HIT ME WITH YOUR BEST SHOT: Law of Desire

In this week's edition of Hit me with your best shot we looked at Pedro Almodovar's "Law of Desire". So, I know Almodovar’s films are usually sexually-charged, but sheesh he really didn’t hold back on this one! This really was a fiery film, both figuratively and literally (e.g. the shirt and the typewriter at the end). This flaming desire was the source of everyone’s problems in this film. Hence, my favourite shot relates to this theme.

Click below for my favourite shot...



In this scene, Tina (Carmen Maura), Pablo (Eusebio Poncela) and Ada (Manuela Velasco) are walking back from dinner on a hot evening. Tina can’t take the heat anymore and jumps in front of a street cleaner’s hose. This seems to serve as both relief from the heat and her own sexual energy. As a child her desire for her father led her to the radical decision of a sex change, which proved in vain as he left her for another woman. Since then, she had been unable to be intimate with another man. As evidenced by the image her shower was a moment of ecstasy, but her guttural groans perhaps indicated some of her inner frustration. If only all the other characters had followed suit and taken a moment to “cool off” and think rationally.

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