6 out of 7 people found the following comment useful :- Polysexual self involved drug fiends in screwball classic!!, 12 April 2001
Author:
(jhayes3@hotmail.com) from NYC
I agree with both comments above but wanted to emphasis what a fun insanely
gleeful movie this is. Very camp and sleazy. A movie about being young.
Worth viewing for Almodovar and Fanny (Fabio) McNamara's horrendous pop
group 'performing' 'Suck It To Me'. Drag queens worship Fanny and you'll
see why. A sort of Madrid Liquid Sky with humor and a decent plot. Very
cult and very 60's mod. Pure fun.
4 out of 5 people found the following comment useful :- Funny indeed, 29 January 2006
Author:
(madsbs)
Very typical Almodóvar of the time and, in its own way, no less funny
than many of his later works. And why is that? There is nothing to be
provoked or shocked about, and I guess any such effect is more
coincidental than intentional. No, the great humor stems from an
underlying, almost surreal, absurdity that is woven into the scenery:
The characters' nearly complete lack of taboo. It's the same kind of
'comic suspense' you find in his later works, though you'll find it in
a more rough version here. He's building up for masterpieces to come,
but is not yet there.
The sole reviewer who commented on this movie before I did, claimed
that it had to be a "very select" group of people who'd find this movie
hilarious. I do.
5 out of 7 people found the following comment useful :- Anecdotal..., 30 January 2006
Author:
Henry Fields (kikecam@teleline.es) from Spain
In his two first movies (and I would count the third one too -Entre
Tinieblas-) Almodóvar was more a kind of outsider, someone who needed
to express himself freely in a country that had suffered a Dictatorship
for almost 40 years. Neither "Pepi, Luci..." nor "Laberinto de
pasiones" tell any story in particular, at least none that's
interesting. They're rather a collection of gags and sketches that are
meant to scandalize and to drive up the wall all that right-winged
people. Almodovar uses topics such as incest, gay power, Islamic
terrorism, drugs abuse... 100% punk attitude, basically. And though
Spain is much more liberal nowadays some of the passages of Almodovar's
first movies couldn't be accepted by the society. How come? Well,
because of the "political correction" stuff (isn't it some kind of
censorship too?? I mean, self-censorship).
Anyway, this movies have to be understood in the right context (just
like John Water's first films). If you don't take that into account
you'd better go and watch any other thing.
5.5/10
3 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :- A brilliant comedy with no equal or comparison., 10 January 2000
Author:
theman-24 from Austin, Texas
This film exhibits Almodovar's true comic genius like no other. It will
leave you reeling, and wanting to run about the streets naked while you
howl
with manic glee. It is truly a maddeningly funny comedy that goes way
beyond
risque (nothing is taboo in this lunatic-romp). It is so original that you
may have trouble excepting its anything goes mind-set at first. The film's
madcap style, characters and situations are akin to nothing I've ever seen.
You've got to check this one out!
4 out of 7 people found the following comment useful :- Fabulous lunacy, 17 January 1999
Author:
timon88 from New York, NY
"Labyrinth of Passion"--with the possible exception of "Matador "--is
Almodovar's best film. It displays his unique personality at its best and
least-censored, before he started going more mainstream. Almodovar is just
about the only modern director that can approach Preston Sturges' wonderful
brand of lunacy. It's pointless to try and explain what the movie is about,
the real point being Almodovar's willingness and skill in taking his
situations to the outer limits of sanity, and sometimes of plausibility and
taste as well.
4 out of 13 people found the following comment useful :- Labyrinth of Boredom, 15 June 2005
Author:
Sturgeon54 from United States
I happened upon a rare copy of this early Almodovar film with high
expectations - Almodovar is a prolific contemporary director, I enjoyed
his 1988 film "Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown", and I had
read one or two very positive reviews of the film. Well, I must have
missed completely the humor that the reviewers saw in this film. I just
found it incoherent, tasteless, and boring. Yes, there are plenty of
innuendos, people in drag, and crude sexual situations, and yes, these
elements may have shocked audiences in 1982 (which was almost certainly
Almodovar's intention), but much of the shock value has probably eroded
over the years, leaving a limp storyline. Beyond that, the whole movie
seemed very chaotic, none of the characters were particularly
sympathetic, and for a "comedy" - even a dark one - I just didn't find
this film funny. I suppose it is possible there is a VERY select
audience for a film like this, but I'm just not part of that audience,
and not sure that I want to be.
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Laberinto de pasiones (1982)
6 out of 7 people found the following comment useful :-
Polysexual self involved drug fiends in screwball classic!!, 12 April 2001
Author: (jhayes3@hotmail.com) from NYC
I agree with both comments above but wanted to emphasis what a fun insanely gleeful movie this is. Very camp and sleazy. A movie about being young. Worth viewing for Almodovar and Fanny (Fabio) McNamara's horrendous pop group 'performing' 'Suck It To Me'. Drag queens worship Fanny and you'll see why. A sort of Madrid Liquid Sky with humor and a decent plot. Very cult and very 60's mod. Pure fun.
4 out of 5 people found the following comment useful :-

