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Movies / On DVD / Live Flesh
Live Flesh

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Live Flesh (1997)

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Reviews Counted:36

Fresh:28

Rotten:8

Average Rating:7/10

Runtime: 1 hr 41 mins

Genre: Foreign Films

Synopsis: A shooting in the Madrid apartment of Elena (Francesca Neri), an Italian dope addict, leaves policeman David (Javier Bardem) a paraplegic and Victor (Liberto Rabal), her would-be date, in prison.... A shooting in the Madrid apartment of Elena (Francesca Neri), an Italian dope addict, leaves policeman David (Javier Bardem) a paraplegic and Victor (Liberto Rabal), her would-be date, in prison. Years later, Victor gets out of jail but is obsessed with Elena, now clean, sober, and married to David, who has transcended his handicap by becoming a wheelchair basketball champion. The brooding, resentful Victor starts sleeping with their friend Clara (Ángela Molina), the sexually restless wife of David's jealous, alcoholic former cop partner, and finds out some harsh truths about what really happened that fateful night. Eventually love, desire, obsession, and betrayal all whirlwind into confrontations both deadly and intensely sexual. Based on the novel by Ruth Rendell, this colorful, vibrant film from Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar overflows with rich, sensual performances and beauty captured by graceful camerawork, enhanced by a sizzling musical score by Alberto Iglesias. Penélope Cruz appears as Victor's mother, a prostitute who gives birth to him on a bus in the film's brilliant opening. [More]

Starring: Javier Bardem, Francesca Neri, Liberto Rabal, Ángela Molina

Starring: Javier Bardem, Francesca Neri, Liberto Rabal, Ángela Molina, José Sancho, Penélope Cruz, Pilar Bardem

Director: Pedro Almodóvar

Director: Pedro Almodóvar
Story: Ruth Rendell
Composer: Alberto Iglesias
Producer: Agustin Almodovar
Screenwriter: Pedro Almodóvar

[See More Credits]

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Reviews for Live Flesh

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21 - 40 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 >> >|
Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 

The overall purpose of Live Flesh, the latest and reputedly most 'mature' work from Spanish bad-boy director Pedro Almodovar, remains engigmatic.

Full Review Source: Globe and Mail | comment Comment
04/12/02
Liam Lacey
Liam Lacey
Globe and Mail

No review available.

comment Comment
01/01/00
USA Today

A stylishly steamy tale of passion and revenge.

Full Review Source: E! Online | comment Comment
01/01/00
E! Online
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Film Journal International | comment Comment
01/01/00
Film Journal International

The real trouble with this movie is that it represents the continuing departure of Almodovar from the chaotic, riotous and anti-social roots that gave his best movies their zest.

Full Review Source: San Francisco Examiner | comment Comment
01/01/00
Barbara Shulgasser
Barbara Shulgasser
San Francisco Examiner
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Jam! Movies | comment Comment
01/01/00
Bob Thompson
Bob Thompson
Jam! Movies

I can only conclude that the people who think Flower and Live Flesh represent the new, mature Almodóvar think that his earlier pictures were immature.

Full Review Source: Salon.com | comment Comment
01/01/00
Charles Taylor
Charles Taylor
Salon.com

Almodovar has a keen eye with the camera, and this helps keep us interested. His love of coincidence also creates some moments of the unexpected.

Full Review Source: Apollo Guide | comment Comment
01/01/00
Dan Jardine
Dan Jardine
Apollo Guide

Despite his erotic fixations, Pedro Almodóvar is the cinema’s last true innocent.

Full Review Source: New York Magazine | comment Comment
01/01/00
David Denby
David Denby
New York Magazine

Live Flesh is brimming with the acclaimed Spanish director's high-heeled flourishes.

Full Review Source: rec.arts.movies.reviews | comment Comment
01/01/00
David N. Butterworth
David N. Butterworth
rec.arts.movies.reviews

This film is one of Almodovar's more resolute efforts.

Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews | comment Comment
01/01/00
Dennis Schwartz
Dennis Schwartz
Ozus' World Movie Reviews

One wonders why Almodóvar even bothered.

Full Review Source: rec.arts.movies.reviews | comment Comment
01/01/00
Eric Lurio
Eric Lurio
rec.arts.movies.reviews

Pedro Almodovar is finally back on track.

Full Review Source: eye WEEKLY | comment Comment
01/01/00
Gemma Files
Gemma Files
eye WEEKLY

Remarkably taut, logical, even well framed, featuring the usual elements which make life worth living: revenge, lust, and guilt and redemption.

Full Review Source: Compuserve | comment Comment
01/01/00
Harvey S. Karten
Harvey S. Karten
Compuserve

Even the film's title -- which is never explained -- seems a celebration of the vibrancy and sensuality of life. But, as the film also points out, the celebration is often tinged with regret and recrimination.

Full Review Source: Rochester Democrat and Chronicle | comment Comment
01/01/00
Jack Garner
Jack Garner
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle

Like the gorgeous cinematography (which is used to good effect to eroticize a sex scene), this is all part of Almodovar's stylistic package. Never has it been more impressive than here, where everything (not just the flesh) is vibrant with life.

Full Review Source: ReelViews | comment Comment
01/01/00
James Berardinelli
James Berardinelli
ReelViews

Almodovar, whose work here has newly sophisticated polish, appreciates the dark twists of this story along with the eroticism that bring heat to all the scheming.

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
01/01/00
Janet Maslin
Janet Maslin
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Almodovar's storytelling is as outrageously stylish and compelling as it's ever been, though some of the character developments are disappointingly downbeat.

Full Review Source: Deseret News, Salt Lake City | comment Comment
01/01/00
Jeff Vice
Jeff Vice
Deseret News, Salt Lake City
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Sacramento Bee | comment Comment
01/01/00
Joe Baltake
Joe Baltake
Sacramento Bee

Almodovar seems more assured here, confident that he can interest us without overt winking and tomfoolery.

Full Review Source: Houston Chronicle | comment Comment
01/01/00
Louis B. Parks
Louis B. Parks
Houston Chronicle
 
 
21 - 40 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 >> >|
all

Latest News for Live Flesh

February 08, 2005: Cruz and Almodovar Collaborate Again
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