Matador

Matador / Matador. ES (c) 1986 Compañía Iberoamericana de TV / Televisión Española. P: Andrés Vicente Gómez. D: Pedro Almodóvar. SC: Almodóvar, Jesús Ferrero. DP: Angel Luis Fernández. ED: José Salcedo. Starring: Assumpta Serna (María Cardenal), Antonio Banderas (Angel), Nacho Martínez (Diego), Eva Cobo (Eva), Julieta Serrano (Berta), Chus Lampreave (Pilar), Carmen Maura (Julia), Eusebio Poncela (inspector), Bibí Andersen (flower girl). This print 108'. A vintage used all-photochemical print with delicious colour, no subtitles. Print check viewing at Orion, Helsinki, 6 June 2005. Almodóvar's fifth film, an ode to mad love where María the counsellor, the serial killer of matadors, meets Diego the matador who has turned his target from bulls to humans. The story is between myth and pulp fiction with references to Duel in the Sun etc., itself a model for Basic Instinct. Banderas plays a shy boy with a sense of guilt who confesses crimes he didn't commit. Handsome and clever, but not compelling.