Julie Sokolowski in "Hadewijch" [2009 France]

Bruno Dumont is among the finest modern French directors carrying the torch of the Nouvelle Vague. His films are pure visual poetry - but they demand patience from the viewer - in good measure. When I watched one of his films several years ago - it was his debut feature "La vie de Jésus" - it required a great deal of determination to sit through it. I felt his next film, " L'humanité" was even more tedious in the first viewing. Only when I watched it the second time did I realise that one must immerse himself into the film to appreciate its beauty. The best way to watch any of his films is to find the most comfortable seat in the house, sit back with a glass of your favourite tipple, and forget about everything else for a while.

His most recent release, "Hadewijch" is one of the most beautiful films I've seen recently. The cinematography is simply stunning - shot largely using natural (available) light - it is a work of art with meticulous attention to lighting and detail - it is as if we were actually there witnessing the happenings. The editing is also spot on, and the direction as succinct as can be. Technically, I think this is Dumont's best work.

Hadewijch was apparently a medieval mystic, of which I admit I know very little about, and this film is about a modern day Hadewijch - Céline - a pure and pious young woman spiritually far matured for her years. Her extreme piety bothers even the nuns in her convent and send her back to her parents. During that time, she befriends a musilm youth, and gets to know his brother and friends. She eventually becomes aware that these guys are plotting a terrorist attack, and strangely becomes their willing accomplice after joining them on a visit to a Middle Eastern country. The very cute Julie Sokolowski gives a sterling performance as the protagonist.

In the only nude scene in the film, Céline prepares to go to bed after arriving home. I also inserted a humorous scene where Céline unwittingly stumbles into a meeting where her friend's brother is instructing prospective suicide bombers, and her presence, in a bra-less shirt distracts one of the guys.






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Leonor Watling in "Son de Mar" [2001 Spain]

As far as I can remember, Bigas Luna films have always been on the twisted side - I have seen most of his work since his 1978 'Bilbao'. His 2001 drama however, "Son de Mar" [Eng. Title: Sound of the Sea] is one of his more poetic offerings, but twisted all the same. As ever, he shows no mercy towards his characters, and unapologetically depicts their flaws - warts and all.

This isn't a breezy romance by any measure, even if it starts out as a beautiful idea - doesn't every romance start that way anyway! He liberally borrows from Greek myths here, but made it into his own. Like the male lead character Ulises, a literature teacher who takes up a post mid term at a school in a small seaside village, his passion for sailing, his sudden disappearance, and his equally sudden return after several years when assumed dead by everyone. The film isn't easy to watch, even if the female lead character Martina keeps our interest. Leonor Watling as Martina is at her sensual best here - she plays the village belle, the only daughter of a local restaurateur, the one who falls for the charms of the teacher and his oft quoted verses from Virgil's Aeneid. These lines are repeated so often that it beccomes a precursor and later a prerequisite for Martina, to be sufficiently aroused for the sex act.

The scenes posted here are freshly cut from my DVD, but have to admit my first scene is a bit overcooked - I was still getting to grips with a new filter I've been trying. But I think it is still watchable, so left it as it is.



Scene 1:
I loved the first half hour of the film where Sr. Luna allocates enough time to allow the protagonists' relationship to develop. Martina's first spontaneous 'date' with Ulises in the caves by the sea would induce nostalgia for anyone who has been in love. I've edited several scenes and combined them into one, it works better for the sake of this review - me feels.





Scene 2:
When Martina gets pregnant, Ulises proposes and they get married, even if her parents feel a better match for their daughter would have been Sierra, the real estate tycoon. This scene is during their honeymoon in Valencia.





Scene 3:
Ulises disappears on a fishing trip, leaving his wrecked boat that he named after his wife. He's presumed dead by all, and with a young child to care for, Martina agrees to marry the cash-rich Sierra. Five years pass, her son grows up thinking Sierra is his daddy - and by any measure Martina is living a contented life, when out of the blue a familiar voice calls her one day, quoting a familiar verse from the Aeneid. Confused, Martina is justifiably pensive performing her conjugal duties that night.





Scene 4:
Martina follows the instructions given by the owner of the voice, and ends up at a hotel where a tearful Ulises awaits holding a tuna fish. When an angry Martina asks where the hell he'd been for the past five years, he reveals his affair with a woman in red dress he met at a party. He claims it's all now over, and begs her to have him back. She succumbs to his verse again, and what's more - to continue their 'affair' Martina puts him up in one of her husband's empty block of flats - it's been empty because it hadn't received the necessary planning permission - and visits him every day after hubby leaves for work. But Sierra soon finds out about Ulises' return and decides to finish them off when he realises his wife still loves him. The couple try to escape in Sierra's yacht, named 'Son de Mar', but end up in the morgue after trying to escape from the sinking yacht. I must add I was never a great fan of Jordi Mollâ who plays Ulises, nor his bits that keep hanging out ever so often - I simply bore him for the sake of the impending glimpse of a more alluring Leonor.





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Paz Vega in "Carmen" [2003 Spain]

Vicente Aranda is known for his uninhibited treatment of raw emotions like sexual passion, jealousy and hatred. His 2003 adaptation of Prosper Mérimée's novella, "Carmen" showcases these magnificently. The script and his attention to minor details bring these fictional characters and the times that they lived in to life quite vividly.

While the great Carlos Saura treated his 1983 version of Carmen stylistically - juxtaposing characters in a modern day theater producing a Flamenco version of the same opera, Vicente Aranda interprets the original novel more closely, while adding his own embellishments like introducing Mérimée as a character within the film, bearing witness to unfolding events. The lush cinematography, impeccable art direction and costume design transport us to 1830's Seville where this story is set.

What lets it down however, may be the casting. While some of the actors fit the role to a point, the most important character of all - Carmen, doesn't. Which is a shame really - one of the reasons for this post is to focus on, and start the filmography of Paz Vega - possibly the prettiest actress ever to come out of Spain. The Carmen character is that of a ruthless vamp - I wasn't convinced Paz Vega was one - I think Laura del Sol made a better Carmen in Carlos Saura's version, as did Julia Migenes in Francesco Rosi's Italian version. Paz may have the native Andalucian features of Carmen - she hails from Seville herself - but that's as far as the comparison goes.

I had reviewed this film years ago, this is however a reappraisal with freshly cut scenes from DVD. In the coming days I will be updating scenes from my collection of films by Vicente Aranda and others here - much of the material may have already been reviewed by me elsewhere - but these will be rewritten, and the scenes will be newly cut from DVD's or BD's - focusing of course, on quality. I hope these will be among the best one can find today.



Scene 1:
This is a great scene well recreated by Sr. Aranda. A cigar factory in 19th century Spain could only be described as a 'sweat shop'. There's no airconditioning, tempers flay, and what do you get - sweaty factory girls getting all rowdy. Carmen, with the shortest of tempers, shouldn't be messed with. Unaware of this, one woman pokes fun at her for being too slow in picking up José - the young corporal who's ignored Carmen's overtures so far. She throws Carmen a cigar after rubbing it in her vagina, and asks her to give it to José on her behalf - so that he'd know what a real woman smells like. Carmen however has heard enough when she is taunted for her gypsy heritage - strangely, she wasn't offended as much even when she was addressed as a whore!






Scene 2:
José, now stripped of his rank and just released from a prison term for letting Carmen escape while in his custody, finally tracks her down at an officer's party. As a thank you gift, Carmen takes him to a brothel - one she occasionally rents herself when in need of some cash. Later, when José is about to leave to report back to duty, Carmen admonishes him for being a 'slave' to the army and persuades him to stay - until she decides otherwise. Keep an eye out for an unexpected glimpse of the lovely Paz (top right of my graphic) - I can see they tried to restrict its view during post production, but a few frames needed to remain.






Scene 3:
This is a combination of four different scenes. First is when Carmen roundly insults the hapless José while returning another favour he did her. The second is when José asks Carmen to be his alone - he is now a fugitive wanted for killing his liutenent at the brothel, for being Carmen's customer. The third part is Carmen having sex publicly with José in the smuggler's cave. It's only in the final part of the scene does José painfully realise that Carmen is already married to the smuggler chief - she still manages to snuggle into his bed after her husband falls asleep.






Scene 4:
Early in the scene, Carmen's husband draws her close while playing cards with his mates, rubs her vagina in broad view, and praising how her 'twat' always brings him luck. José is only too aware that Carmen would only bring his downfall, and that there is nothing he could do to stop destiny. When José learns that Carmen is now with Lucas, a famous bullfighter, he barges in, blasts the poor man, and drags Carmen to the church of the Holy Virgin. When Carmen steadfastly refuses to change her ways and become his wife, José knows he'd now reached the end of the road. This dramatic last scene is well shot.





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Monica Bellucci in "Le Pacte des Loups" BR720 [2001 France]

The 2001 drama fantasy by Christophe Gans, "Le Pacte des Loups" [Eng. Title: Brotherhood of the Wolf] is partly based on French folklore, but it is light entertainment from start to finish, and would probably appeal to teenagers where a mix of sex and violence is dished out in a sophisticated style, like the gorgeous eighteenth century costumes and over-the-top decor.

One however is inclined to bear any level of mediocrity for a glimpse of the delectable Monica Bellucci. She plays Sylvia - a mysterious courtesan who bewitches our hero, who's out in that neck of the woods to capture a monster werewolf, along with his native American side-kick. I had reviewed scenes and cut these clips from Blu-ray a while ago, so this film is purely here for the record.

Scene 1:
Our hero and his sidekick are invited to the local bordello. For the courtesans, the sight of a native American in their village is as much a matter of curiosity as is Sylvia beguiling to our hero.







Scene 2:
Further scenes of the captivating Sylvia in sheer costumes - and our hero waking up from a 'scary' dream involving her.





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Pier Paolo Pasolini's "I Racconti di Canterbury" BR720 [1972 Italy]

Peir Paolo Pasolini is one of the finest, original, and well read filmmakers Italy had produced, and it is a great tragedy that his life was cut short as abruptly as it did. He is however rather unfairly remembered by many only for his last film, the notorious "Salò o le 120 Giornate di Sodoma" (1975), while in fact his critically acclaimed gems such as "Teorema" (1968), "Edipo Re" (1967), "Il Vangelo Secondo Matteo" (1964) barely draw a mention. I could easily write more about what I have observed of his genius, but that would be a different topic altogether.

"I Racconti di Canterbury" [Eng. Title: Canterbury Tales] is the second installment of his Trilogy of Life, and is based on the works of the medieval English scholar Geoffrey Chaucer. Mr. Pasolini himself plays the role of Chaucer, writing these tales. This, and the first film in this trilogy , "Il Decameron" are perhaps his more accessible films for those needing an introduction to his work. I had reviewed this film earlier elsewhere, but have decided to review this again for my blog. It helped that this was from Blu-ray.



Scene 1:
A vain old king decides to get married again and choses a beautiful young peasant woman as his wife, but his possessiveness turns her off, and is drawn towards another young man. Add to this, the king loses his sight, making it easier for his wife to pursue her affair. A male angel decides to restore the king's sight one day so he could see for himself his wife's unfaithfulness, but the female angel also gives the wife gift of the gab, so she could wriggle out of trouble even when caught red handed. And there you are - harmony restored! Cute Josephine Chaplin plays the young wife.







Scene 2:
In this tale, a carpenter's apprentice has his eyes set on his boss' wife. In order to get laid, the young man hatches a plot. He claims that he had a vision, that a flood many times bigger than Noah's will befall on a particular night, and suggests all three - the carpenter, his wife, and he should each get inside a large vat hung from the ceiling - so that when the flood arrives they could cut the strings and float to safety. The stupid carpenter believes his 'prophecy', and he is also warned not to have sexual congress with his wife the night before. On the night, the carpenter falls asleep inside the vat, and the couple sneak back into the house for some illicit fun. But they are interrupted by a neighbour who has fallen madly in love with the wife. When she tells him to buzz off because she fancies another man now, he asks for a last goodbye kiss. The kiss wasn't what it turned out to be, and the spurned lover takes his revenge. Saucy Jenny Runacre plays the wife.







Scene 3:
Two young students are sent from their Abbot to collect flour from a miller who is known to be dishonest. But the lads get distracted by the miller's voluptious wife and daughter, and end up losing their horse and the grain. They beg to be allowed to stay at the miller's home for the night, and are let in. During the night the lads manage to bed a women each using wit and cunning, and they also recover their stolen flour, and their horse. Heather Johnson plays the daughter, and Eileen King, the mum.







