Let's be realistic.

just watch it!

Easily the biggest piece of Right wing non sense propaganda I ever saw.

Yes, absolutely, there is fun to be had, as well as many, many things to go boom, all amid an atmospheric urban jungle.

Almadovar has long duped gullible American audiences into believing he is both talented and witty, when the reality is Europeans have known for decades that he's just a master at shock value. La Ley del Deseo was one of his first gay-themed successes outside of Spain, and while Almadovar can be credited for breaking this particular barrier, he can NOT be credited with doing so without adhering to the unspoken "traditional" gay formula-- that being that one, if not both protagonists had to die tragically. Because, you know...gay. At the time, this movie was a laugh riot for all Latin American queens who loved the dirty jokes, as well as all the ultra-liberal art-types who were just learning how "cool" the whole gay scene was (remember: this is in the mid-80s when all mainstream people focused on was AIDS in the gay community). So, if you are one of those people who likes seeing all the gay "dirty laundry" (random sex, drugs, self-hatred, pornography, unhealthy relationships) thrust upon you in a big screen for shock value, then enjoy, as this film is Almodovar at his most typical.

After what seems like a gratuitous gay sex scene (in reality, it's the climax of a movie seen by the stars of this movie), writer/director Pedro Almodóvar gets down to business… Promiscuous and successful director Eusebio Poncela (as Pablo Quintero) bids young lover Miguel Molina (as Juan Bermúdez) a fond farewell. Mr. Molina must leave Madrid, for the coast; he begs off about duties, but really wants Mr. Poncela to clean up his act. This leaves an opening for likewise handsome young Antonio Banderas (as Antonio Benitez), who was turned on by the film's sexy cinematic beginning, and has been fantasizing about being mounted by Poncela. Mr. Banderas wants plugging with a passion.After getting himself plucked by Poncela, Banderas begins displaying psychotic, stalker-like behavior. Banderas professes undying love for Poncela, who continues to moon over Molina. Their increasingly dangerous love triangle is sidestepped with attention given to Poncela's transsexual sister and confidante Carmen Maura (as Tina), a single mom. The gay stalker story in "Law of Desire" was likely more intriguing in decades past - but, Mr. Almodóvar's direction and the extraordinary performances hold up very well.******* La ley del deseo (2/7/87) Pedro Almodóvar ~ Eusebio Poncela, Antonio Banderas, Carmen Maura, Miguel Molina

In what has now customarily become known as the New Queer Cinema, Almodovar's "Law of Desire" must be seen as a landmark film. Opening with a naked man masturbating and being guided through the motions by the disembodied voice of 'the director', this turns out to be something of a red-herring, though it does establish that the film's central character is a director, (Almodovar?), and that he is gay. What follows is a teasing Hitchcockain menage-a-trois murder yarn, (not mystery), in which the homosexuality of the protagonists is very much to the fore and is hardly seen as 'an issue', (a major breakthrough in what was a mainstream Spanish movie of its day). Indeed "Law of Desire" was the film which really established Almodovar internationally and while gay-themed movies were finally making their mark in 1987 few were quite as explicitly erotic or as pleasurably in-your-face as this.Its cast was largely made up of what only be described as players from Almodovar's stock company and in a fine cast Antonio Banderas and Carmen Maura are the stand-outs; he as a pathologically disturbed 'fan' whose obsession with Eusebio Puncela's director leads to murder and she as the director's transsexual 'sister', a deliriously giddy performance and yet played mostly 'straight' by Maura.If not quite as deep as Almodovar's later movies there is nevertheless much to enjoy here, (and although dealing with tragic issues Almodovar teases out the black comedy for all its worth). Now, of course, a great deal of the fun is in slotting the film into the Almodovar canon and seeing exactly where it fits in relation to the movies that followed it.

I first saw snippets of this film ages ago and finally saw the whole film. Prior to watching this film, I've read countless hyped-up, mixed reviews over it. People say it's a great comedy, others say it's a kinky, perverted piece of work. I guess when this film was released in 1986, people didn't know what to make of it. And now after seeing this film, I don't blame them.I watched this film originally expecting a thriller. It has some thriller elements in it, especially towards the end, but the main plot - a gay film director pursued by a psychopath - is often overshadowed by the quite inappropriate story of the director's "sister" and her struggle to raise an ex-lover's daughter.You can see here a young Antonio Banderas as the 'baddie' of this film. Apparantely this was the first film where Antonio performs very hot sex scenes with another male actor.So is the film good? Yes... only if you're a fan of any of the cast, or of the director, or of dark kinky Spainish films in general. What are the flaws?... well there aren't any that I can pick out. It's a decent film with decent directing. Nothing to get too excited over.Perfect to watch on a quiet Saturday night.