A film review: "Las hijas del fuego" [2018, Argentina]

Albertina Carri herself has gone on record for describing her latest film "Las hijas del fuego" [Eng. Title: Daughters of Fire] as feminist porn. But the ever so modest Carri has also packaged something extra in it, as the title suggests. It is an obvious reference to feminist angst, while also paying homage to the place where the (porn) road movie begins its journey - Tierra del Fuego, the southernmost tip of Argentina, and a mere 'hop' away from Antarctica. Now that's shooting porn in some style!













Agustina (Mijal Katzowicz), an aquatics athlete training in the tundra, is thrilled when her filmmaker-lover (Carolina Alamino) comes visiting. Together they decide to go on a road trip up north to stop Agustina's mother (Cristina Banegas) from disposing off her dead dad's old banger - well, it holds an emotional value for Agustina.

This is the premise, but in keeping with the diktats of feminist porn, their journey will turn into an estrogen-fuelled voyage of promiscuity and rebellious hedonism. Picking up like-minded women along the way, they will indulge in threesomes, partner-swaps, and generally 'go with the flow' as often and wherever they can, as is expected in porn films. They even have to exchange their stolen SUV for a camper van, for lack of room.

But unlike your average Internet-era porn, we get to feast our eyes on threesomes against a stunning Patagonian backdrop, and lesbian re-enactments of Armando Bo's film-scenes in resplendent black and white. There's also a lesbian threesome in a church-setting while Agustina watches and masturbates from the door; deviant porn indeed! ;-)

The film features a grand sadomasochist-themed orgy mimicking what we might have seen in films elsewhere, the only difference being that this is organised by females, for females. Amidst their frolicking in the fiery tongues of unbridled sexuality, the girls find time to take on altruistic duties as well, like rescuing battered women from their horrible husbands, and showering love on women with low self-esteem; they truly become the daughters of fire. There in also lies Ms, Carri's message.

It's interesting to see Ms. Carri join a growing list of auteurs, from Gaspar Noé to Lars von Trier, dabble in porn-making just because they can. But her film is different from the others in that not all her protagonists conform to mainstream ideals, specifically male ideals of beauty and desirability. The dolly-mixture cast come in all shapes and sizes, and also include established mainstream actresses, albeit in non-sexual roles (Sofía Gala, Erica Rivas, and Cristina Banegas). Ms. Carri certainly believes that there is no difference between women despite appearances; that they are all truly beautiful and sexually desirable. She urges women (and probably men) to challenge male constructs, so who can argue with that. And yes, this isn't exactly porn, it is rather a celebration of the female, and definitely Recommended Viewing..!

 

No DVD-Link (yet) :-(
Not sure if it was screened in MUBI at some point, but will update this part when more information becomes available.

 

The Nudity: Mijal Katzowicz, Carolina Alamino, Rocío Zuviría, Wanda Rzonscinsky, María Eugenia Marcet, Ivanna Colona Olsen, Carla Morales Ríos, and others
The film features intermittent sex scenes of an explicit or kinky nature, and all the main cast perform non-simulated sex. There are BDSM-themed scenes, and one even suggesting female ejaculation (probably for the first time in any non-porn film). The alpine-meadow sex scene reminds one of German sex-comedies from the seventies, but the pièce de résistance is certainly the in-your-face masturbation, shot in real-time, as the group of revellers in the background gradually thin away. This long scene is the film's closing shot, suggesting in auteur-terms perhaps, that she is the female voyeur as well as the participant. Hurrah to self-love indeed! :-)



.

Grow more pineapple! "Der Geschmack von Leben" [2017 Germany]

No, this is not a new UN directive concerning public nutrition (though it might be a refreshing idea), but it might increase demand for pineapple if Roland Reber and his vlogging protagonist Nikki's advice to drink more pineapple juice is taken seriously by men across the world.

In his latest film "Der Geschmack von Leben" [Eng. Title: Taste of Life], the maverick filmmaker and his co-conspirators Antje Nikola Mönning and Mira Gittner toast to the life-quality-enhancing properties of 'cum' (ok - semen, for the exasperatingly prude), and extol the benefits this symbiotic exchange would entail for men and women alike.












