Live Flesh

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Live Flesh

R,

1997,

1h 43m,

Drama

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Watchlist

Watchlist

79%

42 Reviews

Tomatometer

87%

10,000+ Ratings

Popcornmeter

79%

Tomatometer

42 Reviews

87%

Popcornmeter

10,000+ Ratings

Victor (Liberto Rabal) goes to meet Elena (Francesca Neri) for a date. Elena, uninterested, tells Victor to leave the apartment before her dealer gets there. Their ensuing argument and struggle draw the attention of policemen Sancho (José Sancho) and David (Javier Bardem). As Elena flees, her gun goes off, paralyzing David. Six years later, Victor gets out of jail and begins having an affair with Sancho's wife, as David and Elena's marriage falls apart.

Critics Consensus

Live Flesh surveys the fallout from an act of violence with a mature melodrama that sees Pedro Almodóvar working in surprisingly restrained form.

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Geoff Brown

The Times (UK)

Feb 1, 2023

[Director Pedro Almodóvar] is adapting a novel by Ruth Rendell, one of our own queens of crime. Yet there is nothing anonymous about this full-blooded, constantly surprising thriller.

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Mike Clark

USA Today

Jan 9, 2018

3.5/4

A single ricochet gunshot propels the plot and dramatically alters the lives of the quintet. The result is a vengeful, five-way battle of wits.

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Liam Lacey

Globe and Mail

Apr 12, 2002

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.

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Mike Davies

Birmingham Post

Feb 2, 2023

Pedro Almodóvar returns to vintage form but displaying a new maturity that doesn't feel the need to parcel everything up with sexual explicitness and garish kitsch melodrama.

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Jan Stuart

The Advocate

Apr 5, 2022

Few directors could bring together such a seductive collection of players for both women and men to revel in, then photograph them with an instinctive line into their sensuality that leaves most films, mainstream or porn, in the dust.

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Ruhaan Shah

Film Companion

Apr 29, 2020

As Victor's hyper-masculine tendencies fuel his actions, every character's arc entangles more and more with one another. Liberto Rabal and Javier Bardem put on an immersive front and persona in this revenge saga.

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Kylo S

Sep 4, 2015

F 8.1 [Pedro Almodóvar]

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Pedro Almodóvar

Director

Javier Bardem

David

Francesca Neri

Elena

Liberto Rabal

Víctor Plaza

Ángela Molina

Clara

José Sancho

Sancho

Control

83%

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Synopsis

Victor (Liberto Rabal) goes to meet Elena (Francesca Neri) for a date. Elena, uninterested, tells Victor to leave the apartment before her dealer gets there. Their ensuing argument and struggle draw the attention of policemen Sancho (José Sancho) and David (Javier Bardem). As Elena flees, her gun goes off, paralyzing David. Six years later, Victor gets out of jail and begins having an affair with Sancho's wife, as David and Elena's marriage falls apart.

Director: Pedro Almodóvar
Producer: Agustín Almodóvar
Screenwriter: Pedro Almodóvar, Ray Loriga, Ruth Rendell
Production Co: El Deseo S.A., Goldwyn Films
Rating: R
Genre: Drama
Original Language: European Spanish
Release Date (Theaters): Oct 12, 1997, Original
Rerelease Date (Theaters): Jan 16, 1998
Release Date (Streaming): Aug 1, 2016
Runtime: 1h 43m
Sound Mix: Surround, Dolby Digital
Aspect Ratio: 35mm

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