Don't Tempt Me
List Price:
Our Price: $3.55
You Save: $6.43 (64%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $0.89 (click here)
Category: DVD
See more DVD details
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
DVD details
Actor: Demián Bichir, Fanny Ardant, Juan Echanove, Penélope Cruz, Victoria AbrilBrand: First Look Pictures
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language); French (Original Language); Latin (Original Language); Spanish (Original Language)
Format: Color, DVD, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 108 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2004-02-17
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: First Look Pictures
DVD Reviews of Don't Tempt Me
DVD Review: The Good and Evil in Yanes' "Don't Tempt Me"
Summary: 5 Stars
The film you will find in the "foreign films" section at your local Blockbuster should not, by any means, be categorized as such. Yanes' ingenius film, "Don't Tempt Me" is a work of the world, incorporating languages together that the average person does not have under their belt. As a 'work of the world' I mean a film that has accomplished drawing the world together--a realization that there are other countries, other cultures--there is Heaven, there is Earth and there is Hell-- all existing on parallel planes not too distant from one another. There are several intriguing topics covered in "Don't Tempt Me," all of which draw a plotline that is loaded but fully satisfying upon completion.
We encounter the different worlds existing in our realm;
Heaven, seemingly the set for a black and white romance film, is filled with the French tongue and a constant majestic view of the Eiffel Tower. This haven is in danger because no more souls are being saved--the population is dwindling, endangering Heaven's very existence.
Hell, a classic juxtaposition between a scorchin desert and a grimy underworld (Check-Point Charlie), is filled with sinners being assigned to their appropriate 'circles' of Hell where their fate is to become the opposite of the role they entertained in life on Earth. English is the main language spoken, and we are gifted color in these scenes so that nothing is softened, but rather exposed to us in either blinding sunlight in the desert or seedy flourescent lighting of the underground.
Earth, set in Spain where Spanish is spoken, is the set that plays out parallels with Hell.
In the argument for Good and Evil, we are never supplied with direct interaction with "God" or "Satan," per say, but are rather introduced to Heaven and Hell's executive managers, if you will, both leading their respective realms as best they can to maintain the delicate balance and distinction between 'good' and 'evil.' In "Don't Tempt Me" this balance and distinction is at risk, which therefore puts both Heaven and Hell at risk in that each one needs the other for survival. This could be perhaps a follow-up commentary involving the very first scene of the film where we see Carmen (Penelope Cruz) and Lola (Victoria Abril) walking to the scene of their crime and discussing the theology of God's existence and his stance on evil. This is a classic argument, critiquing God's three supposed attributes: omnipotence, omniscience, and goodness. Where does evil fit it if God is indeed all of these three things? "Don't Tempt Me" seems to suggest that without evil no good could exist, and so that it is inextricably linked to the survival of good.
To display the relationship between good and evil, we are gifted with the playful, humorous and touching relationship between Jack Davenport and Maria de los Angelos-- a torrid affair that flames every few hundred years and is maintained based off of each of their respect and admiration for the other and the absolute need for the other to exist. We see here the greatest argument for "opposites attract" as well as with Lola and Carmen.
There is perhaps a new definition created within the film of "good" and "evil"-- suggesting throughout that there are definite "evil" embodiments both on Earth and in Hell, but that "sin" is not necessarily "evil"-- it is only what will land you in Hell for appropriate punishment. The "evil" is in the hands of those who abuse their power, such as the police, loan sharks and money-launderers on Earth and the committee working to extricate Jack Davenport from his position of power. "Sin" is simply represented by actions such as that of the boxer with whose soul Heaven and Hell initially play tug-o-war (stealing $$$ from his mother she had saved for his brother's education), and as well in sexual pleasure, giving in to any sinful pleasures.
On topic of sexual pleasures-- Sexuality is also a potent topic present in "Don't Tempt Me." The sexual tension between Carmen and Lola is, for those less open-minded, slightly uncomfortable in its original "lesbian" nature. We see Cruz's butch Carmen slicking back her hair, donning a man's suit and dancing in a very unladylike fashion to "Kung Foo Fighting," partying late into the night with a group of girls, taking drugs, and drinking; We are pressed to assume she is a lesbian. It is only later we see that, as an angel of Hell, Carmen's punishment was to be made the opposite of what she was in life: a tough-guy gangster. In this way, she is made a beautiful, "weak" woman--the greatest punishment she could have received. This in itself is a feminist's nightmare--commenting on the still blatant imbalance of power between men and women--as well as having to endure a troubling almost-rape scene (womens' fate) and the physical abuse both Carmen and Lola endure from the boxer they are sent to Earth for. It could be suggested that there is some form of 'relief' acquired in the realization that the relationship between Carmen and Lola is acceptable because, as it turns out, Carmen is a man. Although I greatly appreciate the social commentary on gender stereotypes and conditions made in Carmen's punishment being to have been made the very kind of woman he once most likely harassed in life, I was disappointed in the concept of acceptance being found in Lola and Carmen's relationship when the sexual, emotional attachments are found to be between man and woman.
