I was moved by The "sincerity" shown by Almodóvar in The Law of Desire, and I could even ignore some of the plot imperfections.
The film not only looks directly at "desire" and makes classic pictures, but also tells the complicated friendship between him and the people around him, his muse, Carmen Mora. And through the love "beyond the right, beyond the social morality", he shows his uninhibited, rebellious and crazy. In addition, the stage play "Human Voice" performed by the heroine in "The Law of Desire" has become a short film "Human Voice" 30 years later, which is interesting to see the unchanged and changed after so many years of creative life.
Analyze the details in "The Law of Desire" and appreciate the theme that the director wants to express.
Selling "Desire" through Movies
The film begins with a direct break of the question, about the importance of "desire" to "people" - "desire is a law that people must obey", and also shoots a classic picture, a director orders his lover to seduce him, and the actor obeys the voiceover director's words, gradually takes off his clothes (limited by social rules), and acts in front of the mirror according to the director's requirements.
The film shows the two-way nature of desire through the "double gaze" actor (objective camera gaze, subjective narcissistic gaze).
The picture of the man is not just external, but a two-way desire, so the audience will have the reaction that the director expected when they see him. In the last scene of the first act, the director asks the actor to seduce him, which is also the director seducing all the audience. After the first act, the audience discovers that this is a new play made by the protagonist director, and it also successfully seduces the stranger played by Antonio Banderas to the destruction and rebirth of desire.
The film successfully sells "desire" and provides "fantasy" through film and television aesthetics. Almodóvar's strong contrast of light makes it impossible for the audience to fully see the actor, and the reverie-filled posture and narcissistic mirror gaze reinforce the appeal of desire itself. Finally, through voiceover, the fantasy is handed over to the audience, so that the audience can bring into the role of "director", who has "power" to manipulate, is the audience.
Created driven by desire, sincerely expressed in creation
The first act also brings out another motif of the film - "creation", "desire" and "sincerity" are closely linked - the creator creates driven by desire, and also sincerely conveys his own desire through creation, which also brings out the ambiguity between drama and reality. This is true of the director in the play, and even more so with Almodóvar, who made the play. And his own desires unfolded after Anthony Banderas played the character of the same name as himself, after enjoying the movie.
Antonio is seduced by the director for "the movie", but he also guides the performance through the eyes, and the flame of desire between the two burns in front of the camera. Almodóvar made this seduction extremely itchy, and even did not shy away from using desire to gaze at the camera, shooting Antonio Banderas, and calling out the desire of this ordinary actor.
If this drama is the most sincere self-expression of "desire" and "creation", then does Almodóvar have more non-partial thoughts about Antoni Banderas than the lens, and will he express it through creation? This becomes the most interesting "reference" of the film.
What is the sin of the desire to kill and destroy morality?
Pulling back to see the director's creative method, "The Law of Desire" is still the eight-point file + murder routine that Almodóvar is good at, but his focus is not on who the murderer really is (so directly shoot who kills for the audience to see), but on what people will commit in the face of desire, and what they are willing to destroy?
Therefore, although the protagonist director breaks the connection with the former Juan, he still desires first and has a relationship with Antonio, who is jealous of desire and commits murder. The film thus enters the second half. It's just that the police who seem to be pursuing "justice" have become "obstacles" and "clamps" under Almodóvar's films, and each character wants the police to leave. (Basically, most of the movies he makes, the cops are one of the villains.) It also symbolizes that "dogma" and "secular norms" are the greatest enemies of "desire."
Shouldn't the "desire to kill and destroy morality" be suppressed? Almodóvar tells us through the protagonist's transgender sister (Played by Carmen Mora) and the story that ends with the protagonist. Before the sister changed sex, the family was split due to a relationship, but she lived a happy life and never regretted it, and finally she met the protagonist director and began an ordinary daily life.
At the end, Antonio kidnaps the transgender sister just to meet his beloved protagonist director, and finally has a brief happiness with his beloved, and he ends himself without any regrets. These two stories of desire that break moral boundaries show very moving moments because of "love", and although both of them have paid a huge price, they have no regrets.
Wouldn't such a life of "desire" be more beautiful and more alive? This also kicks back that "desire is a law that people must obey", and facing it sincerely will bring strong vitality!
A ambiguity of drama and reality, an Almodóvar-style sincere dialogue
Another interesting setting in The Law of Desire is the transgender sister played by Carmen Mora.
The above mention of her story kicks back the core of the whole film, but she is not only a transgender sister who takes good care of her brother and regards her lover's daughter as her own in the play, but also an "actor". In The Law of Desire, the lead director tailors a stage play "Vocals" (a female monologue waiting for the phone call of the departing man).
Although "The Voice" appears only in two short acts in The Law of Desire, it is a very important part, and in this film, it once again emphasizes that "creation" comes from sincerity. The sister's anger at the man's departure is disgusted with the fact that her daughter's own mother (same-sex lover) is also about to leave, and her sadness is revealed later in the plot - perhaps the catharsis of her father's love. After the performance, when her sister and the protagonist director discussed the next script tailored for her, she also had a dispute over whether the "creation" should be taken from her real experience. My sister doesn't want to put some real aspect of her life on her creation anymore, but the protagonist can't help it because it's the inspiration for his creation.
The quarrel was in some ways like a physical quarrel between Almodóvar and Carmen Mora, especially since we learned that Carmen Mora had not cooperated with Almodóvar for some time. However, the drama is also true and false, perhaps the dispute is just made up out of thin air, or this is the reason why the two do not cooperate. It is just that this plot arrangement not only shows Almodóvar's "sincere" creative attitude, but also invisibly kicks back the propositions of "desire", "creation" and "sincerity".
The same and different of the old and new "Vocals"
After 30 years, Almodóvar finally made a short film version of "The Voice", completing the task of the protagonist director of "The Law of Desire". The biggest similarity between these two "Voices" is that Almodóvar has found a gender-neutral person to play - transgender, Titan Swindon.
As if to illustrate that under his interpretation, the character of this story is gender-neutral, and he can't see the same kind of explosive emotions, the act of setting fire to burn everything, and the attitude of going his own way.
This kind of commonality of people, but the change caused by different backgrounds, things, and environments, is "love." "Love" is varied, but it is extremely similar, just like "human voice", there are thousands of languages, but it makes the same sound. After watching "The Law of Desire", I have more understanding of the short film "Human Voice".
The deviant plot is told in a sincere and gentle way
Looking at "The Law of Desire" now, I always feel that it is just the right time (because I have watched a lot of Almodóvar's films). In the way it depicts desire, it can be compared with "Bad Cult Desire" and "Pain and Glory", and through the director's dispute with the character of Carmen Mora, it can be seen that in some of the scenes with her, such as "The Woman on the Verge of Collapse", "What Evil I Made", "Playing With Beautiful Women", a certain ambiguity of realism and drama. The rebellion and tolerance at the end are also reminiscent of "Quietly Tell Her" and "Tie You up, Trap Me". And the stage play in the movie can correspond to the short film "Human Voice".
I always feel that Almodóvar always expresses himself "sincerely" through creation, and even if he has watched the same proposition for more than 30 years, he can always transform the current realization into a chaotic and deviant drama in your circle, and express it vividly through movies. His contemplation of film and television aesthetics (art, modeling, photography, lighting, etc.) is certainly very enjoyable, but from the point of view, his films are always not boring. The smooth and fast plot rhythm, unique sense of humor and his "sincerity" make his movie unique and not boring!