Initially Almodovar plays his cards very well. There is an altercation in an apartment and the police intervenes. A bullet is shot and two people suffer the tragic consequences: a young boy who is sent four years in jail, and a cop who ends up partially paralyzed by the bullet. After that incident, they both have good reasons to seek revenge on the other, especially the young boy who swears that he will do it. But soon we see that even though passions remain high, the story doesn't play as expected and the ultimate consequence is not that tragic. It is as if Almodovar tried to prevent things from going too rough. A little disappointing.

Almodóvar sabe desenvolver os dramas e as relações interpessoais como ninguém. O roteiro e o plot do filme foram muito bem adaptados da obra britânica. Além da direção mais madura do diretor e as interpretações dos atores, que também estão excepcionais aqui. Porém, a química entre os personagens e a tensão sexual poderiam ser melhor construídas antes de introduzir as cenas de sexo propriamente ditas, como esse é um filme com foco no drama e nas relações entre os personagens, achei que ficou muito abrupto nesse aspecto. Além da relação amorosa entre Victor e Monica que entra no mesmo problema. O filme sugere que eles sempre se amaram, mas não deixa transparecer em nenhum momento que ela sente algo por ele, até a cena do velório em que de fato ocorre certo afeto e tensão sexual entre os dois. A relação entre os dois poderia ter sido melhor construída e menos abrupta. A obra é quase impecável, mas esses defeitos me distanciaram da mesma.

In this film it seems that the intent to convey carnal passion is more important than the plausibility of Helena's behavior. Beyond that, the story was ok.

This romantic thriller film is very beautiful and emotional. The direction is excellent as well as the interpretations of the entire cast.

Even by Pedro Almodovar standards, Live Flesh is a bit of an oddity. While the to-be-expected Almodovar trademarks are all present (fluid characters, vibrant palette of colors, strong women, subtly probing camera movement), the film seems to veer off course at times. For example, strong political statements are made in both the first and last act, but nothing in-between seems relevant to any kind of political comment. To use the complex plot as a device to compare the first trip to the hospital with the last trip (‘the times they are a changing!!') seems excessive. The motivation of the five primary characters as it relates to their relationships with each other also seems to be questionable but, despite these criticisms, it's still an enjoyable enough film to watch thanks to strong performances and Almodovar's zest for visuals.

Best gangster movie of all time a masterpiece my rating for this movie (9.7/10) highly recommended

