Kika

Harshly treated by critics on release, of Pedro Almodovar's work Kika is perhaps the one that most benefits from re-viewing and re-assessment.

The story of Kika (an astonishing Veronica Forque), a Madrid makeup artist whose relationship with Ramon (Alex Casanovas) leads to criminal schemes involving Kika's maid Juana (Rossy De Palma), Juana's amorous, criminal brother Pablo (Santiago Lajusticia), and Ramon's youth obsessed father Nicholas (Peter Coyote). Overseeing all, is the muckraking reality tabloid television show presided over by the formidable Andrea Scarface (a uniquely attired Victoria Abril).

Attracting controversy because of the scene in which Almodovar depicts Kika's rape at the hands of Pablo with humorous detachment, the scene has since come to be more popularly viewed as further evidence of the director's tribute to the power of women.