The film's title illustrates the evolution of Nikki (Antje Nikola Mönning) in the classical image of The Road to Homo Sapiens, accompanied by a soundtrack that's a knowing wink to Paolo Sorrentino's 'The Young Pope' theme song (Devlin's Watchtower). The montage culminates with Nikki armed with an iPhone attached to a selfie stick. As you might've guessed by now, this is a comedy, with some serious Reber-style bits from his previous films thrown in.

Nikki is an ebullient vlogger, filming and sharing freely her dogging-style sexual encounters, and interviews with random people who readily open up to her. Barely dressed most of the time, she drives through the countryside in a vintage Land Rover looking for 'victims', while espousing to the viewer through an in-car camera, her philosophy of sexual living without the restrictions of conventional love and coupling.

Nikki's interviewees include women of all sorts; some suffer from religious guilt, some jaded in love, some are still waiting for the right man, and some of them, kinky. Nikki's advice to all of them is to enjoy the 'taste' of life in order to be happy. Morality for her is about accepting and rejoicing in sexual pleasure. "My Jesus is a kind Jesus and pleased when I suck dicks", she'd emphatically claim.

The thrust of the narrative is however Nikki herself; living life to the full and 'feasting' on cum on her own terms. When a 'victim', hoping for some kind of compliment after generously splashing his cum on her, asks if he was good, Nikki dismissively tells him that as far as she was concerned, he was just another blow-up doll who could come, and to add insult to injury, forewarns him that his 'cumming' days are numbered.

Since the dawn of cinema, we've had vampires (Nosferatu, Dracula) as an implicit metaphor for women's need for emancipation, equal rights etc. Later, and as a reaction to feminism, came films depicting women either as oppressors of men in a dystopian future, or as vampires themselves. Reber and Mönning seem to have taken a rather vegan, live-and-let-live approach to post-feminism - no one needs to get killed (and no souls harvested by the devil). What's more, they're also promoting pineapple juice, and much like Carla Juri's pizza-toppings (Feuchtgebiete, 2013), introducing culinary to unusual ingredients, even though they will remain an acquired taste for some.

Male secretions apart, what struck me was the quality of the film's production. Mira Gittner's cinematography, colour-grading, and editing is significantly superior to previous efforts, and it shows. The film is funny for most of its duration - in fact it begins with a scene that self-deprecatingly parodies one of Reber's own earlier films. But what I like most about the film is that it is not pretentious; it doesn't seek approval for what it is, it doesn't compromise, and it farts in the general direction of unwritten film convention. Amen to independent cinema, and Recommended Viewing..!

Amazon.de Blu-ray Link | Amazon.de DVD Link [PAL]

 

The Nudity: Antje Nikola Mönning, Norman Graue, Iris Boss, René Müller, Alex K, Agnes Thi-Mai, Ute Meisenheimer, and others
Antje Nikola Mönning is naked or partially naked, well, for most of the film, and participates enthusiastically in two explicitly filmed oral sex scenes that few porn veterans, let alone Maitland Ward would equal - Ms. Mönning even explains it all in this interview. René Müller and Alex K are her willing 'victims'. Norman Graue plays a hilarious naked Jesus. Iris Boss is the hitchhiking young girl who goes skinny dipping with Nikki, and is later groped in a sex bar while performing striptease. Agnes Thai-Mai who kinda reminds one of Alizee if she were younger, voluptuous, and of course naked, spends the entire duration of a song in the nude, begging to be whipped. Ute Meisenheimer briefly appears topless as a mature housewife. Other nude men and women appear in walk-on roles.



.

A film review: "Tag der Idioten" [1981, West Germany]

Werner Schroeter's films are pretty much like the man himself, less talked about but theatrical and larger than life in person. Among his last films acknowledged as part of the Neuer Deutscher Film canon, "Tag der Idioten" [Eng. Title: Day of the Idiots] is an exploration of people's fear of accepting their own eccentricities, idiosyncrasies and imperfections in a conformist world.











Carole (Carole Bouquet) snaps one day, unsure anymore of everything she had cared about thus far; her boyfriend, job, and standing in society. Frustrated with the real world, she leaves home, and after flushing the contents from her handbag down the toilet, orders three Viennese coffees for herself at a posh cafe, only to smear them all over her face and the table. "I need to breathe...", an angst-ridden Carole mutters.

She gets herself declared clinically insane after accusing a neighbour of being a terrorist and leading police on a wild goose chase. In order to avoid prison, she voluntarily checks into Dr. Laura's (Ingrid Caven) Victorian-era asylum; the doctor is aware that Carole isn't insane in a conventional sense, but nevertheless accepts her as a patient. She'd been experimenting on patients 'healing themselves' through anti-psychiatry and hopes it might help Carole too.