In a film such as "Don't Tempt Me" there are many different readings and several situations within it may be read several different ways. Perhaps that is what makes this film dangerous-- it creates a tantalizing need to pay attention (for one thing, unless you have the 5 or so languages used within it mastered, you are required to read, yes READ, subtitles) and to THINK about what is going in within the plot and what it all means.
A film is generally considered a form of entertainment- "Don't Tempt Me" is entertainment in the most intellectual, testing meaning of the word. It is a work of art that must be examined from each angle of its multiple facets. It makes one stop and think- what is 'good' and, what is 'evil.' Is that what Heaven and Hell, if they truly exist, are really like? Question your religion, all of your beliefs, theologically, socially, personally. What kind of person are you? This film makes one sit for awhile after the screen has gone blank and think. This is the genius, this is the success of "Don't Tempt Me."
Description of Don't Tempt Me
Heaven has sent its best, and the devil has enlisted his worst - Victoria Abril and Penelope Cruz co-star as agents doing battle for ultimate supremacy. The winner is to be decided by whoever can secure the soul of a short-tempered, punch-drunk boxer on earth. These sexy angels pull no punches, using their brains, wiles and of course, sex appeal. Damnation has never been this seductive, and seduction never more heavenly; he?s not going to know what hit him?he?s only human!Bestsellers in DVD
![The Story of Jeremiah [VHS] Image](/images/noimg.gif)
The Story of Jeremiah [VHS]Vision Video; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Wresting With God [VHS]by Vision Video
Vision Video; Published: 1990-10-01; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Price in other shops:
Study Bible Video with Workbook [VHS]Spring Arbor Distributors; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $7.95
Price in other shops:
Tempo:Childrens TV Favourites Video [VHS]HarperCollins Audio; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $9.17
Price in other shops:
Tempo.Herbs:Parseley'Sb/ Party Video [VHS]HarperCollins Audio; VHS Tape; VHS Video
![Strike the Original Match [VHS] Image](/images/Strike-the-Original-Match-VHS-0001374079-X.jpg)
Strike the Original Match [VHS]New Liberty Films; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Price in other shops:
![Medjugorje The Miracles and the Message [VHS] Image](/images/Medjugorje-The-Miracles-and-the-Message-VHS-0001373293-X.jpg)
Medjugorje The Miracles and the Message [VHS]JPN Film Production; Release date: 1995-12-15; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $29.99
Mayo Clinic Echocardiography Review Course for Boards and Recertification DVD 2008by Mayo
DVD
Price in other shops:
Pediatric Diagnostic Imaging DVD: Single Userby Oakstone
DVD
Price in other shops:
Cost Accounting [VHS]by Charles T. Horngren, George Foster, Srikant M. Datar, Howard Teall
Pearson Canada, Toronto; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Similar DVDs, VHS Video, Audio CDs
Room in RomeMPI; Release date: 2011-02-22; DVD
Best price: $10.74
Price in other shops:
Don't MoveGenius; Release date: 2006-07-18; DVD
Best price: $7.77
Price in other shops:
Sex and Lucia (Unrated Edition)Universal Studios; Release date: 2004-10-19; Published: 2004-10-01; DVD
Best price: $16.15
Price in other shops:
CarmenLions Gate; Release date: 2008-08-05; DVD
Best price: $6.95
Price in other shops:
The Girl of Your DreamsRelease date: 2004-05-11; DVD
Best price: $5.18
Price in other shops:
ElegyKINGSLEY,BEN; Release date: 2009-03-17; DVD
Best price: $3.01
Price in other shops:
Broken EmbracesSony; Release date: 2010-03-16; DVD
Best price: $5.76
Price in other shops:
Open Your EyesCRUZ,PENELOPE; Release date: 2001-08-21; DVD
Best price: $4.27
Price in other shops:
VolverSony; Release date: 2007-04-03; Published: 2007-04-01; DVD
Best price: $3.98
Price in other shops:
The Good NightSony; Release date: 2008-04-01; Published: 2008-04-01; DVD
Best price: $0.79
Price in other shops: