And now for something completely different..!
Sebastiano Montresor's "Q smette di ricordare" [Eng. Title: Q Quits Recollecting], is the second part of a duology made in the style of a graphic novel, and adhering to his principles of agrestic cinema. The first part concerned itself with 'K' trying to quit smoking, while this part is all about 'Q'; 'K' and 'Q' apparently referring to the man and woman - the anonymous King and Queen.
Rather than me waffle a storyline, here's a synopsis straight from the horse's mouth:
Q has surrendered to the mysterious power and vice-like grip of the 'Substance', in trying to erase an old memory that she’d been a victim of. Her 'Pusher', fed up with the ceaseless manipulations she’s been through, decides to help her out by pointing to the parallel reality that 'the Substance' had created for her. Through this, Q will identify those hiding behind it and slaughters all her tormentors. Helped by 'the Agent', Q will fight them - the 'Runner' whom she simultaneously loves and hates, the beast of a Nazi woman who tortures her after imprisoning her in a dungeon, and the 'Cinephile' - the primary culprit responsible for setting off a chain of events in motion, and the one who wont hesitate locking up innocent women to satisfy his filthy cinematographic lust...
"It is not every child who sucks in this way. It may be assumed that those children do so in whom there is a constitutional intensification of the erotogenic significance of the labial region. If that significance persists, these same children when they are grown up will become epicures in kissing, will be inclined to perverse kissing, or, if males, will have a powerful motive for drinking and smoking."
- Sigmund Freud, from "Three essays on the theory of sexuality" (1905)
In a nutshell, the film is a modern-day critique of the cinema industry - Montresor's agrestic theory aims to dismantle the artificial edifices and barriers in film-making put up over the years, and bring it back to its purest form, not unlike a Alejandro Jodorowsky sans the mysticism. It also takes a dig at the so-called sub-genre cinema, like film-noir, western, sexploitation, nazisploitation, sc-fi, and horror etc. Montresor's frustration with limitations in commercial cinema is plain to see, and as if to drive home his point, he'd also perused pornographic elements featuring gratuitous nudity and object-insertions.
The film is irreverent in many respects - it doesn't take itself seriously, but nevertheless casts meaningful references between its over-the-top reveries. The 'Substance' that Montresor refers to takes the form of a cigarette, helping us make a connection with Freud's theories on smoking. There's also a clip from Ingmar Bergman's 'Summer Interlude' that's repeated often, with even Q uttering the same dialogue during a scene. It refers to Bergman's Marie trying to recall something from her dream, and past. It makes a direct connection with the protagonist's desperation to recall her own memory.
Montresor defies categorisation, and even though his films consistently lean towards the camp, and outright weirdness, they are meant to be seen as caricatures - he defines his view of cinema by stating what it shouldn't be, more often than what it should, and in the process persistently challenges our own notions about what cinema should be. At least for this reason, his films, including this one, is Recommended Viewing..!
What's more - he's also readily offered to share the film with everyone by giving us a torrent link for the DVD - here's a director with a mission..!
Q smette di ricordare Torrent
The Nudity: Diana Simona Gasparini and Roberta Gemma
Beautiful Diana Simona Gasparini hid her face whilst showing everything else in an earlier Montresor film - it has thankfully been rectified here - she is indeed gorgeous. She plays the Agent from a parallel reality who helps Q see her past (and share some lesbian kisses in process). Pornstar Roberta Gemma makes an appearance as a robotic video player - only her robot plays back people's memories - she's literally plugged into a monitor to play back 'Q''s actions, and she also 'delivers' some left-over Substance to the Pusher.
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Bonus Photos: From the shoot of the last scene featuring Roberta Gemma - and in COLOUR too..! :-)
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