Carole finds the patients in the asylum simultaneously fascinating and repulsive, and notices among them the very woman she'd reported as being a terrorist. She 'escapes' the asylum more than once, but turns herself in each time, for she's no longer sure if the world outside is any more saner than the asylum. Carole isn't happy with either worlds and begins to find the very idea of living meaningless...

The impressionistic melodrama however abandons any attempt at making a point and gets consumed by its own madness, by becoming a voyeur to the excess on screen. The film isn't nearly as depraved as some of the exploitation films of the era, but will regardless shock viewers unaccustomed to seeing scenes of urophilia (golden showers) in mainstream cinema.

The relative obscurity of the film, despite the director's auteur-credentials and featuring a then current 'Bond girl' in a starring role, has prevented one of Carole Bouquet's most memorable performances from being seen by a wider audience. The film also features an ensemble cast that include Schroeter's long term muse and collaborator Magdalena Montezuma, the beautiful Christine Kaufmann, and Ida Di Benedetto. This might not be one of Shcroeter's masterpieces, but his signature style and feminist message is written all over the film, and for that at least, it is Recommended Viewing..!

Amazon.de 2-DVD Link
Willow Springs, Tag der Idioten [PAL]

 

The Nudity: Carole Bouquet, Mostefa Djadjam, Dana Medrická, Magdalena Montezuma, Ida Di Benedetto, and others
The film begins with a long scene of a stunning Carole Bouquet pacing up and down the room completely in the nude as her oblivious boyfriend (Mostefa Djadjam) sleeps. She appears nude in two other scenes later in the film. Czech actress Dana Medrická appears topless on a few occasions as a patient with an urge to flash in front of others. Magdalena Montezuma walks nude into a party, asking to be placed in prison for an imagined crime. Ida Di Benedetto, who plays a deeply religious nurse, is briefly seen topless while punishing herself. There is further nudity in a bathroom scene where for probably the first time in mainstream cinema, an actor is shown actually urinating on another (unlike 'Salo, or 120 Days of Sodom' where everything was simulated). The scene is nonsexual, but the shock value is in the banal manner of its presentation.



.

Morning Interim - Episodes 3 and 4 [2017 Portugal, United Kingdom]

Halfway through the successful series of short films for his anthology "Morning Interim", I caught up with film maker João Paulo Simões to talk about the latest episodes and also take stock of the series so far. As ever, he was forthcoming in answering my questions for another exclusive interview.













 

A halfway interview with João Paulo Simões

To what extent has the Polish-French auteur Walerian Borowczyk's 'The Beast' influenced 'Morning Interim' series?
I consider Borowczyk's La Bête a crucial influence that goes beyond the surface or aesthetics. Like Morning Interim, which evolved from unfinished material shot with the purpose of being part of a sequel to the feature film Antlers of Reason (2006), the Sirpa Lane scenes in La Bête (1975) were also originally conceived to be part of Borowczyk's anthology film Immoral Tales (1973). So I guess both projects share that same "salvaging of unused material" approach. I think this can contribute to a very specific formal outcome, which can translate as having elements that pulsate with their very own energy and identity within the overall narrative. But, I must say that La Bête has been a far more direct influence in Antlers of Reason. Aside from the few brief references made in the film, I semi-consciously borrowed specific concepts, such as the materialisation of fantasy into the reality of the central character's life and the primal connection she, as a young woman with a blossoming sexuality, has to Nature - itself embodied in the beast-like figure of the antlered god Thalus.

 

The 'Morning Interim' series is turning out to be a mystery thriller by drawing elements from 'exploitation films' of yore but you'd given it an entirely distinct treatment. Placing it somewhere between an unapologetic Jean Rollin and a Lynchian drama, are you consciously building a new 'genre' for the age with this series?
It is certainly (and hopefully) an exercise in broadening the scope of the web-series format, which itself is a liberated by-product of a digital age. It's fair to say that I am channeling all the mythological subtexts and suggested narrative strands of Antlers of Reason into a considerably experimental approach. The eight-episode format provides it with a definite structure (with its own self-imposed set of restrictions), but frees me creatively to pursue other ideas that can alternate between the abstract, the minimalist and the atmospheric. In many ways, the majority of the web-series that one finds out there still operate within conventional broadcast rules, with minor adjustments to cater to the immediate satisfaction of the digital age. I can't think of anything more 'pornographic' than that. So to make something that would, ironically enough, feature sexually-explicit elements, but would adopt a sense of nostalgia for both the analogue and a foregone era of Cinema seemed to me an irresistible proposition...