Scene 4:
This is a combination of scenes from two different stories. The first part is of a lazy young man having a wet dream while sleeping in his friend's bed, along with the wife, who works as a whore. The second part is of some unruly boys spending their night at a brothel.







Bonus Scene:
There is not much to see in this scene in the nudity department, but this is a very 'interesting' interpretation of Hell by Pasolini - an angel shows a greedy friar what happens to his kind in Hell. Simply awesome..!



61 MB



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Julie Gayet in "Sans Laisser de Traces" [2010, France]

Grégoire Vigneron's directorial debut, his 2010 thriller "Sans Laisser de Traces" [Eng. Title: Traceless] is not a bad first effort. Even if he doesn't manage to keep his audience in suspense for too long - the plot is a well worn path - he manages to vary the pace of the film as necessary to retain our interest - just about.

Etienne, A successful executive is on the threshold of becoming the president of a large International firm - when he's suddenly overcome by remorse for a wrong he committed several years ago, and ironically his success and upward mobility could largely be attributed to that same event. When he tries to right that wrong in order to start his new job with a clean slate, he meets an old friend from his school years, and events take a turn for the worse. As they say, sometimes, it is all down to luck...

In this brief scene - the only nude scene in the film, Etienne arrives home on time so he and his wife Clémence could get down to the business of making a baby - she had just returned from the fertility clinic. Julie Gayet plays the role of the housewife. This scene was cut from Blu-Ray.





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Esther Nubiola and others in "Tirante el Blanco" BR720 [Spain, UK 2006]

Veteran director Vicente Aranda gives us his take on events preceeding the fall of the Byzantine Empire in his lush 2006 adaptation from a book by the same name, "Tirante el Blanco" [Eng. Title: The White Knight]. I haven't read Joanot Martorell's original book, but knowing Sr. Aranda, I'm sure what seems at first sight to be a bawdy swashbuckler-romance with cheesy dialogues, is his way of satirizing the political intrigues and hypocrisy prevalent among the royals of the time, which eventually led to the fall of the Empire. But I am not too sure if he pulled it off successfully with the English dialogues - may be those in the dubbing department weren't fully aware of his intentions. There is also some tongue-in-cheek humour intended, but doesn't deliver.

Technically, apart from the battle scenes and effects, it is well done, especially the rich costumes, splendid lighting, excellent cinematography, and fine art direction - looks like they've collectively sought inspiration from the later works of Caravaggio. The Blu-ray version (from which these scenes were cut) certainly make these technical features show through in all its glory.

The story is set in the early 15th century when a knight from the Kingdom of Aragon (Spain didn't exist in its present form then) arrives with his army to defend Constantinople from the invading Moslems. He hopelessly falls in love with the princess Carmesina, played by the delicious Esther Nubiola. The film is filled with big stars - Italian great Giancarlo Giannini plays the ailing emperor, and Spanish heavyweight Victoria Abril plays the scheming Peaceful Widow, Leonor Watling, court maiden Placer de mi Vida, and Ingrid Rubio, maiden Estefania.





Scene 1: Of 'Silent Weddings' and ravished 'Maiden Heads'

I bet the title got your attention! Yes - this is about court maiden Estefania and princess Carmesina desperately trying to loose their virginity to the recently arrived foreigners - Tirante - the White Knight, and his close friend. One of them succeeds as the scene graphic below shows. There is only brief nudity in these scenes, but it's the situation and language that make these interesting to watch.






Scene set 2: The relentless 'flashings' of a conniving 'Peaceful Widow'

Viuda Reposada - Peaceful Widow goes to extraordinary lengths to prevent Tirante from marrying Carmesina, strutting her feminine charms at Tirante at every given opportunity. Having failed to keep the courtly love birds apart, she receives her comeuppance towards the end.







Scene set 3: Of 'Cougars' and Queen Bees

I've collated these scenes so it reads like a 'Decameronic' tale - I'm sure a Pasolini would have given it a more poetic touch, but this will do. The Empress, played by British actress Jane Asher, falls in love with a boy young enough to be her grandson - he is Tirante's Page. During the end scene, a suspicious Emperor barges into her 'smelly' chamber to see whether anything ontoward is going on.







