A brief review: "El lado oscuro del corazón 2" [Argentina, Spain 2001]

Eliseo Subiela follows-up on the romantic drama he made a decade earlier with a sequel - "El lado oscuro del corazón 2" [Eng. Title: The Dark Side of the Heart 2]. He catches up with the same protagonist after ten years - Oliverio (played by a same, ten year older Darío Grandinetti), searching yet again for a woman who can 'fly', after the one he had who did - Ana (Sandra Ballesteros), takes flight literally to live with her daughter in Spain.

Frustrated at not finding a 'bird' - he could only manage 'amphibians' (Florencia Sabatella) and 'glow-worms' (Carolina Peleritti), Oliverio decides to go looking for Ana in Spain, and catches up with her in Barcelona. They're glad to have found each other, but alas, couldn't get off the ground when it mattered. Apparently they'd been looking back at their relationship rather than forward, 'Time' - in the form of a biker dressed in black reminds him. Oliverio will see the poster of trapeze artist Alejandra (Ariadna Gil) in flight, and falls madly in love. He pursues her through the country and eventually catches up in Sitges with the help of Time's free ride.

Over these years, 'Death' (Nacha Guevara) hasn't given up chasing Oliverio either, relentlessly following him wherever he goes. Since he can't shake her off, he takes her in his stride and even starts treating her as a friend. After meeting a pretty but suicidal Alejandra, Oliverio will discover that the trapeze artist too is stalked by her own bolero-serenading 'Death' (Manuel Bandera). Oliverio has his work cut-out - he'll have figure out a way of cheating his and Alejandra's 'Death', but for that he needs to first win the heart of Alejandra - no easy task under the circumstances...

Subiela continues his esoteric meanderings from the earlier instalment with his typical poetic license to tell yet another love story, elegantly and in a feel-good manner. Non-pretentious while also trying to be artistic, it may be commercial heart-warming cinema, Argentinian-style - but it is still way better than what Hollywood churns out these days. Recommended Viewing..!

Amazon.com DVD Link [NTSC]
Mine is an anamorphic PAL version that's not in stock at the time of posting.

 

The Nudity: Florencia Sabatella, Carolina Peleritti, Sandra Ballesteros, and Ariadna Gil
For some reason, the first two names above are spelt differently in IMDB. In any case, the actresses appear briefly nude during their respective scenes as two of Oliverio's exotic catches. Sandra Ballesteros even manages to look sexier than she did ten years earlier during a nude scene, and beautiful Ariadna Gil also appears briefly nude in one scene. There is also a voluptuous actress (uncredited) appearing in Oliverio's dream, after he fails to 'perform' in bed on one occasion.



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A brief review: "Záhrada" [1995 Slovakia]

Made in a newly born Slovakia, Martin Sulík's charming comedy drama "Záhrada" [Eng. Title: The Garden] nods to the Czechoslovak New Wave in no uncertain regard - particularly in its depiction of 'surreal' realism, often seen in works by Vera Chytilová and Juraj Jakubisko, where elements from folklore, mysticism, and religion are freely infused into a narrative otherwise rooted in realism.

It's the story of tailor's son Jakub (Roman Luknár) who's about to start a new job as school teacher. Whiling away in his father's (Marián Labuda) apartment, Jakub has little to occupy himself with before starting work, except fool around with married woman Tereza (Jana Svandová) who happens to be one of his father's valued customers. Promptly ticked off after the father catches him in the act with Tereza (the scene is quite funny), Jakub is despatched to the country, to fix and sell his grandfather's property - a garden with a farmhouse, falling apart since it has not been occupied for a while. That is where he'll meet Helena (Zuzana Sulajová), a beautiful young teenager with magical powers. He'll also be visited by other strange characters, like the shepherd who calls himself Saint Benedict, a bully who'll succeed in exchanging his broken down banger for Jakub's perfectly working car. 'Itchy' Tereza arrives to take him back, but the most frequent visitor will be Helena herself - turning up occasionally with welts all over her legs and back, allegedly caused by her mother. He falls in love with Helena, and will soon have to choose between returning to the city to build a career, and living in the farmhouse with the angelic Helena...

Wonderfully quirky films like these manage to transport you to a different world with their own logic and order. They cannot be analysed any more deeply than a well-written fairy tale. But the film is essentially about love, forgiveness, sacrifice, turning a new leaf, and celebrating life itself. Shot with warm colours, the cinematography is very appealing, and for a comedy, the director has admirably completed his scenes with the least number of shots. They look spontaneous and natural, thanks also to good support from the main cast. Alongside Tuvalu, it is probably the most enchanting film reviewed in the blog to date, and certainly, Highly Recommended Viewing..!

Amazon.de DVD Link [PAL]

 

The Nudity: Jana Svandová, Roman Luknár, and Zuzana Sulajová
Jana Svandová was in her late forties when she played Tereza in the film, and her role is that of a seductress, spending most of her screen time trying to wrap Jakub around her little finger. There are two scenes of hers in the nude, and the one where they're caught red handed by Jakub's dad is both sexy and funny. Roman Laknár briely appears nude while emerging from a bath. Zuzana Sulajová - she reminds us of a young Ornella Muti, was only seventeen when the film came out. Her nude scene is but a brief flash while changing before getting into bed . The extended scene (unmastered) shows a little bit more of her, because of it being in full-frame - the main film is in widescreen.