 

Here you are, a director making 'European' films whilst living in an England that has a distinct film-making heritage of its own. Was that a choice, and if so, is that because Britain, for all its much-talked about 'Britishness', still remains a veritable melting pot where different ideas find space and thrive?
It's definitely been a permanent "fish out of water" situation, I must say. Whilst Britain has, so far, enabled a variety of cultures to settle within its cultural barriers, its filmmaking traditions have remained rooted in a constant reassertion of their identity. I find the approach of social realism incredibly tedious, to be honest. That said, the reality of a Northern England (and a lot of what it evokes, as filtered through my foreign eyes) has been pivotal in the formulation of a lot of my projects. Antlers of Reason would've never existed without it. And, by default, neither would've Morning Interim.
Still, what many would consider "creating in isolation", I choose to look at as "being left to do your own thing".

 

While Episode 3 (Re-enactments) injects conventional plot elements to an otherwise cryptic first two episodes, Episode 4 (Further Illicit Diagrams) not only introduces a new character named 'Fern', but also hints at a different side to Jay aka Thalus. Is this going to turn into a morality tale of sorts..?
That is a very interesting question. The morality tale aspect reverts, once more, back to the film that originated it all, Antlers of Reason. The episodes of Morning Interim though, shift between what you define as cryptic and a plot device that takes the shape of personal investigations that unearth a dark Past (and the shadows it continues to cast over the existence of certain characters). We are driving towards a specific destination - that is ridden with guilt and loss and certainly tinted with personal moral dilemmas.

 

Now, to the star of Episode 4 - Alexandra Patriarca plays 'Fern' and this episode largely focuses on her intimate encounter with Jay. I'm also surprised to hear that this is Ms. Patriarca's first film.
Alexandra is one of those rare cases of someone who can effortlessly inhabit space and, with her gentle presence, extend a moment outside its time limits. This is rare to find and can't be taught in acting classes. It's intrinsic to who she is, as an individual.

 

The episode features perhaps the most explicit and dare I say 'passionate' sex scene in the series so far, notwithstanding your character's (Jay/Thalus) largely passive and 'robotic' nature - the passion is entirely from Ms. Patriarca. Could you shed some light on how you came to cast her for the role?
Once I identified that very special quality about her, my mission became to preserve it - and never to corrupt it. She's actually one of the most coherent and earnest people I ever met. With great humility she accepted my challenge and 'donated herself' to the project - a beautiful act of faith and trust.

 

What was Ms. Patriarca's reaction to performing explicit sex for camera, and that too on her film debut? Was any of the crew present during the shoot?
There was never an issue. Her personality and aforementioned presence really suits the minimalism that I wanted to bring back (and improve upon) from Episode 2 - Illicit Diagrams become Further Illicit Diagrams, after all. I've developed a way of working that keeps production elements to their bare minimum. Only those essential to the scene in question are allowed in.

 

Something tells me Fern is not just 'any other' victim of Thalus, but without giving away any plot points, could you confirm if this is not the last we'll hear from her in this series?
Very far from it. Although one could argue that she's constricted to a film world of a specific era (the 1970's), the importance of her role will unfold in upcoming episodes. Whilst the Mystery Woman (played by Luisa Torregrosa) is instrumental in bridging crucial gaps in the Present, Fern's identity and ambiguous relationship to Jay will be gradually revealed as the transitional stepping stone of the Past.

 

I've so far enjoyed several aspects of this series from a film-buff's point of view. There are 'atmospheric' touches scattered throughout, like in the start of Episode 3, which surely is a nod to David Lynch/Carlos Reygadas. Some characters and place names even have direct references to films from the past. I also like the concept of film within a film that's already within a film. The insertion of a clip from a supposed 1975 film titled 'Ninho das aguias' (Eagles' Nest) does not only look convincing - it also doesn't clash with the rest of the narrative. Is this your homage of sorts to Seventies and Eighties cinema?
Glad to hear that. Very much appreciated. The goal was precisely that: to bring a sort of analogue-transmutation to proceedings, in the way the footage of that fictional film is treated to evoke a very specific type of 1970's Cinema.
It's not wrong at all to call it an homage. It's a throwback to a way of doing things that simply got lost, as your priorities become surreptitiously defined by others. There was just something very genuine and pure about a lot of those films - regardless of how explicit and supposedly exploitative most were. But, its insertion in the episode poses certain fundamental questions that could be pointing towards a "pretty meta" reveal, when it comes to the character of Jay.