Funny indeed, 29 January 2006
Author: (madsbs)
Very typical Almodóvar of the time and, in its own way, no less funny than many of his later works. And why is that? There is nothing to be provoked or shocked about, and I guess any such effect is more coincidental than intentional. No, the great humor stems from an underlying, almost surreal, absurdity that is woven into the scenery: The characters' nearly complete lack of taboo. It's the same kind of 'comic suspense' you find in his later works, though you'll find it in a more rough version here. He's building up for masterpieces to come, but is not yet there.
The sole reviewer who commented on this movie before I did, claimed that it had to be a "very select" group of people who'd find this movie hilarious. I do.
5 out of 7 people found the following comment useful :-

Anecdotal..., 30 January 2006
Author: Henry Fields (kikecam@teleline.es) from Spain
In his two first movies (and I would count the third one too -Entre Tinieblas-) Almodóvar was more a kind of outsider, someone who needed to express himself freely in a country that had suffered a Dictatorship for almost 40 years. Neither "Pepi, Luci..." nor "Laberinto de pasiones" tell any story in particular, at least none that's interesting. They're rather a collection of gags and sketches that are meant to scandalize and to drive up the wall all that right-winged people. Almodovar uses topics such as incest, gay power, Islamic terrorism, drugs abuse... 100% punk attitude, basically. And though Spain is much more liberal nowadays some of the passages of Almodovar's first movies couldn't be accepted by the society. How come? Well, because of the "political correction" stuff (isn't it some kind of censorship too?? I mean, self-censorship).
Anyway, this movies have to be understood in the right context (just like John Water's first films). If you don't take that into account you'd better go and watch any other thing.
5.5/10
3 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :-
A brilliant comedy with no equal or comparison., 10 January 2000
Author: theman-24 from Austin, Texas
This film exhibits Almodovar's true comic genius like no other. It will leave you reeling, and wanting to run about the streets naked while you howl with manic glee. It is truly a maddeningly funny comedy that goes way beyond risque (nothing is taboo in this lunatic-romp). It is so original that you may have trouble excepting its anything goes mind-set at first. The film's madcap style, characters and situations are akin to nothing I've ever seen. You've got to check this one out!
4 out of 7 people found the following comment useful :-

Fabulous lunacy, 17 January 1999
Author: timon88 from New York, NY
"Labyrinth of Passion"--with the possible exception of "Matador "--is Almodovar's best film. It displays his unique personality at its best and least-censored, before he started going more mainstream. Almodovar is just about the only modern director that can approach Preston Sturges' wonderful brand of lunacy. It's pointless to try and explain what the movie is about, the real point being Almodovar's willingness and skill in taking his situations to the outer limits of sanity, and sometimes of plausibility and taste as well.
4 out of 13 people found the following comment useful :-

Labyrinth of Boredom, 15 June 2005
Author: Sturgeon54 from United States
I happened upon a rare copy of this early Almodovar film with high expectations - Almodovar is a prolific contemporary director, I enjoyed his 1988 film "Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown", and I had read one or two very positive reviews of the film. Well, I must have missed completely the humor that the reviewers saw in this film. I just found it incoherent, tasteless, and boring. Yes, there are plenty of innuendos, people in drag, and crude sexual situations, and yes, these elements may have shocked audiences in 1982 (which was almost certainly Almodovar's intention), but much of the shock value has probably eroded over the years, leaving a limp storyline. Beyond that, the whole movie seemed very chaotic, none of the characters were particularly sympathetic, and for a "comedy" - even a dark one - I just didn't find this film funny. I suppose it is possible there is a VERY select audience for a film like this, but I'm just not part of that audience, and not sure that I want to be.
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