La ley del deseo

Law of Desire
Original Spanish poster
Directed by	Pedro Almodóvar
Produced by	Agustín Almodóvar Miguel Ángel Pérez Campos
Screenplay by	Pedro Almodóvar
Starring	Eusebio Poncela Carmen Maura Antonio Banderas Miguel Molina
Music by	Bernardo Bonezzi
Cinematography	Ángel Luis Fernández
Edited by	José Salcedo
Production company	El Deseo S.A Lauren Films S.A
Release date	February 7, 1987 (Spain)
Running time	102 Min
Country	Spain
Language	Spanish
Budget	P100,000,000.
Box office	P240,365,945 (Spain)

Law of Desire or La ley del deseo (in original Spanish) is a 1987 film written and directed by Pedro Almodóvar. Starring Eusebio Poncela as Pablo, Carmen Maura as Tina and Antonio Banderas as Antonio. It was the first film Almodóvar made independently with his own production company El Deseo.

The story focuses on a complex love triangle between three men. Pablo, a successful gay film director, disappointed in his relationship with his young lover, Juan, concentrates in a new project, a monologue starring his transsexual sister, Tina. Antonio, an uptight young man, falls possessively in love with the director and in his passion would stop at nothing to obtain the object of his desire. The relationship between Pablo and Antonio is at the core of the film, however, the story and own drama of Pablo's sister, Tina, plays a strong aspect to the plot.

Shot in the later part of 1986, Law of Desire was Almodóvar's first work centered in homosexual relationships. He considers Law of Desire the key film in his life and career. It follows the more serious tone set by Almodóvar's previous film, Matador, exploring the unrestrained force of desire. It explores issues of love, loss, gender, family, sexuality and the close link between life and art.

Law of Desire was met with general positive reactions from film critics, and it was a hit with audiences becoming Almodóvar most successful film up to that point. It toured many international film festival, winning the Teddy Award in Berlin and it made Almodóvar known internationally.

Elements from Law of Desire grew into the basis for two later films: Carmen Maura appears in a stage production of Cocteau's The Human Voice, which inspired Almodóvar's next film, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown; and Tina's confrontation scene with an abusive priest formed a partial genesis for Bad Education.

Pablo Quintero is a successful gay film and theatrical director whose latest work, The Paradigms of the Mussel, has just been released. At the opening night party, he discusses with his much younger lover, Juan, their summer plans. Pablo would stay in Madrid working on a new project, while Juan would leave for his hometown in the south to work in a bar and stay with his family. Pablo is in love with Juan, but he realizes that his love is not returned with the intensity he desires.