Antonio Banderas’ 1986 Movie Is So Twisted It Has an NC-17 Rating
Antonio Banderas is an acting legend. The actor has appeared in numerous productions, many of which were hits. However, sometimes actors make movies that may be considered so risqué that they get a bad rep. Banderas’ 1987 movie was so twisted that it surpassed the R-rating.
A look at Antonio Banderas’s career
Banderas’s entry into the entertainment world was very controversial. As an actor living in a dictatorship, political censorship prevented people from expressing their political views. After working on a play by Bertolt Brecht, the actor spent a night in custody and would have four more arrests while working in a theater in Spain.
However, his hard work didn’t go unnoticed as a Spanish director noticed Banderas’s talent and cast him in the 1982 film Liberty of Passion. Five years later, the two worked again in Law of Desire, with Banderas playing a gay man.
The director sought Banderas’s skills again in 1986 for Matador and in 1988 in Women On The Verge Of A Nervous Breakdown. Their continued partnership extended to the ’90s when Banderas appeared in Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down as a man with a mental illness who kidnaps an adult film star until she returns his love.
Madonna introduced Banderas to Hollywood by casting him in Madonna: Truth Or Dare. He then began appearing in US films, albeit not speaking English well. Banderas had to learn his lines phonetically for The Mambo Kings. In 1993 he appeared alongside heavyweight Tom Hanks in Philadelphia as his partner.
Banderas got even more recognition when he appeared alongside Brad Pitt in Interview With The Vampire. He starred in Mask of Zorro, Assassins, Evita, Friday, and Once Upon A Time In Mexico. IMDb notes that Banderas has 117 acting credits.
Antonio Banderas’s 1986 movie has an NC-17 rating
There are several sites and bodies responsible for rating movies. However, the Motion Picture Association determines whether a movie fits all audiences or only mature ones. As far as that body goes, there is nothing as extreme as an NC-17 rating.
An NC-17 rating on a movie means no one under 18 is allowed to purchase tickets to watch it. However, some producers try to avoid the rating by recutting their films to ensure they at least make for an R-Rating.
Banderas starred in Matador in 1986, playing Angel, a man suffering from vertigo. However, his vertigo episodes give him visions of murder, and after sexually assaulting his bullfighting teacher’s girlfriend, he confesses to the other murders.
However, the detective isn’t convinced, and it turns out Angel’s teacher Diego was responsible for the murders. The movie pushed the limits with its twisted narrative, which was also oddly humorous. However, the Motion Picture Association gave the film an NC-17 rating nearly two decades after its release. The MPA cited “aberrant sexuality” and violence as the reason for giving Matador an NC-17 rating in 2005.
Antonio Banderas ‘Matador’ did well with critics
The movie didn’t do well at the box office but had a positive reception, with critics praising the cast and script. Rotten Tomatoes gave the black comedy an impressive 92% score and a 78% audience score. Top Critic Peter Travers of People Magazine said, “The film is fiercely funny, executed in a reckless, raucous rage by the most wantonly gifted new filmmaker on the international scene.”
Harriet Waugh of The Spectator called the movie “Bizarre, funny and unexpected.” An audience Super Reviewer said, “Looking past all the absurdities the film had to offer, Matador is essentially a dark romantic comedy at its core. With passion and obsession meeting fueling the characters’ actions, Almodóvar steps up and shows audiences he isn’t afraid to tell original stories.” Another reviewer called the movie “campy.”