Madrid, Christmas 1970. The Spanish State has declared a state of emergency curtailing civil liberties. A young prostitute, Isabel Plaza Caballero, gives birth on a bus to a son she names Víctor. Twenty years later, Víctor Plaza (Liberto Rabal) shows up for a date with Elena (Francesca Neri), a junkie with whom he had sex a week earlier. Elena is waiting for her drug dealer to arrive and orders Víctor to leave, eventually threatening him with a gun. Enraged, Víctor wrestles the gun from her; in the process Elena gets knocked out, and the gun goes off. A neighbour hears the shot and calls the police. Two cops respond to the report. The older cop, Sancho, is an unstable alcoholic who suspects his wife Clara of infidelity. The younger cop, David (Javier Bardem), is clean-cut and sober. Through the window they catch sight of Víctor physically struggling with Elena. Sancho is ready to storm the apartment, while David wants to call for a back-up. When they enter, Víctor holds Elena hostage at gunpoint. David tries to calm him down and get him to drop his gun, but Sancho sabotages his efforts by repeatedly threatening Víctor. Finally, David puts his gun to Sancho's head and gets first Sancho and then Víctor to put down their guns. David orders Elena to flee. Sancho then lunges for Víctor, and as they wrestle for the gun it fires. Two years later, Víctor, in jail, watches a wheelchair basketball match. David, now partially paralyzed from the gunshot two years earlier, is a star player in the 1992 Summer Paralympics. Elena, now his wife, cheers him on from the sidelines. Víctor has made good use of his time in jail, taking a correspondence course in education, working out, and enriching his mind with a variety of subjects, including the Bible. Four years later, he is released. His mother has died, leaving him some money and a house in an area scheduled for demolition. Víctor visits his mother's grave, where he encounters Elena at her father's burial service. Without identifying himself, he briefly offers her his condolences. Before leaving the cemetery he encounters Sancho's wife Clara, who has arrived too late for Elena's service. They leave together and she visits his apartment. They establish a tentative relationship. Elena, now off drugs and operating an orphanage, tells David of her encounter with Víctor. David stops by Víctor's house and warns him not to go near his wife. Víctor challenges him to prevent him from doing whatever he wants, but David punches him below the belt. David leaves, but he sees Clara arriving and watches from a distance. Clara, drawn by Víctor's enthusiasm and good looks, agrees to teach him how to make love while pampering him with gifts and affection. She eventually falls in love with him... "Live Flesh" enjoyed mostly positive reviews in Spain, even by critics who had previously dismissed Almodóvar's work criticizing the plot structure of his films. José Arroyo in Sight and Sound praised the film's "emotional pitch: raw, fearful, passionate", its brilliant cinematic qualities and the high standard of acting by the five leads. In Neon magazine, Martin Aston concluded that "sexy movies are rarely this thrilling, thrillers never this sexy- and the two seldom combine so movingly". Pedro Almodóvar´s "Live Flesh" ("Carne trémula") is hardly amongst his best films in my opinion. With this cast you would expect something a bit more entertaining and we don´t really get all that convincing acting. The characters are flat and you don´t feel for any of them either as they all have mostly unsympathetic character traits. "Live Flesh" is a boring and slowpaced love drama thriller with a hint to Hitchcock, but hardly reach Hitchcock heights.

tenho acompanhado o trabalho de Almodóvar recentemente. confesso que de todos os filmes que vi atï¿ 1/2 (C) agora, este foi o que mais gostei. Ironias, sexualidade e as cores sempre foram marcas registradas deve. e isso tbm pode ser visto neste filme. ainda assim o que mais me encontrou foi o processo de perseguição incansável de cada personagem em conseguir sua auto satisfação. alï¿ 1/2 (C)m disso, ficará ligado a todo momento na história muito bem contada e nas diversas reviravoltas! (marca registrada do diretor).

A Spanish melodrama about 5 people's lives being tangled in series of misunderstanding and deceit. I really enjoyed Almodovar's amazing storytelling techniques, the story itself was pretty darn complex too. Francesca Neri shone playing the seductive Elena while the overall ensemble had some strong chemistry. Some may enjoy the melodramatic ending while others may find it too telenovella-like.

Not my favorite, as the characters were not as deeply drawn as other Almodovar characters. But still stunningly envisioned.

F 8.1 [Pedro Almodóvar]

Me tendría que romper un poco la cabeza pensando en algún otro director que le tenga tanto amor a sus personajes y que les dé una importancia específica encada una de sus películas como Almodóvar... Me arrepiento de haber tardado tanto en ver esta joya de película... Con todo el estilo de su director y con actuaciones muy sobresalientes (desde Franesca Neri, guapísima, una de las chicas Almodóvar más bellas que yo haya visto... hasta Javier Bárdem), la música siempre atrapante de Alberto Iglesias; todo, todo funciona al servicio del sello Almodóvar... Tal vez no sea el argumento más audaz o la película más complicada de su director, pero no por ello deja de ser fascinante y de mostrar ya una madurez en el cine del español... Incluso, se da el lujo de dotarle un trasfondo político que cuaja de maravilla en la cinta... Bravísimo!!

Engraçado que sempre ouvi falarem bem desse filme mas achei o argumento fraco. Ñe.