 

What can we look forward to in Episode 5? Any new or legendary faces we can expect to see?
Episode 5 is currently in production. Again, there will be a return to more traditional horror elements and Nature will come to the foreground once more. It's entitled "This Place, That Time" and, in conjunction with the subsequent Episode 6, will give a face to the hidden forces and interests at play. It will center mostly on new characters, but their introduction will help make sense out of a lot that we've seen so far.

 
 

Streaming Link for Film | Become a Patron
Morning Interim, Antlers of Reason and other works by filmmaker João Paulo Simões are all available on The Vault of Alternative Cinema. You can also support the project directly on Patreon.

 

 

The Nudity: Luisa Torregrosa, João Paulo Simões, Monica Calle, Erica Rodrigues, and Alexandra Patriarca
The third episode (Re-Enactments) features an explicit sex scene between Luisa Torregrosa and João Paulo Simões. The fourth episode (Further Illicit Diagrams) features yet another explicit sex scene between mature Monica Calle and João Paulo Simões. Erica Rodrigues also appears nude in a brief scene. However, the highlight of the episode will have to be a gratuitously explicit sex scene between newcomer Alexandra Patriarca and João Paulo Simões - something I also touched upon during the interview. The found projector-with-footage effect used in the scene, whilst not as convincing as shooting it in 8mm directly, is effective enough in conveying the feel given the budget and resources. Recommended Viewing..!

.

An interview with João Paulo Simões on "Morning Interim: Illicit Diagrams" [2017 Portugal]

Ever the experimenter, João Paulo Simões loves to play with form and narrative in his films, and his ongoing anthology, "Morning Interim" is one such exercise that has generated interest from not only the art crowd, but also fellow artists in Portugal. His collaboration with veteran Portuguese actress Monica Calle in his second episode "Illicit Diagrams" was intriguing as well as fascinating. When I approached Simões for an interview, he was only too happy to share his thoughts.

.

An interview with João Paulo Simões

"Morning Interim" - could you tell us how you came up with the concept?

Morning Interim was originally conceived at around 2007 as part of a trilogy, of which "Antlers of Reason" (2006) was the first. But despite its encouraging reception, the project remained in financing limbo and other commissioned work began to get prioritised. I still wanted to revisit specific strands from "Antlers of Reason", as it began to open up a greater scope for exploring something bigger and deeper, and to delve into a more frightening mystery. As an episodic series, I felt I could now recreate ritualised reflections of equally personal scenarios.



Who is recording the ThalusCam? Will we get to see the people behind it?

The name is in reference to the fictional antlered god of pagan worship, Thalus. It's been conceived, in the series, as a voyeuristic device that punctuates the stripped bare narrative. But it will be revealed as an underground analogue network that hijacks digital signals. A bit like the old days taking revenge on the impersonal nature of this world we all now inhabit. Yes, we will get to see who and what is behind it. Sort of half-the-way through the series: Episode 5, to be more specific.



You'd managed to rope in Monica Calle - still amazing after all these years in cinema, for the second episode of "Morning Interim". Do you hope to feature similar high-profile actors in the remaining series?

There are a handful of roles to be cast still and I always want, first and foremost, to give the right role to the right person.
Yet, as a film buff, I do like to bring in a sense of heritage that an actor's previous work immediately conveys. We have Anulka Dziubinska (from the 1974 exploitation classic, "Vampyres") on board. I'm currently in talks with Emmanuelle Escourrou (of "Baby Blood" fame) whom I directed in the pilot episode of "Where Her Dreams End" (a 2011 series that never got picked). And I just re-opened negotiations with an actress from Walerian Borowczyk's "La Bête", which was a huge influence on "Antlers of Reason".



How did you convince Monica Calle to get involved in the film? What was her initial reaction?

I believe Monica watched a behind-the-scenes video, at first, in which actress/co-producer Luisa Torregrosa describes the creative process. Only then did she watch the first episode. She told me she was very taken by the minimalism; by how it all comes across so unmediated and singular. But what impressed her most was actually how the intimacy was handled.



