Ekateryna Rak and others - "Import/Export" [2007, Austria, France, Germany]

Ulrich Seidl's beautiful 2007 drama "Import/ Export" is a portrait of two lives - Olga, a Ukranian nurse who travels to Vienna to improve her life, and Paul, an ex security guard who accompanies his stepdad in the opposite direction to dispose off out-of-production junk to remote towns in the Ukraine. The beauty of the film is in its simple narrative - nevertheless borne out of profound insight, Mr. Seidl allows us to watch what is happening and draw our own conclusions - the intelligent viewer with patience will obviously reap greater rewards from this film.



Ekateryna Rak and Others
Olga, played by Ekateryna Rak, supplements her meagre income by joining her friend, Natalya Baranova, at a cyber sex firm - this extended scene is of Ekateryna observing and learning from the other ladies at the establishment, such as Katka Ackermannova, Lucie Radlova, and Zdenka Tothova.

 

Anastasia Sergeyeva

Paul's stepdad hires a prostitute at a hotel, but Paul is reluctant to join his stepdad in making an ass of himself.

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Sylviane Godé in "C'est arrive pres de chez vous" aka "Man Bites Dog" [1993 Belgium]

Benoît Poelvoorde, Rémy Belvaux, and André Bonzel shot this seminal shocker with a shoestring budget, acting, writing and directing - they also used friends and family members to make up the cast. What emerged is a fantastic piece of cinema, even if the film itself is disturbing to say the least. Benoît Poelvoorde plays the protagonist - a compulsive serial killer and burglar who a documentary film crew follow during all his exploits. Even if they don't realise it at first, the crew get sucked into Ben's world of twisted morals, and before long they become his willing accomplices.

Unless you're a keen cinema lover and are not disturbed by depiction of extreme brutality, you're better off giving this a miss. But it is a gem of a film - written, acted, directed and edited with great panache.

The scene depicted here is plainly revolting, and since my intention of adding this here is only for the nudity and the filmmaking - certainly not to titilate, I've left the full scene intact - so download the clip at your own discretion.

 

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El Mural, by Héctor Olivera [Argentina/Mexico, 2010] - 3 Clips

Veteran Argentinean director Héctor Olivera created this biopic of a famous Mexican-born painter, David Alfaro Siqueiros. The film is set in the early 20th century when his close friend in Buenos Aires invites him over. A staunch idealist and believer in art for the public ends up accepting a commission to paint a private mural for one of the most powerful newspaper barons in Argentinia.

The film covers the period during which he's involved in this project - a period of political upheaval all around the world, let alone Argentina, a period also when some important changes happen in his life. Biopics are by their very nature subjective - Sr. Olivera tries hard to stay as nuetral as he could to give a dispassionate account of Siqueiros' time in Argentina. It's an interesting film, if only to offer a glimpse into Argentina's politics during the momentous period when things were happening in Germany and Italy, and the world was preparing itself for another pounding. Among the DVD extras was a very interesting insight into the making of the film with candid interviews from the cast and a fly-on-the-wall documentary of the filming itself...



Clip 1:
Assigned to paint a mural for newspaper baron Natalio Botana's smoking room, Siqueiros sets about creating his masterpiece, using his wife Blanca, played by Carla Peterson as his model - it was also meant to be a tribute to his love for his wife. This scene shows the love in their marriage is already fading away - she leaves the studio enraged, and allows herself to be groped by their client Botana in his reading room.

Clip 2:
Newspaper baron Botana's wife Salvadora, played by Ana Celentano, lives a very unhappy life indeed - merely tolerated by her husband, for among other things - her leftist leanings, and loathed by her children, she ends up using a servant to spy on her husband. When he reports back with news that Botana is having an affair with the artist's wife, Ana orders him to give her the explicit details, after which - things happen - worse, her already hateful son gets to see them in the act...

