Customer Reviews

Law of Desire

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Law of Desire [La Ley Del Deseo] is by far the most memorable foreign film I have ever seen. In part, because I was sitting in a bubble (a sterile room with filtered and purified air) with my partner of 4 1/2 years who was undergoing salvage chemotherapy for a high-grade level 5 non-Hodgkins lymphoma. I was forced into watching this movie on a television and VCR I had taken to the hospital!

This Spanish movie, which stars among others Antonio Banderas, is truly a tragic love story of the character played by Antonio Banderas' obsession for another man who he loves deeply. The movie has bizarre twists in a love quadrangle that keeps the brow raised on many occasions, and at the end, where Antonio's love is holding him in his arms and sobbing that tear-jerking sob that comes from the soul, my partner called out to me and said "I will always love you, okay?" and had stopped breathing and passed away which is why this movie is truly embedded in me forever.

An excellent drama, but be prepared with lots of tissue.

Finally the law of desire a masterpiece in cinema is finally coming on dvd.You do not have to buy the whole pedro almodovar set to get this which is now out of print....I won't write a whole essay on this movie other than to say buy this is one of the best films in his movie career and ive waited yeras for this release in a single dvd purchase.

Senor Pedro had pulled out a beautiful movie from a rather unpopular love theme, which served the
actor Banderas magnificently (I did not know he was a terrific actor until then). Having seen a few Almodovar films, including Bad Education (a very good one), I could surely say this work--his masterpiece!

My first exposure to a Pedro Almodovar film way back about 20 years ago. Antonio Banderas is very young and convincing as a man infatuated with a male film director and his desire to have him and any cost, and the final price he pays for it. The supporting cast that Almodovar creates only adds to the highly charged drama. The over the top Latin drama in some other director's hands would seem ludicrous, but Mr. Almodovar's deft hands tempers this with just the right ammount of campiness! Highly recommended, especially for the people who like movies with interesting stories and NO inane car chases, explosions, cute babies, talking dogs and the usual Hollywood dreck!

Those familiar with Almodovar's "Bad Education" (2004) will be especially interested in his early treatment (1987) of the same subject. Once again a gay film director becomes sexually involved with a dangerous character played by a reigning stud-muffin---not Gael Garcia Bernal this time but the young Antonio Banderas. And, once again, homosexuality, the Church, modern Madrid, family relationships, transvestism and murder all play a part in the unpredictable plot. The fantasy-flashbacks of "Bad Education" are not present here but there are theater performances that provide their own heightened style. What's more, a number of subsidiary characters (mothers, cops, a doctor) add their quirky input, behaving as if this were THEIR movie and enriching its texture. Additionally, women have a stronger presence than in "Bad Education." Be aware that "Law of Desire" is as sexually explicit as the later film, particularly at the very opening. If memory serves, the English subtitles for the original theatrical release were better (sharper in tone) than those here, But it's great to have it on DVD. (It was previously in an Almodovar collection, but not available by itself.) For those not familiar with "Bad Education," I'd suggest getting both---they make an unbeatable double feature: dark, witty, knowing and obviously the expression of a master film-maker.

I bouht this when I was in Iraq, I like it but it was not that great! enough to keep me entertained in Iraq!

Much of what's written is true. How sad. The practice of 'seegheh' as it's called in Iran, is all to real, all too accepted by many. To me, it's nothing more than legalized prostitution. How sad that religion can cloak something most countries, including the ones where this practice is common, deem it illegal and immoral. You should read this book to appreciate what goes on around you.

Nahid Sewell, Author of The Ruby Tear Catcher