Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		4.5
Overall		4.0

Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov August 9, 2014

Nominated for Golden Bear Award at the Berlin International Film Festival, Pedro Almodovar's "Atame!" a.k.a. "Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!" (1989) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion. The supplemental features on the disc include an original trailer for the film; exclusive new documentary on the making of the film; filmed archival conversation between Pedro Almodovar and Antonio Banderas; exclusive new video interview with Sony Pictures Classics co-founder Michael Barker; and more. The release also arrives with a 26-page illustrated booklet featuring: "The Birth of Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! by Pedro Almodovar; "Visions of Desire: Kent Jones Talks to Wes Anderson About Almodovar"; "Aimed at the Heart and the Genitals: An Interview with Almodovar"; and technical credits. In Spanish, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

"Don't stare at me like that..."

Spanish heartthrob Antonio Banderas is Ricky, a lonely thief who has just been released from a mental institution. Now he is on his way to meet the woman he is madly in love with, Marina (Victoria Abril, High Heels, Amantes), an ambitious actress who is shooting a kinky masterpiece for an elderly director (Francisco Rabal, Viridiana, Goya in Bordeaux) who can’t get enough of her. Ricky plans to tell Marina that he is ready to marry her.

But there is a small problem with Ricky’s plan -- Marina does not love him. Actually, she does not even know he exists. This is why Ricky already has a second plan, which is very similar to his first plan. He is still going to tell Marina that he is ready to marry her, but after he kidnaps her and makes her fall in love with him.

After an exhausting shoot, Ricky follows Marina back to her apartment. She tries to scream when she realizes that he isn’t there for an autograph, but he promptly knocks out one of her front teeth. Then he ties her on her bed and attempts to open up his heart. But he fails miserably because Marina is in so much pain that romance is the last thing in the world she wants to talk about. Convinced that it is only a matter of time before she realizes that they were meant to spend the rest of their lives together, Ricky agrees to go out and get Marina a bag of her favorite painkillers.

Meanwhile, the director, who keeps rewatching Marina’s old pornographic films, becomes seriously concerned when he discovers that his muse has disappeared. He urges Marina’s sister, Lola (Loles Leon, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown), whom he has hired as a personal assistant, to find her and bring her back, even if it means that they would have to give her a better contract.

This once quite controversial film -- in the United States, Tie Me Up!, Tie Me Down! was initially awarded the snubbing X rating (at the time reserved for pornographic films), but after its distributor challenged the MPAA’s decision in court a new category, NC-17, was implemented -- certainly has not lost any of its charm. Indeed, the authority with which it pokes fun at all sorts of different cinematic clichés and defies the viewer’s expectations while it finds humor in some quite bizarre situations remains very attractive.

The great chemistry between the two leads, however, is what truly makes Tie Me Up!, Tie Me Down! such a fascinating film to behold. Banderas and Abril are so comfortable with each other that when they push themselves to the limit (as it is the case during the 'controversial' lovemaking sequence) it is virtually impossible to tell if they are still acting. Without this chemistry the film almost certainly would have ended up being a giant farce.

The film’s visual style is pure Almodovar -- there are bright and garish colors galore and plenty of natural light. The Spanish director’s favorite extreme close-ups and slow pan shots are everywhere as well.

The soundtrack was created by the legendary Italian composer Ennio Morricone (Once Upon a Time in the West, Tepepa). The music is notably light and gentle, at times truly indescribably beautiful. The terrific “If You Knew How Many Nights” piece, in particular, is amongst the most moving in the maestro’s remarkable discography.

Criterion’s upcoming Blu-ray release of Tie Me Up!, Tie Me Down! contains the uncut NC-17 version of the film, which runs at approximately 102 minutes.

Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Pedro Almodovar's Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion.

The following text appears inside the booklet provided with this Blu-ray release:

"This new digital transfer was created in 2K resolution on an ARRISCAN film scanner from the 35mm original camera negative at Deluxe, Madrid, where the film was also restored, under the supervision of director Pedro Almodovar and executive producer Augustin Almodovar. The original 5.1 surround soundtrack was remastered at 24-bit from a 35mm magnetic track. Clicks, thumps, hiss, hum, and crackle were manually removed using Pro Tools HD, AudioCube's integrated workstation, and iZotope RX 3.

