María León in "La Voz Dormida" [2011 Spain]

Having enjoyed watching his previous two feature films, I'm surprised Benito Zambrano hasn't made many more. There's great deal of attention paid to composition and lighting in his films and he certainly wants his audience to remember the scenes long after leaving their seat. Just in his latest prison drama, "La Voz Dormida" [Eng. Title: The Sleeping Voice] - some of the scenes are truly memorable. But my favourite however remains his debut feature "Solas", for its exquisite screenplay and direction, not to mention the strong performances all around - do not miss it if you get an opportunity.

This film too has some exceptional performances from its main cast, particularly from the talented and beautiful newcomer María León who deservedly won a Goya for the best new actress of the year. The film won further awards for original score and supporting actress. Needless to say, Recommended Viewing..!

Amazon.es DVD Link




Storyline:
Set during the aftermath of the Spanish civil war when Francisco Franco's regime systematically purged remnants of the erstwhile left-wing republicans by imprisoning and executing people connected with communists, we follow the fate of Hortensia, the imprisoned and pregnant wife of a communist commander (ably played by Inma Cuesta). Her younger sister Pepita arrives in Madrid to seek help in whatever way she can to get her released, but inevitably gets involved with the communists when she couriers messages between Hortensia and her husband in hiding. Hortensia's fate is nevertheless sealed and hers will be one of several executions of men and women held after mock trials during the turbulent period. Pepita's only solace will be a reminder of her sister in the form of Hortensia's newborn baby.




Compilation: María León
In one particularly nasty scene, Pepita is tortured by authorities while asked to identify a commander from a group of men captured along with her brother-in-law. She is left naked in a cell until the father of her employer, a close associate of Franco gets her released after making sure she didn't implicate his son, a former doctor and left-wing sympathiser in any way. María León gives a heart-felt and convincing performance as Pepita.





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Scenes from "Napoletans" [2011, Italy]

OK this is one of those entries that occasionally need to make their appearance here...

First-time director Luigi Russo's comedy, "Napoletans" [Eng. Trans: Neapolitans] is a typical Christmas pudding, something that would never form part your staple, but just okay once in a while. It has those familiar ingredients that apart from inducing nostalgia, makes you think of seriously hitting the gym come new year. Nothing may be new here story or comedy-wise - it's just an excuse to forget about the financial crisis for an hour and a half. I'm not going to bother with the storyline here, all I'll add is that part of the film's plot is straight out of "L’Infermiera di Notte". Now, let's move on shall we...

Amazon DVD Link




Compilation: Francesca Ceci, Susi del Giudice, Margherita di Rauso, and Nina Senicar
There's only brief nudity in the film, so I've included other typical goofy-sexy moments to spice up the compilation, entertaining nevertheless...



Scene Guide:

• Kids spying on their school teacher Tani, who also seems to be the object of the head teacher's affections. Sig.ra Tani is played by Francesca Ceci.
• Gennaro the dentist taking time off work to play one of his customary kinky games with mistress, played by Susi del Giudice. Here he's the traffic policeman stopping a hapless motorist..! :-)
• The head teacher at a function gets a bit carried away dancing with Sig.ra Tani.
• 'Aphrodisiac' gag coming up - Mrs. Gennaro mistakes hubby's secret stash for herbal tea and suddenly becomes a 'lioness'. Anna is played by Margherita di Rauso.
• Angela is the night nurse employed to look after Gennaro's ailing guest. A silly dog makes her spill coffee on herself (pantyhose alert), and she's forced to take a shower. Little does she know that the youngest son had placed a camera in the bathroom just for such an occasion. Angela is played by Nina Senicar.
• ...and Angela just happens to be dating the eldest son of the household.
• It appears all male members of the family is lusting after Angela - this time Gennaro himself fantasises while watching her cycle ahead of him on the road.
• Frustrated at Gennaro not making it to their regular rendezvous point, the angry mistress comes looking for him at the surgery, and finding just his assistant, asks him if he likes what he sees. Oh well - you get the idea...

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Isabelle Adjani & co in "L'Été Meurtrier" [1983 France]

I'm not sufficiently acquainted with the work of Jean Becker to comment here yet, but of the ones I've seen, his relatively recent film "Dialogue avec mon Jardinier" remains my favourite. His 1983 film, "L'Été Meurtrier" [Eng. Title: One Deadly Summer] is a mystery drama, which becomes apparent only around the halfway mark. It draws on elements across diverse genres - comedy, family, erotica, exploitation, and revenge, to name a few. But what's outstanding on the part of Becker is the manner in which he put them all together without making the film look incoherent, thanks to a fine screenplay (interestingly using characters to narrate parts of their story in background), crisp editing, and some excellent performances by the lead actors.

