# Labyrinth of Passion
**Labyrinth of Passion** (*Laberinto de pasiones*) is a 1982 Spanish screwball sex comedy directed by [Pedro Almodóvar](https://www.edgepedia.org/pedro-almodovar), his second feature film, set in Madrid during the movida madrileña and centered on the love affair between a nymphomaniac pop singer and the disguised son of a deposed Arabian emperor.[1](https://www.tcm.com/articles/020919/labyrinth-of-passion-1982) Made independently on a shoestring budget, it was derided by Spanish critics on release but later reached cult status and is now seen as a blueprint for the director's later, better-honed farce *Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown* (1988).[1](https://www.tcm.com/articles/020919/labyrinth-of-passion-1982) • [2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/labyrinth_of_passion)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Director and script | Pedro Almodóvar, co-writing with Terry Lennox[3](https://madridfilmoffice.com/en/production/laberinto-de-pasiones/) |
| Production | Spain, 1982; produced by Alphaville, distributed by Musidora Films; genres comedy, drama, romance[3](https://madridfilmoffice.com/en/production/laberinto-de-pasiones/) |
| Length and rating | Feature film, 110 minutes, rated for viewers over 18 by the ICAA[4](https://sede.mcu.gob.es/CatalogoICAA/es-es/Peliculas/Detalle?Pelicula=49781&q=true) |
| Lead roles | Cecilia Roth as Sexilia and Imanol Arias as Riza Niro; Antonio Banderas makes his feature debut as Sadec[1](https://www.tcm.com/articles/020919/labyrinth-of-passion-1982) • [4](https://sede.mcu.gob.es/CatalogoICAA/es-es/Peliculas/Detalle?Pelicula=49781&q=true) |
| Cast size | More than 50 characters, many played by leading figures of the Movida movement[5](https://www.bfi.org.uk/features/where-begin-pedro-almodovar) |
| Spanish reception | Poorly received by critics in 1982, but a modest success that ran for ten years on a midnight run at Madrid's Alphaville cinema[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/labyrinth_of_passion) |
| Spanish box office | 358,252 spectators and €597,738.55 in receipts recorded by the ICAA[4](https://sede.mcu.gob.es/CatalogoICAA/es-es/Peliculas/Detalle?Pelicula=49781&q=true) |
## Spoilers
### Plot
The film narrates several love stories, most of which end happily while the rest end unhappily but with a certain ray of hope.[6](https://www.sonypictures.com/movies/labyrinthofpassion) Its central couple is Sexilia (Cecilia Roth), known as Sexi, a pop singer and nymphomaniac, member of the feminist musical group Las EX and daughter of a gynecologist specializing in artificial insemination, and Riza Niro (Imanol Arias), heir to the overthrown emperor of Tiran, who lives incognito in Madrid and is more interested in cosmetics and men than in international politics.[1](https://www.tcm.com/articles/020919/labyrinth-of-passion-1982) • [6](https://www.sonypictures.com/movies/labyrinthofpassion)
Around them, some fifty characters bounce through the story, with threads involving terrorists, efforts to obtain other people's sperm, and all forms of sexual craving.[1](https://www.tcm.com/articles/020919/labyrinth-of-passion-1982) Among them are the ex-empress Toraya (Helga Liné), who after fertility treatment by Sexilia's father pursues her stepson Riza for his sperm; Queti (Marta Fernández Muro), a dry-cleaner's daughter who escapes her abusive father by swapping identities with Sexilia; and Sadec ([Antonio Banderas](https://www.edgepedia.org/antonio-banderas)), a gay Arab terrorist with a hyper sense of smell who falls in love with Riza without recognizing him.[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/labyrinth_of_passion) Sexilia and Riza, who knew each other as children, meet again when Riza, made over as a punk, sings lead with a band, and their mutual adoration cures her nymphomania and his compulsive homosexuality; the couple finally escapes the ex-empress and Islamic extremists plotting Riza's kidnapping on a plane bound for the tropical island of Contadora.[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/labyrinth_of_passion)
## Production and context
Almodóvar's first feature, *Pepi, Luci, Bom* (1980), had been made on a shoestring and poorly received; for his second film he had more money at his disposal, which allowed better production values and a more complex narrative.[1](https://www.tcm.com/articles/020919/labyrinth-of-passion-1982) • [2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/labyrinth_of_passion) 1981 was the year he decided to leave [Telefónica](https://www.edgepedia.org/telefonica), where he had worked as an employee, in order to devote himself completely to filming *Laberinto de pasiones*.[7](https://filozofia.uni-miskolc.hu/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/DLugo-Vernoneds2013-CompanionToPedroAlmodovar.Blackwell.pdf)
**Movida document.** The film was made during the golden age of the Madrid movida, roughly 1977 to 1983, the cultural and artistic movement that followed the death of Franco, and almost all the key figures of the movement, painters and musicians, appear in the large cast.[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/labyrinth_of_passion) Almodóvar said at the time that his freewheeling style was influenced by [Richard Lester](https://www.edgepedia.org/richard-lester)'s Beatles films, *A Hard Day's Night* and *Help!*[1](https://www.tcm.com/articles/020919/labyrinth-of-passion-1982) The ICAA credits the songs "Suck It To Me" and "Gran Ganga" to Bernardo Bonezzi and Pedro Almodóvar.[4](https://sede.mcu.gob.es/CatalogoICAA/es-es/Peliculas/Detalle?Pelicula=49781&q=true)
The film gave prominence to marginal urban subcultures that Spanish cinema had not yet depicted, the medley of bohemian artists and designers, rockers, fashionistas, and homosexuals who made Madrid's Rastro flea-market area their playground; interiors were shot in the new residence and studio of the two painters known as Las Costus on Montesquinza Street.[7](https://filozofia.uni-miskolc.hu/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/DLugo-Vernoneds2013-CompanionToPedroAlmodovar.Blackwell.pdf) Filming took place in Madrid and Almería, at locations including the Plaza de Cascorro, the Rock-Ola nightclub on Calle Padre Xifré, and the Sala Carolina.[3](https://madridfilmoffice.com/en/production/laberinto-de-pasiones/)
## Cast and Banderas's debut
The cast is headed by Cecilia Roth, Imanol Arias, Helga Liné, Marta Fernández Muro, and Ángel Alcázar, with Antonio Banderas, Fany McNamara, Cristina Sánchez Pascual, Luis Ciges, and Agustín Almodóvar among the many credited performers.[4](https://sede.mcu.gob.es/CatalogoICAA/es-es/Peliculas/Detalle?Pelicula=49781&q=true) Almodóvar himself appears on screen as a trans pop singer clad in leather, singing a couple of raunchy songs.[1](https://www.tcm.com/articles/020919/labyrinth-of-passion-1982) • [2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/labyrinth_of_passion)
The film marks the feature debut of Antonio Banderas, then a minor stage actor in Madrid. He later recounted to *The New Yorker* that Almodóvar approached him in a café, told him "You should do cinema. You are very romantic and have a romantic face," and showed up at his theater dressing room two days later to offer him the role of Sadec.[1](https://www.tcm.com/articles/020919/labyrinth-of-passion-1982) Banderas went on to become a major international star and, as of 2020, had worked with Almodóvar seven times.[1](https://www.tcm.com/articles/020919/labyrinth-of-passion-1982)
## Reception and legacy
The film was not well received on its initial 1982 release in Spain, though it was a modest commercial success and quickly reached cult film status.[1](https://www.tcm.com/articles/020919/labyrinth-of-passion-1982) • [2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/labyrinth_of_passion) At Madrid's Alphaville cinema, the film played as a midnight showing for a decade, yet it did not reach audiences in the United States, England, France, or Italy until 1988, when *Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown* achieved worldwide success; it arrived in American theaters in 1990 and was greeted with favorable reviews.[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/labyrinth_of_passion) • [1](https://www.tcm.com/articles/020919/labyrinth-of-passion-1982) Janet Maslin of *The New York Times* wrote that the film "shows off the bright, gaudy visual style, the breezy manner, and the exuberant energy that are Mr. Almodóvar's particular virtues."
The ICAA record lists a Spanish release date of 10 February 1989 alongside a production year of 1982 and a resolution date of 28 September 1982, consistent with the film's re-release in Spain around the time of *Women on the Verge*'s success.[4](https://sede.mcu.gob.es/CatalogoICAA/es-es/Peliculas/Detalle?Pelicula=49781&q=true) Retrospectively, the film is valued as an emblematic document of the movida and of Spain's new freedom of expression, depicting the hedonism of underground music venues and gay cruising grounds in the period between the dissolution of Franco's regime and the onset of AIDS consciousness.[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/labyrinth_of_passion) Almodóvar later reflected that "the main problem is that the story of the two leads is much less interesting than the stories of all the secondary characters. But precisely because there are so many secondary characters, there's a lot in the film I like."[1](https://www.tcm.com/articles/020919/labyrinth-of-passion-1982) The British Film Institute cautions newcomers against starting here, noting that the crowded early comedies do not give actors enough screen time to develop their characters.[5](https://www.bfi.org.uk/features/where-begin-pedro-almodovar)
## References
1. [Labyrinth of Passion (1982), Jeremy Arnold, Turner Classic Movies](https://www.tcm.com/articles/020919/labyrinth-of-passion-1982)
2. [Labyrinth of Passion, Rotten Tomatoes (synopsis and critics reviews)](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/labyrinth_of_passion)
3. [Labyrinth of Passion, Madrid Film Office](https://madridfilmoffice.com/en/production/laberinto-de-pasiones/)
4. [LABERINTO DE PASIONES, ICAA Catálogo de Películas, expediente 49781](https://sede.mcu.gob.es/CatalogoICAA/es-es/Peliculas/Detalle?Pelicula=49781&q=true)
5. [Where to begin with Pedro Almodóvar, British Film Institute](https://www.bfi.org.uk/features/where-begin-pedro-almodovar)
6. [LABYRINTH OF PASSION, Sony Pictures Entertainment](https://www.sonypictures.com/movies/labyrinthofpassion)
7. [Creative Beginnings in Almodóvar's Work, A Companion to Pedro Almodóvar, Wiley-Blackwell (2013)](https://filozofia.uni-miskolc.hu/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/DLugo-Vernoneds2013-CompanionToPedroAlmodovar.Blackwell.pdf)
---
*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Comedy and romantic films (individual works) › Comedies of the 1980s › Comedy-dramas of the 1980s*
*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 21, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license