Was Monica Calle comfortable in participating in the explicit sex scenes, and was she concerned if it might affect her already significant mainstream film career?

She only went as far as to express how raw and therefore exposing the scenes were. But once she committed and mutual trust was in place, there was never any issue. You have to put the Portuguese avant-garde approach into perspective here. Despite (or precisely because of) its conservative Catholicism, creative individuals do tend to navigate incredibly daring waters. Monica's stage output is probably the boldest being made in Portugal. And still, despite its experimental, visceral or explicit nature, she wins mainstream awards. For years, many often wondered when the two of us would work together. It has finally happened.



Most of the sex scenes depict sexual acts in elaborate detail, but they're nevertheless ritualised rather than spontaneous. Was this a technical limitation, or are you trying to say something through this?

The ritualisation is not just deliberate, but crucial. The idea has always been to elevate such moments to mating rituals. Something purer, more animal and natural (hence the explicitness), but that rarely happens away from the cold gaze of the hidden cameras of the ThalusCam network. Going back to your second question, the key here is the "recording". The notion that private moments in time are crystalised, mirrored and juxtaposed - with an ulterior motive.



Though this site focuses predominantly on nudity as it appears in the integral version of films, the scenes themselves often enter into the sexual realm, as if it is almost inevitable. Is it because directors are merely trying to keep up with society, or are filmmakers themselves setting the agenda?

That's a very interesting point. And I think it ties in with the way in which progressively more honest and therefore explicit depictions of sexuality have been incorporated into both independent and mainstream Cinema.
My perspective is that the art form has matured sufficiently now. As far as "setting the agenda" goes, I really think that every film that is made is a reflection of the times in which it was produced, but I do believe that films also shape the cultural discourse. They feed off each other.



Are people more obsessed and worried about sex these days than at any time in human history?

There's a growing appetite for depictions of sexuality, for sure. The level of obsession is up to the individual and I reckon the impulse to gaze is as old as the human race itself, but there is a greater thirst for seeing images that reveal more and more. Again, it's the digital age we live in. The immediate accessibility of explicit content generates a taste for it. You have to feed "the retina of the mind's eye", to borrow a phrase coined by Cronenberg.



What can we look forward to in the third episode?

Episode 3 will bring back the horror element to the foreground. Luisa Torregrosa's Mystery Woman will return and Nature will also take a big part. It's entitled "Re-Enactments" for a reason. The notion of actors playing a role within a role is part of the deconstructive quality that I intend to bring to the form, to the narrative and to the actual rituals.



How has your crowdsourcing progressed so far, and how many episodes have you lined up for the Morning Interim series? Have you considered making the series into a full-length feature?

The idea to turn the project into a series was a means to rescue it. The pilot episode was enabled and partially funded by Spain's Torregrosa Producciones, but we didn't know where to go from that point - despite being immensely proud of it. We're well aware of the experimental, abstract quality of the project and wanted to preserve that by all means.
It soon became apparent that the slow-burning narrative needed to span eight episodes, which makes it even trickier to fund. But, we're getting there - very gradually.
Frontier Media established The Vault of Alternative Cinema, as a means to centralise access to current and previous output. The approach has been to have the pay-per-view of the existing episodes (along with access to other films available to stream or buy on DVD) exclusively fund the production of the series. This does slow down the process, but, in an odd way, suits the unfolding of the mystery. Online patronage has also started contributing monthly to production costs. We hope that the support grows in time, so we can shorten the waiting period between episodes for fans of Morning Interim.



Streaming Link for Film | Become a Patron





The Nudity: Monica Calle, João Paulo Simões, and Erica Rodrigues
The film depicts variously interpreted scenes featuring explicit sex and nudity. Apart from Monica Calle and Erica Rodrigues who play a case worker (therapist) and cleaner (maid) respectively, the director himself appears in a starring role in the scenes concerned. Recommended Viewing..!



.

Morning Interim: "The Safe House" [2016 Portugal, UK]

João Paulo Simões's anthology "The Morning Interim" is a series of experimental short films exploring 'the darker side' using a combination of abstract motifs and atmosphere. The first in this series, "The Safe House" pertains to a woman (Helena Salazar) discovering that her lover (João Paulo Simões) is not all that he seems, as she watches in dismay video recordings portraying another woman (Luisa Torregrosa) willingly held captive under his 'spell'.