Scene set 4: 'Whatever it takes' to 'Save the Empire'

These are a collection of scenes involving delicious (did I just repeat that!) Esther Nubiola and sultry Leonor Watling. Shame Ms. Watling doesn't get to present her physical assets in this film - that'll have to wait in this blog until I post scenes from a Bigas Luna flick from my DVD library. But she gives us several tatalising glimpses of her hidden charms throughout the film.








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Audrey Tautou in "Un Long Dimanche de Fiançailles" BR720p [2004 France]

Jean-Pierre Jeunet's charming 2004 romantic drama, "Un Long Dimanche de Fiançailles" [Eng. Title: A Very Long Engagement] won a clutch of Césars the following year. And this is surely one of those films you must watch with your spouse or lover - trust me - you will be rewarded!

The film is about one young woman's relentless search for her fiancé, offcially 'missing in action' in the bloody battlefields of The Somme during the first World War. Mathilde puts together pieces of information she receives from various sources, and in the process learns that her fiancé, along with four others were left for dead in no man's land, without weapons, as punishment for faking injury so they could return home early. But she never loses hope, and pursues every clue she could lay her hands on. The enchanting Audrey Tautou plays Mathilde quite admirably.

I had reviewed this film several years ago elsewhere, but I've cut these scenes again more recently from Blu-ray, so there should be no harm in it being recorded here as well.




Scene 1:

This is actually a combination of 2 scenes of Audrey - the first part is when Mathilde receives one of her regular massages from her physiotherapist. The second half is Mathilde reminiscing her first sexual experience with her fiancé.







Bonus Scene:

There is not much nudity in this scene, but the situation makes it quite erotic. Jodie Foster and her husband could not concieve, so her husband, out of love, persuades her to try it with his close friend who he believes to be more virile. The first awkward moments as the couple sit for tea is followed by passionate lovemaking, when at one time it appears nothing much was ever going to happen. The scene is beautifully captured, and great to watch.






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Giovanna Mezzogiorno in "Vincere" [2009, Italy]

Veteran director Marco Bellocchio's sumptuous epic, "Vincere" [Eng. Title: Win] is a historical drama about the former Italian dictator Benitto Mussolini and the deeply held secret of his first marriage to Ida Dalser - before he became Il Duce. The film won several awards, for flawless direction, exquisite cinematography, haunting soundtrack, and the performance by its lead actors, including the gorgeous and highly talented actress playing Ida - Giovanna Mezzogiorno.
She portrays this tragic character quite sensitively and proves beyond doubt to be one of the finest actresses working in italy at the moment. The director had to walk a tight rope here - considering how one can get carried away while depicting infamous characters from history, but in some of the scenes, he has pulled out all stops with some awesome outdoor shots, and cleverly mixing these with archive footage. Highly Recommended Viewing..!The scenes posted here were taken from Bluray, so the quality is pretty good.



Scene 1:
The scene shows Ida's first intimate encounter with her idol. a young and charismatic worker for the Socialist party, Benitto Mussolini...

Scene 2:
A combination of two scenes here - first when Ida discloses that she had sold all her jewels and the apartment so Mussolini could fund his fledgling newspaper - we realise how hopelessly she's in love with him then. In the later part of the scene, we see her resigned to the fact that she would never be acknowledged by him as his legal wife. She draws his attention at an art exhibition, dressed (and behaving) like a tart.

Scene 3:
The more Ida proclaims Mussolini to be her legal husband - they secretly get married according to the film - the more she's shunned by him. She was merely tolerated because she had borne him a child. That too dissappears soon and she's physically assualted by Mussolini's goons and placed in a mental asylum as a deranged woman. These are the beginning scenes there where she's greeted by delusional inmates, including Silvia Ferretti who claims to be a student of famed ballerina Tatiana Pavlova.

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Adriana Davidova in "Síndrome" [Spain, 2004]

Liberto Rabal is known more as an actor than a director - the fact remains that to date his 2004 drama, "Síndrome" is his only full length feature. The first time I saw the film I was quite impressed by the unconventional filmmaking, but after watching this again more recently, I take a different view.

