fbpx
Wikipedia

Live Flesh (film)

April 09, 2024

Live Flesh (Spanish: Carne trémula) is a 1997 erotic romantic thriller drama film written and directed by Pedro Almodóvar, based on the 1986 novel of the same name by English author Ruth Rendell. The film stars Javier Bardem, Francesca Neri, Liberto Rabal, Ángela Molina and José Sancho, with Penélope Cruz and Pilar Bardem.

Live Flesh
Theatrical release poster
SpanishCarne trémula
Directed byPedro Almodóvar
Screenplay by
Based onLive Flesh
by Ruth Rendell
Produced byAgustín Almodóvar
Starring
CinematographyAffonso Beato
Edited byJosé Salcedo
Music byAlberto Iglesias
Production
companies
Distributed by
Release dates
  • 10 October 1997 (1997-10-10) (Spain)
  • 29 October 1997 (1997-10-29) (France)
Running time
103 minutes
Countries
  • Spain
  • France
Languages
  • Spanish
  • Italian
Box office
  • $1.8 million (United States)[1]
  • 790 million ₧ (Spain)[2]

Plot edit

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, Víctor. Twenty years later, Víctor shows up uninvited at the apartment of Elena, a drug addict with whom he had sex a week earlier, expecting another date with her. Elena angrily orders him 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.

After a neighbour calls the police, two officers, Sancho and David, arrive on the scene. Sancho is an unstable alcoholic who suspects his wife Clara of infidelity, while David is sensible and righteous. When the officers enter the apartment, Víctor holds Elena hostage at gunpoint. David tries to appease him and get him to drop his gun, but Sancho repeatedly threatens Víctor. Finally, David gets Sancho and then Víctor to put down their guns. David instructs Elena to flee. Sancho then lunges for Víctor, and as they wrestle for the gun, David is shot.

Two years later, Víctor, in jail, learns through a televised wheelchair basketball match that David, now partially paralysed from the gunshot, has become a star player at the Summer Paralympics and is married to Elena. Víctor is released four years later, vowing revenge on Elena and David. 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 spots Elena at her father's burial service. Without identifying himself, he briefly offers her his condolences. He then meets Sancho's wife Clara, who has arrived late for Elena's service. They leave together and she visits his apartment. They establish a tentative relationship.

Elena, now clean from drugs and operating an orphanage, tells David of her encounter with Víctor. David stops by Víctor's house and demands that he stay away from Elena. As he leaves, David sees Clara arriving and watches from a distance. Clara agrees to teach Víctor how to make love and eventually falls in love with him. Víctor is later accepted as a volunteer by the orphanage, as he earned a teaching diploma by correspondence during his time in jail, much to Elena's chagrin.

David continues to trail Víctor and discovers that he works at Elena's orphanage. He confronts Víctor again, and Víctor insists that Sancho forced his finger on the trigger because Sancho knew David was having an affair with Clara. David tells Elena what Víctor said, admitting his affair with Clara. Elena is disgusted, but still plans to leave the orphanage to evade Víctor. Víctor tells Elena that his original revenge plan was to become the world's greatest lover, have sex with Elena all night long, and then abandon her.

Víctor breaks up with Clara, devastating her. While Víctor is working overnight at the orphanage, Elena arrives to retrieve her belongings and offers Víctor a night of passion on condition he never contacts her again. Elena then reveals her infidelity to David. She tells him she will remain his wife because he needs her more than Víctor does. David is nevertheless adamant about exacting revenge on Víctor.

Tired of Sancho's constant abuse, Clara announces she will leave him. He confronts her and she shoots him. David arrives and helps Sancho clean his wound before showing him photographs he has been taking of Víctor and Clara. Sancho and David drive to Víctor's house, arriving just as Clara has finished writing Víctor a farewell letter. Sancho and Clara hold each other at gunpoint and fire. Clara falls dead, before a wounded Sancho kills himself.

In a voiceover, David reads a letter written to Elena from Miami, where he is spending Christmas with friends, apologising for the way everything turned out. At the orphanage, a pregnant Elena goes into labor and on the way to the hospital, she and Víctor get stuck in heavy traffic. Víctor is reminded of the circumstances of his own birth, and tells his unborn child that the Spanish people no longer live in fear as they did at the time of his birth.