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A brief review: "Intimnye mesta" [2013 Russia]

Writer-directors Alexey Chupov and Natasha Merkulova's début feature "Intimnye mesta" [Eng. Title: Intimate Parts] is an amusing observation of the sexual mores and fetishes among a group of urban Russians.

Principal character Ivan (Yuriy Kolokolnikov) - a photographer, is preparing to stage an exhibition of his work in Moscow. His theme - genitals - male and female, in all shapes and sizes, and from all walks of life. His secretary Sveta (Olesya Sudzilovskaya), and Girl-Friday Sayana (Dinara Yankovskaya) are also his lovers, and he shares his time equally between the two. But he also takes on additional sundry lovers when he feels like it, and on one occasion also has a threesome with two sisters. Among his friends are Alexey (Nikita Tarasov) who's lost sexual interest in wife Olga (Ksenia Katalymova), Sergey (played by director Chupov himself) who doesn't want wife Eva (Ekaterina Scheglova) to get pregnant - we'll learn about his closeted homosexuality later, and Boris (Timur Badalbeili), a shrink who Alexey and Sergey also consult from time to time.

Eva discovers she's pregnant but keeps it a secret, and finds herself drawn towards a magician-acquaintance of Sergey's (he too is attracted to the magician). Alexey, hoping to stay faithful to his wife despite loosing interest in her, decides not to look at attractive women again - only at 'ugly' ones instead (his words), but soon finds himself attracted to the latter kind. He even romances and beds Albina (Anastasia Kholodniakova) without any feeling of 'guilt'. Boris meanwhile has his own peculiar fetish which we will see. A top official at the local censor/morality board - Lyudmila (Yuliya Aug) has branded Ivan's work pornographic and pulls out all stops to get his show banned. Well - she too has an stuttering relationship with a battery-operated 'lover'. Her frustrations will eventually force her to seek out one of her staff members - her official driver..! :-)

For a début, both directors give a decent account of themselves. The cinematography is good, and their filming style holds plenty of promise. The characterisation is perhaps one of the film's weaker points, but it's more or less compensated for in the other departments. The comedy drama is quirky, entertaining, and Recommended Viewing..!

 

The Nudity: Yuriy Kolokolnikov, Aleksandra Ponomareva, Ekaterina Osotova, Ekaterina Scheglova, Nelli Blinova, Olesya Sudzilovskaya, Dinara Yankovskaya, and others
There are brief but intermittent scenes of male and female nudity in the film. Most of the cast members get naked at some point, but their scenes are not intended to titillate. Among them, the ones with substantial roles to play include Yuriy Kolokolnikov, Yuliya Aug, Ekaterina Scheglova, Olesya Sudzilovskaya, and Dinara Yankovskaya.

 

Montage 1:



 

Montage 2:



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'La Dolce Vita' brought up-to-date: "La Grande Bellezza" [2013 Italy]

The post's title appears misleading, but it's not entirely off the mark. Director Paolo Sorrentino may not have set-out to reinterpret a Fellini masterpiece through his "La grande bellezza" [Eng. Title: The Great Beauty], but there are striking similarities between the two that won't go unnoticed. Sorrentino's vast and intricate mosaic - of Life, Rome, and her people, is perhaps the more melancholic of the two, partly due to the central character Jep Gambardella (Toni Servillo) being a magazine columnist in his mid sixties, and more mature than La Dolce Vita's Marcello.

Jep, single, is part of the Roman elite; moving among the movers and shakers of the eternal city, and ageing rather reluctantly along with his circle of vain friends - male and female, sinners and cardinals. Wiser than them, he revels in mocking their little insecurities - wealth and privilege notwithstanding, and undeniably basks in their company - he needs them as a ego-fix as much as they rely on his wisdom. He parties through life with feigned enthusiasm, only too ready to admit the shallowness of it all. We learn through the course of the film, that the reason he hadn't written a book since his critically acclaimed novel forty years earlier, was because he hadn't found anything worthwhile to write about - something inspiring and of great beauty (hence the title). And when he eventually learns how to find it, he will also be ready to start writing again...

It is the second half of the film that sets it apart - the first half mainly shows him in his physical and social environment, it will shape into an emotional journey of discovery with metaphysical and philosophical overtones - of people he never knew existed, of feelings he'd never seen in others, and himself. The message is deep, but also accessible to average viewers - at least there is nothing cryptic or bizarre as you'd see in a Fellini work. But there are also meaningful references made in almost every scene, due to which one would want to revisit the film more than once.