There are several loose ends in the plot, and the actors are never convincing enough, either to tie them together, or even to make it sound plausible. Adriana Davidova, the lead actress playing 'Ana', also co-wrote the screenplay, but the script fails to establish clearly why the siblings were drawn together into an incestuous relationship. The film tries to explore several themes - the 'Stockholm' syndrome is never as convincingly portrayed as in Eriprando Visconti's "La Orca", the S&M is neither here nor there, and the relationship between Ana and her former lover is plainly ludicrous. Technically, the film is poorly made, the editing among the worst from Spain - and they used a lot of unwanted digital effects and techniques which ruins the whole thing - it looks more like a school project (a school that would tolerate nudity obviously) rather than a thoughtful and well planned work.

I had posted some scenes from this film earlier, but I was still learning how to cut quality clips from a DVD then. I've re-cut scenes from the same DVD using my much improved technique, and I think this is about the best quality you're gonna get anywhere for now.



Scene 1:
Ana is introduced to us in bath with her brother, and waking up with him from the same bed the following morning.






Scene 2:
A mix of various scenes following Ana through her chores, along with some explicit scenes involving Ana and her brother - they talk later as if it was their first time - I'm surprised it took them this long to go all the way, considering their intimacy throughout the film!






Scene 3:
This is my own edit of several scenes, starting from Ana's lover longing for her - he is dying from a terminal disease, and wants to 'change' Ana's ways, and so kidnaps and keeps her like a captured animal - the 'training' has begun - there is an explicit scene here as well - just watch for yourself as it's impossible to cap it.






Scene 4:
This is supposed to be Ana going through her 'healing process', and later brooding by her dead boyfriend/former lover. Don't ask me what happened to her 'Fragile' tattoo here - I don't know..!




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Der Baader Meiknhof Komplex [Germany, France 2008] BR720p

I found Uli Edel's 2008 gripping political drama, "Der Baader Meiknhof Komplex" [Eng. Title: The Baader Meinhof Complex] quite informative actually - until this film, I only vaguely remember the RAF [Rote Armee Fraktion, or Red Army Faction], an utlra left-wing group responsible for some high-profile terrorist attacks in West Germany, and France through occasional TV news bulletins in the 80's.

This film tells us a bit about its formation in 1970, and focuses particularly on the lives of some of its key founder-members. Excellently directed, edited and cinematographed - it was nominated for both Oscar and BAFTA that year - the main actors also compliment the film with some fine performances. I also felt the sound was masterfully engineered - and watching the BluRay version certainly helped.

These scenes were already posted by me elsewhere - I had posted them again in my main site mainly to document the film there, and of course for visitors who hadn't seen these earlier. Hence no custom graphic.



Scene 1:
A successful and well respected journalist, Ulrike Meinhof, portrayed by Martina Gedeck is in a nude beach with children and hubby when a young woman from work comes along and reminds the hubby about a party that evening. I don't know actress name - not all character names are mentioned in the film credits.

Scene Details: 1:53 mts - 39.2 MB



Scene 2:
This is an interesting scene - Gudrun Ensslin, one of the founding members, played by sexy Johanna Wokalek is in the bath when a stranger, fresh after a beating from Police enters - he wants to join the RAF. When he enquires if he could have a bath later, she asks him to join her citing the hot water shouldn't be wasted. Her boyfriend Andreas Baader, another founder member, enters...

Scene Details: 2:15 mts - 46.9 MB



Scene 3:
This is a funny scene - Martina Gedeck, Susanne Bormann, Nadja Uhl along with some key RAF members flee W.Germany to get trained in Lebanon (possibly by the PLA - not sure). The Arab guys are shocked to see these girls arrive in skimpy attire. The commander has had enough when the girls and boys decide to 'boycott' training for a day and sunbathe in the nude. He asks them to get dressed up, but the girls argue that freedom should also include free sexual expression - oh I so love the 70's..!

Scene Details: 1:21 mts - 26.6 MB




Scene 4:
Brief Nudity - Wihle many key members are in prison awaiting trial, another founder member Brigitte Mohnhaupt, played by Nadja Uhl, just gets released after spending 5 years in prison. Desperate to have sex, she proposition's her contact.

