Live Flesh (Carne trémula)

Live Flesh (Carne trémula) (1997)

  • 79% of critics liked it
    (39 reviews)

  • 86% of users liked it
    (12,740 ratings)

This Pedro Almodóvar melodrama examines how several lives are changed by a single gunshot. Adapting the novel Live Flesh by British mystery author Ruth Rendell, Almodóvar has given the material a Spanish makeover with added political thrust. Beginning in 1970 in Franco's Madrid, when a prostitute… More

R, 2 hr.
Directed By
Pedro Almodóvar
Written By
Pedro Almodóvar
Genres
Art House & International, Drama
In Theaters
Jan 16, 1998 Wide
On DVD
Apr 10, 2001
Goldwyn Films

Critic Reviews

  • Liam Lacey, Globe and Mail

    The overall purpose of Live Flesh, the latest and reputedly most 'mature' work from Spanish bad-boy director Pedro Almodovar, remains engigmatic.

  • Louis B. Parks, Houston Chronicle

    Almodovar seems more assured here, confident that he can interest us without overt winking and tomfoolery.

  • Janet Maslin, New York Times

    Almodovar, whose work here has newly sophisticated polish, appreciates the dark twists of this story along with the eroticism that bring heat to all the scheming.

  • David Denby, New York Magazine

    Despite his erotic fixations, Pedro Almodóvar is the cinema's last true innocent.

  • David Noh, Film Journal International

    The film also feels curiously underpopulated, unenlivened by any sparky character bits.

Read all 11 critic reviews

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Featured Audience Ratings

  • Cynthia S


    Javier Bardem, and Liberto Rabal, are easy on the eyes and make the movie worth watching. It's a mildly interesting story, somewhat predictable, and with its fair share of slow moments. And as is so often the case in Almodovar movies, the intense connection between characters is… More

  • Wahida K


    Life, love, desire...and everything in between.

  • Drew S


    I've only seen three other Almodovar movies and they all impressed me immensely, but Live Flesh is sort of a dud. The last thing I would call this, contrary to its Flixster page, is "restrained"; those telenovela moments that Almodovar is so good at concocting are… More

  • Lanning :


    The more I see of Bardem, the more I like him. Given that my first notice of him came via <i>No Country for Old Men</i> -- which you must see for his performance in that one -- I grow more and more to appreciate what an amazing range he has. This film too, like… More

  • Anthony L


    My first Pedro Almodovar film. Also my first Javier Bardem. Both have got me hooked!

Read all 17 featured audience ratings

Cast

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