Matador

Ai No Corrida, literally. Death and Desire are inextricably linked in this Hispanic mix of sex, symbolism, violence and very chic design. A trainee bullfighter is driven by his guilt as a failed rapist to confess to the murder of a number of young men and women; but his maestro (retired from the corrida after being gored) and his lady lawyer are far guiltier than he, since the ultimate orgasm can only be achieved through killing. Not so much a maelstrom as a mess of contrived eroticism, pretentious dialogue, and voyeuristic sensationalism, Almodóvar's silly, cod-philosophical whodunit impresses only for its bravado (fans of Paul Verhoeven may love it).