks and kidnaps Marina (Victoria Abril), a porn actress and junkie, in order to make her love him in this decided departure for iconoclastic Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodovar. Suspense, tension, and uneasy humour mingle as Marina grapples with her addictive nature, a very bad toothache, and her own confusion about the need to be loved and the need for freedom. Meanwhile, Maximo (Francisco Rabal), an aging director who has just shot Marina's latest film, finds himself obsessed with her, while sister Lola (Loles Leon) worries Marina might be back on drugs and starts trying to track her down. The tension mounts as her sister closes in, and Marina becomes torn by her desire to escape and her growing affection for her captor. Almodovar followed up his hit WOMEN ON THE VERGE OF A NERVOUS BREAKDOWN with this controversial, steamy thriller that contains nudity and some very passionate sex. The cast includes Almodovar regulars Rossy de Palma, Julieta Serrano, and Marfa Barranco and features a tense musical score by Ennio Morricone.

Starring Victoria Abril, Antonio Banderas, Francisco Rabal, Loles Leon, Julieta Serrano
Director Pedro Almodovar
Studio PATHE DISTRIBUTION
Run time DVD: 1 hr 37 mins
Certificate Certificate 18
Genres Drama, World Cinema
Language DVD: Spanish
Hearing-impaired English
Subtitles DVD: English
Released DVD: 27 Dec 2004
Production year: 1990
  • Critics' reviews (3) of Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!

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  • 2 stars out of 5

    Actress and former porn star Victoria Abril is kidnapped by Antonio Banderas, who's recently been released from psychiatric care. He hopes that she'll eventually fall in love with him and start the family he's always wanted, in Pedro Almodóvar's unfocused and lurid tale of kinky sex and bondage. The fact that Abril does indeed fall for her captor makes this darkly orgiastic comedy of terrors and errors one of the more controversial entries in the Spanish wunderkind's cult camp canon. It's distressingly superficial and the disquieting knotty romance fails to convince, despite the incendiary chemistry between the two leads.

    • Radio Times
  • Shallow and glib, all surface and no substance, poorly constructed and flashily photographed, it nevertheless found some vociferous admirers.

    • Halliwell's Film Guide
  • Most helpful member's review of Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!

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  • 15 out of 15 people found this review helpful

    Rated - 3 stars

    Sexy, stylish and rather challenging!

    Ricky (played by a very cute young Antonio Banderas) is released from a mental institution. Being resourceful, optimistic, and single-minded, he heads straight ... more

      • birdieann from U.K.
  • Most recent members' review of Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!

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  • 2 out of 2 people found this review helpful

    * * * This review contains spoilers * * *ShowHide

    Rated - 3 stars [Highly rated reviewer]

    OK but not Almadovar's best

  • News and features

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    High Heels

    Vote for Pedro!
    Almodovar’s Brilliant Career

    • 25 Aug 2009

    The name of Pedro Almodóvar’s production company is El Deseo: Desire films. It’s a quality much in evidence in the vividly carnal, erotic, outrageous and anguished melodramas in which he specializes. Desire – a word that contains lust, love, venality, revenge and ambition – propels his characters as they careen from crisis to crisis, which must be why Almodovar’s heroes and (more often) heroines are almost always in a state of heightened agitation. If we had an... Read more

Rating breakdown

6,935 Member ratings
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482
  • 90
487
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1,267
  • 70
1,354
  • 60
1,462
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720
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495
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284
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256
  • 10
128

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    • Antonio Banderas caught the world's attention with his portrayal of Ricky, an orphaned mental patient who stalks and kidnaps Marina (Victoria Abril), a porn actress and junkie, in order to make her ...