Live Flesh

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. 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.

Production Notes
Filmed in Madrid, Spain.
Penélope Cruz and Javier Bardem both appear in Bigas Luna's JAMÓN, JAMÓN.

Bardem would go on to receive a Best Actor nomination in the 2001 Academy Awards for his performance in Julian Schnabel's BEFORE NIGHT FALLS.

Francesca Neri also appears in Ridley Scott's HANNIBAL.

Reviews
"...LIVE FLESH, buoyed by keenly observed performances, is wildly seductive, subversively funny and coiled to spring..." (Rolling Stone)

"...LIVE FLESH is a fully realised work...It is a complex and moving film that is beautiful to look at. You'll want to see it again..." (Sight and Sound)

"...[LIVE FLESH] is frankly erotic and, frankly, fascinating..." (USA Today)

"...[Almodovar's] most satisfying movie in recent memory..." (Entertainment Weekly)

"...There are plenty of reasons to see LIVE FLESH: Almodovar's assured eye for striking visuals, several sumptuous sex scenes, and a magnificent performance from Rabal..." (Box Office)

"...A sensual fairy-tale about fate and retribution..." (Premiere)

"...Beautifully crafted....The confidence Almodovar gives his actors must be awesome, for the risks and emotional range he elicits from them is typically breathtaking..." (Los Angeles Times)