Law of Desire (1987) review

A famous filmmaker (Eusebio Poncela) - with no short supply of admirers - attracts a possessive young man (Antonio Banderas) who jealously kills one of the filmmaker's other lovers (jeez, these directors get around). It lacks a lot of the black humor and frantic pace of Almodóvar's better movies, though he does throw in a bout of amnesia in the third act and some gender confusion (Carmen Maura, a woman, plays a woman who used to be a man) just to remind you of who is exactly behind the camera. Almodóvar insists this is his "key film," though I've always felt What Have I Done to Deserve This? truly established his voice - this picture, which is 'heavier' than his others, feels like him flirting with a less 'personalized' mode of filmmaking.