Friday, May 20, 2016

Matador (1986)

dir. Pedro Almodovar

Maria Cardenal (Assumpta Serna) picks up a stranger - Plaza de la Paja, Madrid, Spain. Tucked away in the historic part of the city, known as the Madrid de los Austrias, the square is an unexpected quiet haven among the hustle and bustle of the capital. The place got its name (meaning "Straw Square") because it once served as a tithing site for the church - peasants went there to offer a fraction of their harvest to feed the bishop's mules. Of the palaces that surrounded the square in medieval times, only the Palacio Vargas (seen in the background) remains there today. In another Almodovar film, The Flower of My Secret (1995), Marisa Paredes' character lives at the plaza.

Angel's (Antonio Banderas) apartment - Calle Pavia 4, Madrid, Spain

Angel tries to rape Eva (Eva Cobo) - Still searching for this location

Retired matador Diego Montes (Nacho Martínez) drives Eva home - Calle Pavia at Plaza de Oriente, Madrid, Spain

Maria pulls up her car at the curb and gets out - Calle Marqués de Urquijo, Madrid, Spain

Maria goes to a movie theater - Calle Marqués de Urquijo 23, Madrid, Spain. The theater, called El Cine Urquijo, was damaged in a fire in 1989. The building has been turned into a hotel.

Diego's mansion - Still searching for this location

Diego sees Maria standing on a viaduct - Segovia Viaduct, Calle Bailen at Calle Segovia, Madrid, Spain. The bridge used to be a popular place for suicides up until the late 1990s. Now the railing is protected by thick acrylic glass screens to keep people from jumping off (it may be helping to prevent suicides but it also makes it hard to take a good picture.) Almodovar revisited this location twice. In Los abrazos rotos / Broken Embraces (2009), Lluis Homar's character lives on Calle Segovia just below the viaduct, and in Los amantes pasajeros / I'm So Excited! (2013), the character played by Paz Vega attempts to commit suicide here.

The prison psychiatric hospital where Angel is kept - Still searching for this location

Diego buying flowers form a street vendor - Puerta de Doce de Octubre, Avenida Menéndez Pelayo, Madrid, Spain

Guided by Angel, the police follow Diego and Maria’s car - Plaza Mariano de Cavia, Madrid, Spain

The police follow Diego and Maria's car outside of Chinchon - Alcoholera de Chinchon, Carretera M-311 at M-313, Morata de Tajuña, Madrid, Spain

Maria’s country house where she brings Diego - Still searching for this location. The film implies it’s in the vicinity of Chinchon.

See also...


Live Flesh

Basic Instinct

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