Carolina Bang & co in "La Daga de Rasputín" [2011, Spain]

I've known Jesús Bonilla only as an actor, but looks like he's now advanced into film making too, and not for the better in my view. His recent film, "La Daga de Rasputín" [Eng. Title: The Dagger of Rasputin] is a silly little film looking back to a bygone era of Spanish trashy comedies, ones starring the likes of Andrés Pajares (who surprisingly appears in this film too, albeit in a less histrionic role).

It's about a group of small-time crooks, one of them dragging his family along - on a quest seeking the legendary dagger of Rasputin - so called because the bearded mystic was apparently the last recognised owner of an otherwise more ancient and impractical weapon. This takes our inept heroes on an adventure all the way to Russia, followed by power-mad generals, spies from every other country and so on. Bonilla acts in this film too - as one of the trio of crooks - Papeles, and the woman who plays his daughter Carmen is his real-life partner Carmen Vicente-Arche. On paper, with the exception of Carolina Bang (never heard of her before), the cast is a strong one, but the toilet humour and juvenile script makes them look like an embarrassment. I honestly don't know what on earth were María Barranco (still sexy after all these years) and Antonio Resines doing in this film.

To conclude, if you loved the trashy comedies from 'that' era, and want to see one with the latest batch of bimbos thrown in it, perhaps you may enjoy this. Otherwise, you'd want to avoid this outdated excuse of a film.




Compilation: Carolina Bang, Carmen Vicente-Arche, and others



Scene Guide:

• A courtesan (uncredited) helps the dagger fall into Russian hands
• Araña wants to bed Papele's daughter Carmen - he coaxes his hotel room mate and fellow crook Jacinto into swapping rooms, with the reward of raiding another fully-stocked mini-bar, but the bloke is treated to something more in the form of Luzmila, Carmen's room mate, and daughter of the power-hungry Russian sent to infiltrate this group. Luzmila is played by Carolina Bang.
• A suspicious Papele comes looking for his daughter in her room, but sees Luzmila riding Jacinto instead.
• He barges into a women-only spa who chase him off.
• He finally tracks down Araña, who hides Carmen from her dad's view. Carmen is played by Carmen Vicente-Arche.
• No nudity - Luzmila's girlfriend is making out with a prostitute when the gang enter after escaping from the hotel. Catfight between a jealous Luzmila and her girlfriend ensue.

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