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Law of Desire (18) + Introduction by actor Rebecca Root

Queer 80s

,Cinema 1
Two people stand in front of a mirror in a darkly lit bathroom.

A deeply twisted gay romance is at the heart of Pedro Almodóvar's first truly great film, a sexy, dangerous thriller with superb performances from Antonio Banderas and Carmen Maura.

Law of Desire opens with an unashamedly erotic scene of gay sexual desire and keeps the passion up until the end credits in his marvellous noir-tinged tale that puts an obsessive stalker (Antonio Banderas), a lovelorn gay porn director (Eusebio Poncela) and his caring trans sister (Carmen Maura) at the centre of a heady dark thriller.

The Movida movement, the cultural explosion that took place in Spain following the death of Franco, was well under way when Almodóvar made his ground-breaking seventh film. His cunning gender play – he casts cisgender actor Maura as a trans character and trans actor Bibiana Fernández as her cisgender niece – is as playful as ever and it deservedly won the first ever Teddy Award, awarding the best queer cinema, at the Berlin Film Festival.

Tagged with: Cinema Pride 2024 Queer 80s

Spain 1987 dir Pedro Almodóvar 102 min, in Spanish with English subtitles

Rebecca Root is an actor and voice teacher best known for her work in Boy Meets Girl, The Queen's Gambit, Heartstopper, The Danish Girl, and The Sisters Brothers.

Cinema 1

Location
Barbican Cinema 1 is located within the main Barbican building on Level -2. Head to Level G and walk towards the Lakeside Terrace where you’ll find stairs and lifts to take you down to the venue floor.   

Address
Barbican Centre
Silk Street, London
EC2Y 8DS

Public transport
The Barbican is widely accessible by bus, tube, train and by foot or bicycle. Plan your journey and find more route information in ‘Your Visit’ or book your car parking space in advance.