The film borrows themes and characters from Simões's feature length prequel made over a decade ago (Antlers of Reason). When asked about the context for his anthology, the director, who firmly believes in a film's ability to delve deeper than a supposed plot, reluctantly discloses the backdrop, "There's a pagan secret society masquerading as a philanthropic organisation. They have a benevolent track record in helping individuals living in the margins of society, but are in fact harvesting amongst those that no one will miss. They seek the perfect vessel for their antlered god Thalus and seem to have found it in my character."

The minimalist film however doesn't shy away from using explicit imagery to drive its narrative, and the genre can best be described as an "erotic mystery". For those who'd like to stream the full episode and its prequel, you can follow the below link.




The Vault [Streaming Link]

 

The Nudity: Luisa Torregrosa, João Paulo Simões, and Helena Salazar



.

A film review: "A Bruta Flor do Querer" [2013 Brazil]

Dida Andrade and Andradina Azevedo script, direct, and star in their independent debut feature, "A Bruta Flor do Querer" [Eng. Title: The Savage Flower of Desire, aka Deep Blue Dream] about life and prospects for youth in a competitive and downbeat Sao Paulo.









The free flowing non-narrative gives a brief backstory to Diego (Dida Andrade), a promising film school graduate whose self-confidence is shattered the moment he enters the job market, and who's now reduced to shooting wedding videos for a living. He occasionally meets up with former students and drowns his sorrows in drugs and alcohol with his slightly better-off friend (Andradina Azevedo), who's promised to recommend him to an uncle producing a school play.

Diego tries to win over local belle Diana (Diana Motta) who works at a used books store, and a good chunk of screen time is dedicated to his desperate attempts to draw the courage and ask her out. The potential romance however unexpectedly fizzles out before it could take off, and leaves an already low Diego shattered.

After wallowing in his misery under a state of drug-fuelled stupor, Diego, in a moment of frenzy, walks out on his day job. Not making headway with the kids playing in the drama project, he and his friend decide to escape the city, its trappings, the failures and the loneliness, and head to the coast in search of chicks and new friends...

Separated into chapters in a Godardesque fashion, the film draws obvious pointers from the French New Wave even if a bit superficially. I was disappointed that the promising skyline of Sao Paulo doesn't get to play a greater role in the film, but to their credit, the directors do manage to challenge the audience into listening to their story, replete with warts and pimples, and without the feel-good factor of the boy getting his girl. For those who can look past the excessive use of drugs in the film (not nearly in an engaging, Trainspotting kinda way), it would be Recommended Viewing..!

DVD Purchase Link [NTSC]

 

The Nudity: Clara Andrezzo, Dida Andrade, Nara Lobo, Andradina Azevedo, Danielle Rosa, and Sue Nhamandu
Sex scenes inside a car feature twice in the film, and one of them is briefly explicit when the girl that Diego had picked up strokes his penis. The film also features a skinny-dipping scene and one where Diego hallucinates a girl (Nara Lobo) taunting him in German.



.

A brief film review: "To xypnima tis anoixis" [2015 Greece]

Constantine Giannaris is known for films focusing on the disenfranchised and dispossessed of urban Athens, often portraying his characters in ultra-realistic documentary style footage. His drama, "To xypnima tis anoixis" [Eng. Title: Spring Awakening] follows a similar vein in that it is set against the backdrop of post-austerity, riot-prone, present-day Athens with all its social issues.









The film begins at the police station where five teenagers are handcuffed and brought in for questioning. Part of a newly formed 'armed gang', they were found at the scene of a horrific crime where a couple and their two children were murdered in cold blood.

Interviews with investigating officers offer us a glimpse into the group members' individual attitudes, their family backgrounds, and social status. Coming from various backgrounds, we note that they could easily represent a cross section of Athenian society itself. The one thing they seem to have in common however is a collective hatred for any kind of 'authority', whether from domineering parents or law enforcement agencies.

Two among them - Alexandros (Konstantinos Elmatzioglou) and Ioanna (Daphne Patakia) are in a sexual relationship, but after they join the gang, things get a bit hazy because of a range of issues occupying Alexandro's mind, not least his killing of a cop who was about to arrest two of the gang members following a robbery. When the five attempt a second robbery, it goes horribly wrong after egos clash and latent hates surface between members and the hapless victims...