Cast edit

Reception edit

Produced by El Deseo, Ciby 2000 and France 3 Cinéma, Almodóvar's twelfth film opened in Spain on 10 October 1997 on 125 screens. It grossed $800,000 in its opening weekend, becoming the first Spanish film of the year to top the Spanish box office. By its third weekend it had grossed a record $2.9 million from 700,000 admissions.[3] It went on to be the second highest-grossing Spanish film film of the year behind Airbag with a gross of 790 million Spanish pesetas.[2] It had its US premiere on 12 October 1997 at the New York Film Festival. It grossed $1.8 million in the United States and Canada.[1]

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".[citation needed]

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 80% based on reviews from 44 critics, with an average rating of 7.1/10. The website's reads, "Live Flesh surveys the fallout from an act of violence with a mature melodrama that sees Pedro Almodóvar working in surprisingly restrained form."[4] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 69 out of 100, based on 18 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[5]

Accolades edit

Year Award Category Nominee(s) Result Ref.
1998 12th Goya Awards Best Actor Javier Bardem Nominated [6]
Best Supporting Actress Ángela Molina Nominated
Best Supporting Actor José Sancho Won
11th European Film Awards Best Film Nominated [7]
Best European Actor Javier Bardem Nominated
1999 52nd British Academy Film Awards Best Film Not in the English Language Nominated [8]

See also edit

Notes edit

  1. ^ a b Collaboration

References edit

  1. ^ a b "Live Flesh (1997)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 10 February 2024.
  2. ^ a b Boletín informativo. Anexo cultura en cifras. Datos de 1997 (PDF) (in Spanish). ICAA. 1998. p. 145.
  3. ^ Green, Jennifer (31 October 1997). "Spain tastes Almodovar's flesh". Screen International. p. 27.
  4. ^ Live Flesh at Rotten Tomatoes Retrieved 21 January 2023.
  5. ^ "Live Flesh". Metacritic. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
  6. ^ "Carne trémula". premiosgoya.com. Academia de las Artes y las Ciencias Cinematográficas de España. Retrieved 21 January 2023.
  7. ^ "EFA Night 1998". European Film Awards. Retrieved 21 January 2023.
  8. ^ "Film | Film Not in the English Language in 1999". awards.bafta.org. Retrieved 21 January 2023.

