Photo courtesy of Sony Pictures, all rights reserved.
1987 / 102 mins. / color
Dir. and Scr. Pedro Almodóvar / Cine. Ángel Luis Fernández
Cast: Antonio Banderas, Carmen Maura, Eusebio Poncela
DCP courtesy Sony Pictures Classics
Introduced by Richard Peña, Columbia University School of the Arts
Pedro Almodóvar’s seventh feature, Law of Desire, is an early pivot point in his long career. It was the first of his films to focus on romantic relationships between gay and trans characters; the first to be produced by Almodóvar’s own company, El Deseo (run with his brother, Agustín); and the first to feature a filmmaker character based on himself (played in this case by Eusebio Poncela). As Almodóvar has said, “It's the key film in my life and career. It deals with my vision of desire, something that's both very hard and very human. By this I mean the absolute necessity of being desired and the fact that in the interplay of desires it's rare that two desires meet and correspond.”
– Jack Lechner
About Richard Peña Selects
On the eve of his retirement, Professor Richard Peña has selected six films of particular importance to him and his career, ranging from classic Hollywood noir (Kiss Me Deadly) to one of the last Chinese films made before the Cultural Revolution (Two Stage Sisters) to screen in this three day festival.