The director seems to be questioning the society that Greece had become, its prospects for the future - particularly the young who're usually the most affected, and the growing xenophobia amongst a population that feels let down even by friendly countries. While it is well made using largely new faces, one wonders if the screenplay could've been tightened up a little, especially since similar themed films are also the trend everywhere from Mexico to Russia. They may well be a sign of the times in which we're living, but from what I could glean from the DVD's subtitles, the nonlinear narrative could've been more effectively contextualised. The performance of Daphne Patakia playing Ioanna is nevertheless memorable. Recommended Viewing!

Amazon DVD Link [PAL]

 

The Nudity: Daphne Patakia, Marlene Kaminsky, and Adrian Frieling
Daphne Patakia appears nude in a number of scenes, and one of them is surprisingly explicit when her character masturbates in bed. There is also brief nudity in a scene that involves a German couple interrupted by the gang while making love.



.

A film review: "Meu Amigo Hindu" [2015 Brazil]

After a gap of nearly eight years, Hector Babenco makes a full-length feature with a personal film "My Hindu Friend" [Bra. Title: Meu Amigo Hindu]. Confessing that this was something that he always wanted to make but never got around to, Babenco's film isn't biographical, but certainly draws some material from personal life. In his own words, "What you are about to watch is a story that happened to me and I present it in the way I know best." Cinematic, it certainly is.

Diego (Willem Dafoe), a successful film writer-director, had been living with cancer for a number of years, and during this time, had also met and been living with Livia (Maria Fernanda Cândido). When his doctor suggests that he requires a bone marrow transplant in the US, and also warns him of the low probability of his survival, he proposes and weds Livia.

His brother reluctantly agrees to be the donor, but Diego's surgery and its subsequent complications make his road to recovery harder; laying sedated during the day and having after-hour visitations from Death himself (Selton Mello), along with his suspender belt and stockings clad sidekick and wife. Their casual conversations, interspersed with games of chess, are among the more refreshing and amusing parts of the film.

Diego does however, manage to strike a new friendship with someone living - a young Hindu boy and fellow patient (Rio Adlakha), with whom he shares his stories and dreams. After returning home following his recovery, Diego realises that his marriage with Livia is nevertheless finished, with the illness being just one of the contributing factors. With an almost wiped-clean slate, Diego meets Sofia (Bárbara Paz), an actress and ardent fan of his work. Perhaps, there might now be a new story waiting to be written on it...

Babenco's film makes frequent nods to the golden age of Hollywood, and in a way, is an ode to cinema itself. It's a story about cheating death, a story about rebirth. Portions of the film, particularly those relating to Death, is reminiscent of a film by another Argentinian-born director Eliseo Subiela. Having said that, Mello and Dafoe take it to a far higher, engaging level. While the fact of Brazilian characters conversing in English takes a little bit of getting used to, the script is nevertheless coherent and mindfully avoids using local idioms that might not work quite so well in translation. Different in tone and intensity to his better known works such as Pixote and Carandiru, Babenco's latest film comes out as something deeply personal, and the cast and crew appear to have done a commendable job in bringing it to life. Recommended Viewing..!

DVD Purchase Link (NTSC)

 

The Nudity: Ana Clara Fischer, Ondina Clais Castilho, Vera Barreto Leite, Maria Fernanda Cândido, Clara Choveaux, and Bárbara Paz

• Ana Clara Fischer appears briefly nude playing a woman that Diego follows one day, hears her chant Buddhist mantras, and they end up having sex (naturally!).
• Ondina Clais Castilho plays an understandably elderly Mrs Death.
• Vera Barreto Leite flashes her breasts during Diego's after-wedding party.
• Maria Fernanda Cândido, as Livia, is briefly shown nude in the bathroom, and after Diego had seen her masturbating.
• Clara Choveaux plays a woman thrown out of a club and, surprisingly, has a no-holds-barred encounter with Diego. Finding him unable to satisfy her, she settles for something battery-powered - it's an explicit scene verging on hardcore.
• Actress and possible future director Bárbara Paz plays Sofia and gives a delightful interpretation, almost in the nude, of a Gene Kelly from the golden era of Hollywood musicals. It's made all the more endearing in that she starts the dance, as if to give us a hint, much earlier than the music kicks in. There is also a brief performance on stage, a sex scene, and a conversation in the nude preceding this memorable scene.

.