External links edit

April 09, 2024
live, flesh, film, live, flesh, spanish, carne, trémula, 1997, erotic, romantic, thriller, drama, film, written, directed, pedro, almodóvar, based, 1986, novel, same, name, english, author, ruth, rendell, film, stars, javier, bardem, francesca, neri, liberto, . Live Flesh Spanish Carne tremula is a 1997 erotic romantic thriller drama film written and directed by Pedro Almodovar based on the 1986 novel of the same name by English author Ruth Rendell The film stars Javier Bardem Francesca Neri Liberto Rabal Angela Molina and Jose Sancho with Penelope Cruz and Pilar Bardem Live FleshTheatrical release posterSpanishCarne tremulaDirected byPedro AlmodovarScreenplay byPedro AlmodovarRay Loriga a Jorge Guerricaechevarria a Based onLive Fleshby Ruth RendellProduced byAgustin AlmodovarStarringJavier BardemFrancesca NeriLiberto RabalAngela MolinaJose SanchoPenelope CruzPilar BardemCinematographyAffonso BeatoEdited byJose SalcedoMusic byAlberto IglesiasProductioncompaniesEl Deseo S A Ciby 2000 France 3Distributed byWarner Espanola S A Spain Ciby 2000 France Release dates10 October 1997 1997 10 10 Spain 29 October 1997 1997 10 29 France Running time103 minutesCountriesSpainFranceLanguagesSpanishItalianBox office 1 8 million United States 1 790 million Spain 2 Contents 1 Plot 2 Cast 3 Reception 4 Accolades 5 See also 6 Notes 7 References 8 External linksPlot editMadrid 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 Victor Twenty years later Victor shows up uninvited at the apartment of Elena a drug addict with whom he had sex a week earlier expecting another date with her Elena angrily orders him to leave eventually threatening him with a gun Enraged Victor wrestles the gun from her in the process Elena gets knocked out and the gun goes off After a neighbour calls the police two officers Sancho and David arrive on the scene Sancho is an unstable alcoholic who suspects his wife Clara of infidelity while David is sensible and righteous When the officers enter the apartment Victor holds Elena hostage at gunpoint David tries to appease him and get him to drop his gun but Sancho repeatedly threatens Victor Finally David gets Sancho and then Victor to put down their guns David instructs Elena to flee Sancho then lunges for Victor and as they wrestle for the gun David is shot Two years later Victor in jail learns through a televised wheelchair basketball match that David now partially paralysed from the gunshot has become a star player at the Summer Paralympics and is married to Elena Victor is released four years later vowing revenge on Elena and David His mother has died leaving him some money and a house in an area scheduled for demolition Victor visits his mother s grave where he spots Elena at her father s burial service Without identifying himself he briefly offers her his condolences He then meets Sancho s wife Clara who has arrived late for Elena s service They leave together and she visits his apartment They establish a tentative relationship Elena now clean from drugs and operating an orphanage tells David of her encounter with Victor David stops by Victor s house and demands that he stay away from Elena As he leaves David sees Clara arriving and watches from a distance Clara agrees to teach Victor how to make love and eventually falls in love with him Victor is later accepted as a volunteer by the orphanage as he earned a teaching diploma by correspondence during his time in jail much to Elena s chagrin David continues to trail Victor and discovers that he works at Elena s orphanage He confronts Victor again and Victor insists that Sancho forced his finger on the trigger because Sancho knew David was having an affair with Clara David tells Elena what Victor said admitting his affair with Clara Elena is disgusted but still plans to leave the orphanage to evade Victor Victor tells Elena that his original revenge plan was to become the world s greatest lover have sex with Elena all night long and then abandon her Victor breaks up with Clara devastating her While Victor is working overnight at the orphanage Elena arrives to retrieve her belongings and offers Victor a night of passion on condition he never contacts her again Elena then reveals her infidelity to David She tells him she will remain his wife because he needs her more than Victor does David is nevertheless adamant about exacting revenge on Victor Tired of Sancho s constant abuse Clara announces she will leave him He confronts her and she shoots him David arrives and helps Sancho clean his wound before showing him photographs he has been taking of Victor and Clara Sancho and David drive to Victor s house arriving just as Clara has finished writing Victor a farewell letter Sancho and Clara hold each other at gunpoint and fire Clara falls dead before a wounded Sancho kills himself In a voiceover David reads a letter written to Elena from Miami where he is spending Christmas with friends apologising for the way everything turned out At the orphanage a pregnant Elena goes into labor and on the way to the hospital she and Victor get stuck in heavy traffic Victor is reminded of the circumstances of his own birth and tells his unborn child that the Spanish people no longer live in fear as they did at the time of his birth Cast editJavier Bardem as David Francesca Neri as Elena Liberto Rabal es as Victor Plaza Angela Molina as Clara Jose Sancho as Sancho Penelope Cruz as Isabel Plaza Caballero Pilar Bardem as Dona Centro Alex Angulo as bus driver Mariola Fuentes as Clementina Yael Be as young woman Josep Molins as Josep Daniel Lanchas as conductor Maria Rosenfeldt as girlReception editProduced by El Deseo Ciby 2000 and France 3 Cinema Almodovar s twelfth film opened in Spain on 10 October 1997 on 125 screens It grossed 800 000 in its opening weekend becoming the first Spanish film of the year to top the Spanish box office By its third weekend it had grossed a record 2 9 million from 700 000 admissions 3 It went on to be the second highest grossing Spanish film film of the year behind Airbag with a gross of 790 million Spanish pesetas 2 It had its US premiere on 12 October 1997 at the New York Film Festival It grossed 1 8 million in the United States and Canada 1 Live Flesh enjoyed mostly positive reviews in Spain even by critics who had previously dismissed Almodovar s work criticizing the plot structure of his films Jose 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 citation needed On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes the film holds an approval rating of 80 based on reviews from 44 critics with an average rating of 7 1 10 The website s reads Live Flesh surveys the fallout from an act of violence with a mature melodrama that sees Pedro Almodovar working in surprisingly restrained form 4 Metacritic which uses a weighted average assigned the film a score of 69 out of 100 based on 18 critics indicating generally favorable reviews 5 Accolades editYear Award Category Nominee s Result Ref 1998 12th Goya Awards Best Actor Javier Bardem Nominated 6 Best Supporting Actress Angela Molina NominatedBest Supporting Actor Jose Sancho Won11th European Film Awards Best Film Nominated 7 Best European Actor Javier Bardem Nominated1999 52nd British Academy Film Awards Best Film Not in the English Language Nominated 8 See also editList of Spanish films of 1997 Bas Ek Pal a Bollywood adaptation of Live FleshNotes edit a b CollaborationReferences edit a b Live Flesh 1997 Box Office Mojo Retrieved 10 February 2024 a b Boletin informativo Anexo cultura en cifras Datos de 1997 PDF in Spanish ICAA 1998 p 145 Green Jennifer 31 October 1997 Spain tastes Almodovar s flesh Screen International p 27 Live Flesh at Rotten Tomatoes Retrieved 21 January 2023 Live Flesh Metacritic Retrieved 4 May 2020 Carne tremula premiosgoya com Academia de las Artes y las Ciencias Cinematograficas de Espana Retrieved 21 January 2023 EFA Night 1998 European Film Awards Retrieved 21 January 2023 Film Film Not in the English Language in 1999 awards bafta org Retrieved 21 January 2023 External links editLive Flesh at IMDb nbsp Live Flesh at AllMovie nbsp Live Flesh at Box Office Mojo nbsp Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Live Flesh film amp oldid 1210406257, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

article

, read, download, free, free download, mp3, video, mp4, 3gp, jpg, jpeg, gif, png, picture, music, song, movie, book, game, games.