基卡

Blatantly subversive, bawdy and lecherous, Almodóvar’s KIKA isn’t for those faint-hearted or prudish, in this ubiquitously crimson satire of insidious perversion, Forqué plays the titular Kika, a simple-minded make-up artist unwisely becomes romantically entangled with a step-father-and-son pair, Nicolas (Coyote) is an expatriate American novelist and Ramón (Casanovas), his stepson, is a fashion photographer.

Morbidity seeps from the word go, Rafaela (a cameo by López), Nicolas’ wife and Ramón’s mother, apparently injures Nicolas and kills herself with a pistol; the first time Kika meets Ramón, he is presumably dead but she magically resurrects him (which is reprised in a similar scenario near the coda); another key player is Andrea (Abril), whose nickname is “Scarface”, a psychiatrist-turned-reality-show-host, tricked out in proper outlandish, sometimes futuristic Gaultier garb, she is fanatically thirsty for anything that is violently wanton and visually obscene to ramp up viewing ratings, not to mention she is Rámon’s ex and not willingly to have a “no” for an answer.

As the plot thickens, all sorts of kinks are strewn along the way at the expense of Kika’s mishap (sometimes fittingly synchronized with Almodóvar’s choice selection of reused accompaniment, a suite from PSYCHO for instance), she is two-timed, betrayed by her best friend Amparo (Alonso), gets ravished by a virile convict-at-large Pablo (Lajusticia), who is a former porn star, not entirely compos mentis, an incest committer with his sister Juana (de Palma), who happens to be Kika’s maid and doesn’t belie her sapphic feelings for her. Furthermore, it slowly turns out, the two men in Kika’s life, are nothing if not perverse, Nicolas turns out to be a ruthless murderer (whose latest lurid novel could be his autobiography) and Nicolas, a catalepsy-prone scopophiliac creep, both reveals are masterfully cued by Joseph Losey’s THE PROWLER playing on the screen.

On paper, it is hard to imagine how to make a farcical meal out of those aforementioned atrocities, but in the hands of a genius like Almodóvar, even the most horrendous happenstance can be slyly modulated into jolt audience’s funny bone. Taking the extreme example of Kika’s rape, only Almodóvar can get a hall pass for depicting it as laughing matter exactly because he doesn’t self-consciously shy away from it, conversely, he ingeniously prolongs the process (Pablo needs to ejaculate 5 times to feel sated) to a surreal scenario (he is driven by primal desire purely, there is little menace involved), which is also side-splittingly helped by the facetious assistance of a chair-bound Juana and two ham-fisted cops (Bonilla and Elejalde). Sex is fun, Almodóvar’s own queer identity attests, being ravished by a young stallion is nearly palatable as long as physically violence is strictly kept at bay.

Forqué, finally upgraded to a leading role in an Almodóvar picture in their third collaboration, perfectly sublimates Kika’s befuddled naivety into a winning combo of compassion and lovability, her trademark overbite and auburn pelt distinguishes her from those tacky screen bimbos, and she convincingly sustains Kika’s characteristically devil-may-care sanguineness to a fare-thee-well, to a brilliant ending evinces that she is the type who is jauntily immune to any number of nervous breakdown.

By comparison, her two male co-stars fare less effective, Coyote seems to habitually wallow in a broody or foul mood and Casanovas is too wet behind the ears to delve into Ramón’s broken psyche. Thus, it falls upon Almodóvar’s other two stock players to save the day, de Palma tops off the movie as a first-class comedienne without debasing Juana’s primitiveness and candor; yet, the most delectable class act is Abril, under Andrea’s over-the-top, eye-opening outfit (a helm-mounted camcorder comes rather handy), throbbing a monstrous soul represents what is morally wrong about the now rampant reality show plethora, Abril is perversely relentless and exhibits Andrea’s wickedness all over the place till the last gasp.

Other than a tried-and-tested garish trendsetter, a whip-smart tale-teller and a taboo-flouting feminist, in KIKA, Almodóvar also asserts himself as a prescient social commentator, after all, “I don’t want my rape to sell more milk!” is Kika’s only anathema, that rather speaks volumes in a picture teeming with backdoor human proclivities, both mortal and venial.

referential entries: Almodóvar’s I’M SO EXCITED! (2013, 6.7/10); WHAT HAVE I DONE TO DESERVE THIS? (1984, 7.0/10).