The film's technical aspects are a joy to behold, from the cinematography with its exquisite tracking camera, to the extravagant and eclectic music - so effective in places that they don't need dialogues or virtuoso performances to explain what's going on. But the performances are exceptional too, with a special mention for Carlo Verdone who displays a versatility I don't remember seeing - he plays Jep's close friend and colleague Romano, and Sabrina Ferilli in an understated role as Ramona, the daughter of one of Jep's friends. Toni Servillo, a class act on any day and a Sorrentino regular, makes the character of Jep all his own. But if I choose to remember anything about the film years from now, it'll likely be the haunting original music by Lele Marchitelli, and the long final tracking shot as the credits start rolling - the camera meanders through a stretch of the river Tiber, crossing under arched bridges and giving us a memorable view, of a Rome waking up to what promises to be another glorious summer's day. Highly Recommended Viewing..!

Amazon 2-DVD Link [PAL] | Amazon Blu-ray Link

 

The Nudity: Sabrina Ferilli, Isabella Ferrari, Anita Kravos, Galatea Ranzi, Giulia Di Quilio, and Annaluisa Capasa
The film has brief scenes of nudity from the above actresses, but the most notable ones are from Anita Kravos (as a performance artist), Galatea Ranzi (as Jep's friend Stefania), and Sabrina Ferilli performing a striptease, shown mostly in silhouette - for someone approaching fifty, she's got a fine figure, me thinks.



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Smell the coffee: "O Cheiro do Ralo" [2006 Brazil]

"God created the world, but it was man who created comfort, and also garbage - to keep idle people busy..." This is an excerpt translated from the conversation between Lourenço and Lourenço in a scene that vividly captures the film's biting satire. Lourenço is our protagonist, portrayed brilliantly by Selton Mello, and his namesake is the writer himself, upon whose novel director Heitor Dhalia's "O Cheiro do Ralo" [Eng. Title: Drained] is based. The original title literally translates as 'The smell from the drain', which is more to-the-point than the vagueness the official English title carries.

Dhalia has managed to weave an intricate metaphor for modern society with the help of an outwardly superficial tale of an alienated man obsessing over two things - the impressive ass of a beautiful restaurant waitress (Paula Braun), and the stench emanating from a blocked toilet sink in his office. Both issues are within his grasp of addressing - the woman herself is keen on dating him, and a plumber is also willing to fix his sink. Paradoxically, he refuses the offers - in relation to the waitress and her imensa bunda, he prefers to own rather than "marry" her ass, and in relation to the blocked sink, he believes the plumber is trying to fleece him, and nonchalantly remarks that he'll pay the quoted fee only if the plumber also eats whatever is clogging his sink.

As outrageously unpleasant a man Lourenço is, he is also someone who's completely lost in a world - this world - of false values, exploitation, and the craze for power, and where truly worthy things are treated as garbage and vice versa. It is also underscored in Lourenço's dealings as a pawnbroker - buying valuable and sentimental memorabilia from desperate people at a fraction of their actual worth, whilst paying exorbitantly for ridiculously mundane items for the perceived pleasure he might derive from it. One such item is a glass eyeball that Lourenço proudly carries around with him - it's a metaphor in itself, which director Dhalia uses to help explain his protagonist's distorted vision of what's good and not. The satirical film pulls no punches in criticising present values and morals that'll resonate with not just Brazilian, but any modern audience.

There may also be a symbolic correlation between Lourenço's twin obsessions - an object desired and worshipped when seen from outside (a beautiful ass), and its intended natural function that people tend to selectively blank out (alongside the maintenance of a sink-hole associated with the function). Not too pleasant to watch at times, the film is nevertheless thought provoking, and asks its intended adult audience to reflect upon themselves through Lourenço's identity and human crisis. It is thanks to Dhalia's fine screenplay and direction, Selton Mello's remarkable rendition of his character as at once charming and utterly despicable, and the committed performances from the main cast, notably Silvia Lourenço who plays an impoverished junkie, that this minuscule-budgeted gem of a film is as beautiful and moving as it is provocative. Laced with dark humour, irony, sarcasm and dry wit, a casual viewer might dismiss the film as just another tasteless comedy, but they're missing the point. Highly Recommended Viewing..!

DVD Order Link [NTSC]

 

The Nudity: Paula Braun, Sílvia Lourenço, and Lorena Lobato
There are four scenes involving nudity, two of which feature Silvia Lourenço - in the first Lourenço propositions her character to strip for cash that she desperately needs, and in the second, she strips even when Lourenço asks her not to, because he'd just given away all his money. She vents her frustration by complaining to people outside that he molested her, and upon seeing her with no clothes on, they take her for her word and go after Lourenço. The DVD includes some additional cuttings of the second Sílvia Lourenço scene in the 'Making of' documentary. Paula Braun plays the waitress, and in a scene eventually agrees to show Lourenço her ass for money - she would have offered herself willingly, but Lourenço is either unwilling or incapable of getting involved emotionally, and insists on 'buying' himself the right to see her naked. Pretty Lorena Lobato plays a married woman who drops by to do some trade with Lourenço, and is offered wads of cash to strip for him in a scene that's also the kinkiest of the lot, where we're cynically shown a respectable housewife transform into a slut using required incentives.



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