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MOVIES / ON DVD / LIVE FLESH
Live Flesh

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Live Flesh (1997)

78%
67%
84%
N/A
N/A
N/A
78 %
Reviews Counted: 36 Fresh: 28  Rotten:8 Average Rating: 7/10

How does the Tomatometer work?

The Tomatometer measures the percentage of positive reviews from Approved Tomatometer Critics for a certain movie.[-]

Runtime: 1 hr 41 mins

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... 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. [More]

Genre: Foreign Films

Starring: Javier Bardem, Francesca Neri, Liberto Rabal, Ángela Molina, José Sancho

Director: Pedro Almodóvar
Story: Ruth Rendell
Composer: Alberto Iglesias
Producer: Agustin Almodovar
Screenwriter: Pedro Almodóvar

DVD Info

Release:

Apr 10, 2001

[DVD Details]

DVD Features:

  • Region 1
  • Keep Case
  • Anamorphic Widescreen - 2.35

Audio:

  • Dolby Digital 5.1 - Spanish

Additional Release Material:

  • Trailers - 1. Original Theatrical

Buy It On DVD

Reviews

 
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1 - 20 (sorted by date)
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Ratings Image
N/A

The film also feels curiously underpopulated, unenlivened by any sparky character bits.

Full Review | comment Comment
07/13/07
David Noh
Film Journal International
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review | comment Comment
04/27/07
Andrew Sarris
New York Observer
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image
4.5/5

Very much an Almodovar picture with most of the anticipated outrageous occurrences intact.

Full Review | comment Comment
10/11/06
Ken Hanke
Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review | comment Comment
09/23/06
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Combustible Celluloid
Ratings Image
3/4

Click to read the article

Full Review | comment Comment
07/29/06
Jim Shelby
Palo Alto Weekly
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5/5

Another offbeat Almodovar treat — with another compelling Bardem performance.

comment Comment
05/19/06
Carol Cling
Las Vegas Review-Journal
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4/5

No review available.

comment Comment
03/09/06
Jake Euker
F5 (Wichita, KS)
Ratings Image
4/5

No review available.

comment Comment
02/17/06
Cole Smithey
ColeSmithey.com
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review | comment Comment
02/09/06
Geoff Andrew
Time Out
Ratings Image
3/5

No review available.

comment Comment
06/29/05
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com
Ratings Image
B+

It is a pleasure to see such a tight work from Amaldovar.

Full Review | comment Comment
04/09/05
Robin Clifford
Reeling Reviews
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5/5

gripping and gorgeous

comment Comment
09/19/04
Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall
Ratings Image
3.5/5

Witness the increasing promise of Pedro Almodóvar, in a film that has gone largely unnoticed in his career but stands as a worthy and mostly mainstream entry into his unique style of twisted relationship movies.

Full Review | comment Comment
07/03/04
Christopher Null
Filmcritic.com
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6/10

Click to read the article

Full Review | comment Comment
06/15/04
Dragan Antulov
rec.arts.movies.reviews
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4/5

No review available.

comment Comment
03/29/03
Joshua Tanzer
Offoffoff
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3/5

No review available.

comment Comment
12/23/02
Philip Martin
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
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3/5

The film lacks the anarchic weirdness of some of his best, and without the camp elements it becomes obvious just how like a telenovela the goings-on are.

Full Review | comment Comment
06/05/02
Cathy Thompson-Georges
Boxoffice Magazine
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2.5/4

The overall purpose of Live Flesh, the latest and reputedly most 'mature' work from Spanish bad-boy director Pedro Almodovar, remains engigmatic.

Full Review | comment Comment
04/12/02
Liam Lacey
Globe and Mail
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image
3.5/4

No review available.

comment Comment
01/01/00
USA Today
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image
B+

A stylishly steamy tale of passion and revenge.

Full Review | comment Comment
01/01/00
E! Online
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Related Forums

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LIVE FLESH - Does early Pedro Almodovar/Javier Bardem film stand test of time???
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Pictures

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News

Cruz and Almodovar Collaborate Again
posted by RT Staff February 08, 2005

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