Transfer supervisors: Pedro Almodovar, Augustin Almodovar.
Production: Pedro Lozano.
Colorist: Chema Alba.
Scanning: Manuel Maurino.
Digital restoration: Fernando Gonzalez, Paula Garcia Cantalejo, Arrate Etxebarria.
Sound mastering: La Bocina, Madrid."

Excluding some extremely light flicker that I noticed very early into the film, the technical presentation is fantastic. Indeed, depth and clarity are dramatically improved and now it is so much easier to see all sorts of different details; especially during close-ups the improvements are quite substantial. The few panoramic shots also boast impressive fluidity (see the final sequence where Antonio Banderas is alone with his Walkman). Perhaps the most dramatic improvements, however, are in the area of color reproduction. The wide range of vivid Almodovar-esque colors look far better saturated and definitely better balanced. (A quick comparison with the R2 DVD release immediately reveals that the old standard definition transfer simply cannot handle well the film's rich color scheme). There are no traces of problematic degraining or sharpening corrections. Rather predictably, from start to finish the film has a very solid organic appearance. Overall image stability is excellent. Lastly, it is very easy to tell that during the restoration process debris, scratches, cuts, stains, and damage marks were removed as best as possible -- the film looks remarkably clean and healthy. All in all, this is a very solid upgrade of Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! that allows one to experience the film as its creator intended. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free PS3 or SA in order to access its content).

Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: Spanish DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1. For the record, Criterion have provided optional English subtitles for the main feature.

The gap in quality between the lossy track from the R2 DVD release and the new lossless 5.1 track is quite dramatic. Both depth and clarity are unquestionably superior on the lossless track and there are quite a few sequences where separation is more effective. You can compare the final sequence where Victoria Abril and Antonio Banderas meet in the countryside -- pay attention to the crisp sound/music (and specifically the separation between the different instruments) and the excellent depth. The dialog is crisp, stable, and exceptionally easy to follow. There are absolutely no pops, cracks, background hiss, audio dropouts, or distortions to report in this review.

Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer - original trailer for Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!. In Spanish, with optional English subtitles. (3 min, 1080i).

• United! Reflections on Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! - this documentary, produced by Criterion in 2014, focuses on the production history of Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!, the film's controversial rating in the United States, its success, its reception in different territories, and Pedro Almodovar's unique directing style. Included in it are new interviews with the acclaimed Spanish director, executive producer Agustin Almodovar, cinematographer Jose Luis Alcaine, director of production Esther Garcia, actors Antonio Banderas, Victoria Abril, Rossy de Palma ("Motorcycle girl"), and Loles Leon ("Lola"). In Spanish, with optional English subtitles. (29 min, 1080p).

• Pedro and Antonio - in this filmed conversation, Pedro Almodovar and Antonio Banderas discuss their collaboration on Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!, the controversial lovemaking sequence, the film's rating history in the United States, its unique themes (as well as some of the misconceptions about Marina and Ricky's relationshio), the evolution of Pedro Almodovar's style and Antonio Banderas' international success, etc. The conversation was filmed in 2003. In Spanish, with optional English subtitles. (27 min, 1080i).

• Michael Barker - in this fantastic new video interview, Michael Barker, co-founder of Sony Pictures Classics, discusses his and his company's professional relationship with Pedro Almodovar, the important success of Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown at Cannes Market, the Spanish director's unique storytelling and visual styles, Penélope Cruz's special performance in Volver, the controversy surrounding the rating of Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! in the United States, etc. In English, not subtitled. (15 min, 1080p).

• "Resistire" - presented here is archival footage from the premiere of Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! in Madrid in 1989. Cast and crew members can be seen performing the pop song "Resistire" in front of a very enthusiastic crowd. In Spanish, with optional English subtitles. (4 min, 1080i).

• Booklet - 26-page illustrated booklet featuring: "The Birth of Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! by Pedro Almodovar; "Visions of Desire: Kent Jones Talks to Wes Anderson About Almodovar"; "Aimed at the Heart and the Genitals: An Interview with Almodovar"; and technical credits.

Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

This smartly written and very colorful film directed by the great Pedro Almodovar looks every bit as charming today as it did in the early '90s. It was once quite controversial in the United States, but thankfully now all of the nonsense that was thrown at it is a thing of the past. Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! has been recently restored in 2K and looks wonderful on Blu-ray. Criterion's upcoming release also has some excellent supplemental features, including a very informative exclusive documentary and a new video interview with Sony Pictures Classics co-founder Michael Barker. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.