There are too many thrillers that want to be sexy and dramatic and stylish and smart, but with great disappointment, those "ands" turn into italicized "ors," as few artistic talents are capable of such an intricate juggling act. One too many "Basic Instinct"s walk out the door all dressed down in crotchless interrogations with little value to be held in the long run. Some directors are so self-conscious that they feel the need to grab a megaphone and loudly inform us that, that's right, they are aiming to be sexy and dramatic and stylish and smart. If only those damn "ors" would get out of the way for once. Few filmmakers, however, have the gutsy panache of Pedro Almodóvar, who possibly was the result of a lab experiment involving Alfred Hitchcock, Douglas Sirk, Brian De Palma, and the wardrobe of Endora from "Bewitched." His films range from candy colored to smokily noiry, sometimes carrying the weight of a Technicolor "Bringing Up Baby" or a severely darkened vintage women's picture. Though slightly flagrant, his projects maintain the professionalism of an auteur who simply knows what the hell he's doing. Take a film like "Live Flesh," which isn't quite sexy enough, soapy enough, violent enough, yet still manages to feel distinctly, no pun-intended, fleshed out. It's subdued, but it's carefully subdued. If we had the same old X-rated Sirk stuff like usual, we'd surely be tripping in a David LaChapelle styled hallucination. This time around, Almodóvar fabricates a complicated story of revenge, steamy trysts and deadly misunderstandings that hit all the right notes, even if those notes are all sharped and flatted; yet, it's his most mature film. The movie begins in 1970 with a theatrical birth in the back of a city bus; being welcomed into the world is Victor Plaza, the son of a prostitute (Penélope Cruz). Jump 20 years into the future: Victor (Liberto Rabal) is meeting Elena (Francesca Neri), a drug addict, for an impromptu date after hooking up a week previously. Elena was in the mood for a one-night stand, not a courtship - when Victor shows up to her apartment, she flies into a rage, threatening to shoot him in a fashion only Loretta Young could top. They get into a scuffle, leaving Elena unconscious while the gun flies out of her hands and accidentally fires. The downstairs neighbor hears, and, concerned, calls the police. The cops who arrive, the alcoholic, reckless Sancho (Jose Sancho) and the more proper David (Javier Bardem) attempt to calm the scene. Cut to yet another scuffle, David is shot in the back, paralyzed, while Victor is sent to prison for the next four years. But when he is released, he finds that David and Elena have married, leading to a series of events that could only be found in a classy telenovela. No matter how breathy and melodramatically enhanced the plot may at first sound, it is surely one of Almodóvar's most toned down films, both in terms of style and personality. Gone are the neons, artificial sets and delightfully wacky side-characters; gone is the tongue-in-cheek restlessness that made his films better-than-average Hollywood homages that were far too good to simply be called homages. In "Live Flesh," you take him seriously, viewing him as a director who has had plenty of fun in the past but wants to make something as substantial as his peers. Looking back, the film marked a turn in his career, shifting towards heavyweights like "All About My Mother" in 1999 and "Talk to Her" in 2002. Not to suggest that "Live Flesh" is sapped of any pleasures. The storyline is pleasingly hammy, with touches of unexpected realisms like wheelchair basketball and domestic abuse, and the performances are finely tuned. Even better is the cinematography (clearly influenced by Almodóvar himself), which hangs onto the bodies of the actors like a fixated Michelangelo; whether they're silhouetted, in the nude, or clothed in cheetah prints, there is an added lustiness that heightens the frequent sexual tensions the film constantly revisits. "Live Flesh" is a sumptuously shot throwback of a romantic thriller, evidence of a director with pop arted ambitions taking a risky turn that pays off.

It's remarkable how Almodovar can always link up all those characters and their stories together to make it into a wonderful movie.

One of the better Almodovar movies that I've seen. It never gets into the over the top melodrama that is so abundant in his work. Good performances, good script, good movie.

Finally an incredible film from Almodóvar. Everything up to this point has failed to impress me considering how revered he is. When he can make a film like this I understand why critics like him. This is the first truly great film from Almodóvar.

Disappointingly boring with an unnecessarily lame political statement at the end. Javier Bardem looks a lot like Robert Downey Jr. here and Francesca Neri is the spitting image of a young Charlotte Rampling.

chocked-full of wicked ironies , an almodovar's always a delight. pity chica hermosa penelope was only in there for all of 10 minutes.

a very unusual drama!