Clip 3:
Sequeiros too learns that his wife, Carla Peterson is having an affair with his client Botana. Having just finished the mural, he curses her when Carla arrives - and asks if he was looking for her. He treats her in the only way he could then - as a whore. In the later part of the clip Sequeiros makes love to his wife for the last time knowing that she will no longer be his - Carla exclaims in ecstasy that it was just like the good old times - Sequeiros could only laugh at the irony...

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Egon Schiele - Exzess und Bestrafung, by Herbert Vesely [1981 - W.Germany, France, Austria]

Some clips from Herbert Vesely's 1981 biopic "Egon Schiele - Exzess und Bestrafung" [Eng. Title: Egon Schiele: Excess and Punishment]...


It's about the later years of one the most important impressionists of the twentieth century - Egon Schiele, the great man is way high up in my list of finest illustrators ever - his style has influenced so many artists that followed, and I could just as well spend all day simply admiring his works. Here's a few examples of his work for those who don't already know him...





 
 
I'b been searching for this film for a long time, and promptly ordered the DVD when I located a vendor - alas, it was of terrible quality - a VHS-Rip with Greek hard-subtitles. I located another version after and took a chance with a purchase again, only this time, it was an Italian version, with a logo displayed throughout the duration of the film - obviously another VHS-Rip, sold as a DVD..! I finally located a very good quality version online, with the original German audio - for FREE - ironic isn't it..! Anyway, bless the soul who posted it - one could finally see the film in 'almost all' its glory - almost all because some explicit nude scenes had been deleted from this version - which actually doesn't matter at all because the narrative is a lot more coherent than the Italian version I bought earlier.




My Review: As a film production, it scores on many levels - in terms of beautiful cinematography, excellent score, fine acting, and satisfactory albeit unconventional direction - the narrative is non-linear and it requires attention to grasp what's the present and what's the flashback. I was however particulaly impressed by the casting - Mathieu Carrière and Jane Birkin appear to be born for their respective roles - and Ms Birkin especially delivers all the emotions demanded of her character triumphantly (and what a babe she is too..!).

Most of the nudity involved in the film are imagined sequences, either by the protagonists, or the Magistrate prosecuting Egon Schiele for alleged pornography and perversion. He had been accused of displaying explicit images where minors could see it, having sexual liaisons with a fifteen year old girl, and creating perverse art. More than half the film happens while he awaits trial in prison, while his girlfriend/model Vally desperately seeks legal help to get him released. After his acquittal, the film focuses on his marriage to Edith, a beautiful neighbor in Vienna that he falls in love with. This film definitely needs to be made more accessible, not only for good cinema, but also a piece of art-decor history...



Clip 1:
Twenty year old Karina Fallenstein [credited as Nina Fallenstein] plays a fifteen year old teenager Tatjana - the inital scenes involve a rain-drenched Tatjana knocking on Egon's door and asking to be let in - she had run away from home, and wants to stay for the night before setting off to Vienna to live with her grandmother. Jane Birkin, playing Vally - Egon Schiele's lover and former model, objects but later relents. The later scenes are imagined sequences, either by the Egon Schiele character, or the magistrate prosecuting him...


 

 
 
 
Clip 2:
According to the film, Egon Schiele was a close friend of Gustav Klimt, also his mentor, who introduces his special model Vally - Jane Birkin - to Egon. Rest of the scenes in the clip involve Egon reminiscing his lover while in prison.
 

  
 
 
 
Clip 3:
Another imagined scene where the prosecuting magistrate imagines Lini through one of Egon Schiele's illuatrations, posing for the artist - played by the gorgeous Martina Schmatelka.
 

   
 
 

Clip 4:
Some scenes involving Christine Kaufmann, who plays Edith, Egon Schiele's wife, first on their wedding night, and later after he returns from war duty.
 

Clip 5:
I've enhanced and compiled some of the explicit close-up scenes from my Italian version DVD involving Karina Fallenstein that were deleted from the German version - this is only for the curious ones like me, of course..!

32.6 MB:

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Annamaria Clementi & co - Amanti Miei [Italy 1979]

Something vintage here..!

This film has justifiably ended up in the trash heap of mediocre Italian Sex Comedies of the 70's, but Aldo Grimaldi's 1979 epic trash Amanti Miei [Eng. Titles: My Lovers, and the misleadingly named Sexy Teenager] needs one last look into before incineration, for one reason only, and that is Annamaria Clementi. I can only say this beauty had been totally unlucky when it came to stardom, but then again working with the likes of Joe D'Amato isn't exactly going to enhance her star-value either.

Annamaria Clementi

She did quite a few 'spreads' for mens' magazines during the 70's and 80's and I remember reading in some interview that this is what she also enjoyed the most. I believe she's now an astrologer and part-time makeup artist in the film industry. But what a stunning babe though she was..!

Anyway, bellissima Annamaria isn't even the main character of this film - thankfully - that is played by Cindy Leadbetter. Annamaria plays Cindy's best friend, but sleeps around with Cindy's hubby. The story revolves around Cindy taking revenge on her husband after she catches him in bed with a bottomless teenager - as all self-respecting housewives do - by going on a shagging spree of her own, of course! Gegia plays the delinquent fifteen year old who hitchhikes her way into the hubby's bed. I can't be bothered with a custom graphic for this trashy film - but these clips were taken from my DVD so I guess this is about the cleanest clips you'll find anywhere for the moment.



Clip 1:
Appended two scenes involving the delicious Annamaria Clementi - with Cindy's husband.

63.1 MB:


Clip 2:
Bad girl Gegia succeeds in getting laid by Cindy's hubby, and also does some house chores later before retiring in the guy's arms - Cindy catches them together and - uhh - who cares..!


119 MB:



Clip 3:
The revenge of housewife-turned-slut Cindy Leadbetter...

180 MB:

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Habitación en Roma by Julio Medem BR1080 [2010 Spain] - Elena Anaya and Natasha Yarovenko

Time to review the great Julio Medem's most recent release - his 2010 romantic drama, "Habitación en Roma" [Eng. title: Room in Rome]..

The film is at least partly inspired by the 2004 Chilean drama, 'En la Cama', acknowledged by Sr. Medem himself, where a couple meet for the first time one evening, and decide to spend the night together - during the course of the night, their encounter transforms into something rather deep. The major departure from the Chilean film is of course, the fact that this couple comprises two women.

Since Julio Medem is one of the most important directors in world cinema today, it is but mandatory to discuss any of his films, and this one is no exception. Personally though, I think this is one of Medem's more straightforward films - but while not as brilliantly clever and surreal as Tierra, La Ardilla Roja, Lucia y el Sexo, or as breathtakingly beautiful as Los Amantes del Circulo Polar, it still amply showcases Medem's trademark lyricism, and this is a production made with 'great love'. The cinematography is beautiful, the soundtrack delightful, the direction, editing and sound engineering masterfully done. Even if you ignore the fact that this is a Julio Medem film, it is a good movie.

While Elena Anaya has matured into a complete actress, Natasha Yarovenko fills in her role adequately - Natasha of course has been cast specifically for her physical beauty - and Medem quite rightly shows her in the best possible light..! :)

I've made my own edit for these clips as that would otherwise give too much of the story away - most of the dialogues are in English and I don't want to spoil your experience if you were considering watching the whole film (yes you should). Rest assured though, not much is lost in these clips, 'visually' speaking of course - besides these are from HD, and well worth the download - enjoy..!


Note: My blog is it's early stages of evolution - I certainly hope to improve on this - suggestions welcome.



Scene 1:

74 MB:


Scene 2:

106 MB:

Scene 3:

 

109 MB: 




Scene 4: - Exquisitely done..!

94 MB:


Scene 5:

116 MB:


Scene 6:

35 MB: 

Scene 7:

109 MB:

Scene 8:

73 MB:

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