One of my favorite poems was "Red Hunger" by René Charles, in which there is a line "When you die, a finger is in your mouth". The breath of death that pervades the whole poem has never been able to cover up the sexiness implied in this sentence and this gesture. Or, death itself is sexy.
This pose resembles the incomparably rich red people in Bliss Almodóvar's lens, who hold their fingers up to their mouths and live in a sexy gesture. In Almodóvar's description, sex is always so good, it's even...perfect. Men and women seem to be hungry and thirsty for each other, trying their best to entangle them. "Fragrance" is no exception.
What impressed me the most was not the two signboard-like buttocks, but the empty streets under the Christmas lights. Under Franco, people sheltered at home, snow piled on the streets, and a prostitute gave birth to her son, Victor, on a bus. The peculiar delivery room, the unusual birth time, and even the umbilical cord was cut with her teeth by the landlady who accompanied her. The boy, who was awarded an honorary citizen at birth and gave him the privilege of free bus rides for life, can't wait to come into this world, not knowing what kind of fate he will face.
Forgot to see it there, saying that boys in Latin America will always appreciate the taste of sex at a very early age, so their sex skills will be so skilled. And Victor, after the first time, was mocked by his favorite woman for his sexuality. Then in his strange violence and peace, a policeman was inexplicably shot. He went to jail for this.
I was fascinated by that strange quality of Victor, which seemed violent, yet tolerant, sometimes childish, and sometimes wily. In Almodóvar's films, there are always characters who live in a very strange way. They may not be very happy, or they may not be very sad, but they can easily get angry. The country full of bullfighting, the country where men can conquer women with sex, the red, hungry country where people love or hate intensely between anger and non-anger. Men are always naive, but women are always pursuing the perfection of sex and love in men.
I always feel that sex is the most extreme thing in this world, beautiful and intense, "like standing on the top of the snow peak, and if you take another step, you will fall into the abyss." Perfect sex is the exploration and longing of the other's body, making one die of hunger and then wake up. Victor's night of sex with Elena, those near-perfect, one-piece hips came together in a circle. The cycle of heaven, human relations are constant, and the circle represents satisfaction and harmony. Victor finally proves to Elena that he is capable of sex, giving Elena a taste of pleasure four years later. It seems that all resentment, fear and betrayal have been completely dissolved by the passion of this night.
However, everything does not end with perfect sex, and the sin in it can only be truly resolved in death. The entanglement of betrayal, lust, and hatred between the three men and two women ends in the death of the Claras. In the end, Victor married Elena and lived happily ever after.
Almodóvar had a deep understanding of the relationship between the female body and the soul, and he placed the position of sexuality even above the love of the soul. In his story, in their eyes, sexual perfection leads to love, while love without sex leads only to broken hatred and death. So did the Claras, and so did the Elenas.
The woman of Almodóvar, with her heart following her body, lies in a red bed and enjoys red sex. They twisted their naked bodies, moving like snakes, with red flames flashing in their eyes. In the sweat, breath and movement at this time, there is only flame-like sex, they are in love, and they have fulfilled their love in the boundless sea of desire. Finally, with a decisive gesture, he completed his life.
The women of Spain, the love of Spain, the roses are red, the drapes waving by the bullfighters are red...their eyes are full of passion and hunger, the red hunger of Almodóvar.
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