Scene Details: 0:56 mts - 17.6 MB







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Marimar Vega in "Daniel y Ana" [Mexico, Spain 2009]

Mexican director Michel franco's first full length feature, "Daniel y Ana" [Eng. Title: Daniel & Ana] is a pretty low-key affair, even if it has some rather dramatic moments. Apparently based on a true story, his realistic filmmaking - virtually devoid of cinematic embellishments - works very well leading into the crucial stages of the film, as the audience are suddenly woken by shock at the unfolding drama.


I'm not going to write too much about the shocking event that changes brother Daniel and sister Ana's lives. While on a shopping trip, they get kidnapped. The rest of the film is about the siblings trying to recover from the extreme trauma caused by the event following the kidnapping, where they could turn to no one in their own family for help, before Ana finally seeks the services of a psychologist.

Marimar Vega plays the Ana character quite convincingly, as does her brother Daniel - their slightly underwhelming display of emotions only adds to the realism which makes the event even more shocking. There are no download links for this film posted here. For that, please check my main blog: http://thirstyrabbit.net/.



Scene 1:

Scene 2:

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A Tribute to Valeria Marini in "Bambola"

Valeria Marini

I simply couldn't resist making this tribute after re-watching this film..!

Made a compilation of some of the scenes of the very, very 'feminine' Valeria Marini from the 1996 Bigas Luna film, "Bambola". The music - as the original theme song, is from my favourite Italian singer, the one and only - Patty Pravo. It's an awesome song, and I hope you guys enjoy this tribute as much as you would, the music..!

53.4 MB: http://www.fileserve.com/file/VHzQfEA/



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Valeria Marini in Bigas Luna's "Bambola" [1996 Italy, Spain, France]

Bigas Luna is one of those fine, 'earthy' directors who doesn't shy away from exploring the darker areas of the mind - and repressed sexuality is a recurring theme in many of his films. I have had the opportunity to watch most of his films - and have steadily added his classics to my DVD collection since - as any ardent fan of independent unadulterated cinema would, I guess.

I'll start off by reviewing some scenes from one of my favourites - his 1996 film, "Bambola". I chose this film partly because of the sultry vixen Valeria Marini - she had made this film into her own - and some of her nude scenes in the film are all time classics..!

The story is set in a remote fishing village in Italy, where Mina aka 'Bambola' runs a restaurant with her gay brother Flavio. 'Bambola' - Valeria Marini - and her brother notice a handsome man during an aqua park outing and both of them flirt to gain his attention. The guy falls for Valeria though, but soon enough ends up in prison for 'accidentally' killing her fiancee. Furio - a fellow prisoner, is the top dog there, and when he sees Valeria for the first time, decides she should only be his. When her lover in prison refuses to let go of Valeria to Furio, he arranges for some guys to rape him. He then blackmails Valeria into having a 'conjugal visit' with him, otherwise threatening more physical harm for her poor lover.

The film makes some interesting points - it takes a rape for the lover-guy to realise he's gay, and 'Bambola', while always wanting tenderness and romance in her relationship, couldn't resist the beastly behaviour of Furio - the more he humiliates her, the more she wants him - it's as if her harmones switch into overdrive everytime Furio does something despicable. The whole film reeks of testosterone and oestrogen - Bigas Luna is certainly no Julio Medem, that much is for sure..!

It was possible for me to enhance these clips from my DVD to 720pp - may be I got carried away after discovering for the first time that Valeria Marini does have a mole on her left breast - I certainly don't remember noticing it when I watched the film earlier - it was a Spanish version DVDRip - but I think the end result is satisfactory.



Scene 1:
Valeria is coerced into visiting Furio, played by the Cuban born actor Jorge Perugorría - he even delivers all his dialogues in Spanish which is dubbed over. The scene is darkly lit, but it is an erotically charged one nevertheless.

Scene 2:
Furio is relased early from prison for 'good behaviour' and where do you think he comes straight after - with liberal groping and full-on kissing, this scene is titillating as hell..!

Scene 3:
Furio decides to stay with 'Bambola' much to her brother's annoyance...

Scene 4:
An eel, albeit dead, gets intimately acquainted with Valeria Marini.

Scene 5:
This is surely one of the most awesome nude scenes in mainstream cinema - Valeria Marini is knickerless as she's pursued by Furio through the fields. Long tracking shots and intermittent pantyless upskirts - all shot in broad daylight - now that's some nude scene..!

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