女主角是位化妆师。一个女人自杀，她的儿子雷蒙因为伤心过度而昏迷。那个女人的丈夫以为雷蒙死了，找来情人女主角给雷蒙化妆。这个男人是个作家，他并不是雷蒙的亲生父亲。化妆期间雷蒙苏醒过来。后来雷蒙和女主角在一起同居。雷蒙的前女友安德莉亚是一位电视节目制作人和主持人，专门现场采访那些惊悚或凶杀的节目。作家搬到雷蒙所在的地方生活，他住在雷蒙楼上。安德莉亚找到作家，让他给自己写剧本。女主角的一位女同事经常和作家在一起，还有一位高个子金发女郎也总来找作家。女主角和雷蒙的家里有一位女佣，女佣的弟弟是罪犯，参加一个悔罪的游行队伍，趁人不备逃跑。罪犯跑到女主角家里找姐姐，他和姐姐曾经乱伦过。罪犯在女主角家里假装把姐姐绑起来打昏，让后去偷东西，发现女主角正睡觉，于是过去强奸女主角，女主角醒过来，罪犯仍然不停止强奸。对面楼里有一位偷窥者发现这个事情，于是报警。警方赶到，破门而入，将正在强奸女主角的罪犯拉起来，但罪犯挣脱警察逃跑。安德莉亚也得知此事前来采访，她来到楼下，罪犯抢走她的摩托车逃跑。安德莉亚上楼到女主角家采访她，遭到拒绝。雷蒙回到家也得知此事。到了晚上，安德莉亚把她偷窥者寄给她的罪犯强奸女主角被强奸的录像在电视里播出。女主角看到后非常伤心和气愤。作家看到节目后也来楼下劝解女主角，并打电话质问安德莉亚。雷蒙在和作家的交谈中告诉作家，他就是那个偷窥者，也是他报的警，并把录像寄给安德莉亚。这些内容被女主角偷听到，于是伤心地离开这里。而那位女佣也因为惭愧，和女主角一起离开。雷蒙在观看一部电影时候突然想到，他母亲不是自杀，是作家杀了她。安德莉亚在仔细看那些录像时发现作家用花瓶杀了那个高个子的金发女郎。作家吧高个子金发女郎的尸体带到他和雷蒙母亲一起住的那座别墅里，想把尸体埋在院子里。他正在屋子里拖动尸体，雷蒙也来到这里。因为雷蒙看了母亲的日记，发现母亲很爱作家，但并不喜欢他。雷蒙对作家说了母亲的想法，并揭露作家杀死了她。雷蒙发现高个子金发女郎的尸体后吓得昏过去，作家把他放到卧室床上。这时安德莉亚也来到这里，她要采访作家，为什么杀死金发女郎。作家不接受采访，安德莉亚用枪打伤作家，强迫他接受采访。作家想逃跑，被安德莉亚打成重伤，但他也趁安德莉亚不备，夺过枪杀死安德莉亚。雷蒙出发前给女主角留了一封道歉信。女主角看到信后也来到别墅这里找雷蒙，进屋后发现作家奄奄一息，她扶起作家，作家把一部书稿留给她，随后死在他的怀里。女主角又到卧室里找到雷蒙，用点击法让雷蒙醒过来。女主角报警并叫来救护车，雷蒙被抬入救护车后，她开车在后面跟随。路上遇到一位男子搭车，两人交流后，女主角同意送他去参加婚礼，婚礼后和他一起去喝酒狂欢。

女主角是这些人里活得最轻松的。做着自己喜欢的工作，也不贪婪财富，不和人勾心斗角。遭到那个罪犯的强奸时，她似乎并不太生气，而且还有点享受，大概是她本来就很喜欢性爱。只有把她被强奸的画面在电视里播出，才让她伤心和生气，更加上是男友寄出的录像，对她伤害就更大了。但事情过后她也不再耿耿于怀，又和男友和好了。或许正因为这种性格，她也随时都能喜欢上一个人。就像先喜欢作家，然后很快就和雷蒙在一起了。或许她答应和那位搭车男子一起喝酒狂欢，也是对男友的一种报复吧。

那位作家或许是想要写小说的素材和灵感吧，所以才一再的杀人，而且专杀女人。

安德莉亚为了拍摄节目不择手段、不顾及别人的感受，而且还认为这是职业道德，最终因此而死，算是报应吧。

片中那些女人对感情、对性爱，似乎都很开放，只是女主角更没有心机。看来西班牙人确实是热情开放的民族，电影里或许有点夸张，但应该不会太离谱。