Notably that of Isabelle Adjani, truly one of the most beautiful and talented actresses in cinema. Record holder of the most César Awards won by an actress, she's a quintessentially French icon forged from Algerian and German parentage - how exotic is that! And ironic too, considering the heated debate as ever on immigration in the current French Presidential campaign. Ms. Adjani won a César for this film too, her second of five to date, playing a disturbed nineteen year old looking for revenge. What she brings to the screen cannot be directed, it had to come from within. But fortuitous though it might be, it required a director of Becker's class to capture that performance in the best possible manner to help narrate his story. Which he does admirably. Needless to say, Recommended Viewing..!

Amazon.fr DVD Link
(Having purchased two other editions prior to the one above, I wouldn't recommend anything else.)




Storyline:
Set in the 1970's, Eliane is the local village belle somewhere in the south of France. She arrived with her parents when little, and with rumours about their history floating, the village-folk have always looked down upon her family. But that doesn't get in the way Eliane's determination to become the most desired woman around, and she succeeds easily. But beyond her winning looks, she has a burning urge to seek revenge on the people responsible for her mother's rape (and her resultant birth). She feels her very existence is based on a violent act and this is her way of coming to terms with it. After learning of a piano in the household of local mechanic and part-time fireman Florimondo aka 'Pin-Pon', she thinks she had discovered one of the perpetrators. She sets her cross-hair on Florimondo, his son, and wins him over in no time before moving into his family home, even getting married. But things take an unexpected turn, and ALL is not what they seemed at the beginning...




Compilation: Virginie Vignon, Isabelle Adjani, Maria Machado, and Evelyne Didi
Some of the scenes reviewed don't contain nudity, but they're amusing, sexy, and broadly in keeping with the blog's theme. Certainly interesting nevertheless..!


Scene Guide:

• Florimondo sometimes comes for a 'late show' at the local cinema with the owner's wife. The naughty woman is played by Virginie Vignon.
• No nudity - village belle Eliane sure is one heck of a crowd head-turner, Florimondo merely being one among them. Eliane of course, is played by the incredibly talented and alluring (even if a tad skinny in this film) Isabelle Adjani.
• Thanks to some help from his younger brother, Florimondo manages to tag along with Elaine for a drink at a travelling dance club, but her attitude and swagger keeps throwing him off - she's just too hot for him to handle and the frustrated chap excuses himself soon after.
• After learning about the disused piano from his brother, Eliane becomes suddenly interested in Florimondo and asks him out on a date, also getting his suggestions on the best dress to wear.
• After spending the night with Florimondo at the barn, she wakes up early to look for the piano. Still in the nude, she walks outside to catch his mother's eye glaring at her. Now is Eliane bothered - hardly..!
• This is one of the few scenes that don't succeed in serving their purpose. The following morning, Eliane returns home depressed and seeks comfort in mother Paula's arms. This is supposed to be a tender moment of mother-daughter bonding when Eliane is suckled by her mother, but for me at least, it misfires grandly, given that Eliane doesn't exhibit this side of her nature anywhere else in the film. Far from it - she revels in her sexual prowess throughout.
• Brothers tease Florimondo as he gets busy with Eliane.
• No nudity but funny - Florimondo introduces Eliane to his family. His mother could barely conceal her contempt for her, and pointing at something Eliane was holding, asks what she'd already taken from the house. A defiant Eliane waves what she's been holding - her 'culotte' - apparently she doesn't wear them for longer than a day. Florimondo uses this moment to tell his mum that Eliane is moving in - oh, talk about timing..! :-)
• Eliane assures Florimondo that she won't forget to wear her knickers in future.
• But she needs to bathe now and there's not enough space in her room for her bathtub. Cue for another funny scene as Florimondo's mother and aunt have to now put up with Eliane's brash and naked presence in the kitchen.
• The film takes a dark turn while recounting the brutal rape of Eliane's mother many years ago. The scene comes out of the blue when you least expect it - it is disturbing, and positively shocking. Eliane's mother Paula is played by Maria Machado.
• Calamité is obviously besotted by Eliane, her erstwhile student. She'd do anything for a passionate kiss from her. Eliane knows that too well, and uses it to her advantage - her putty in her hands. At a restaurant, she challenges Calamité to remove her bra behind her transparent shirt, and she complies, claiming her reward in the car on their way back. Calamité is played by Evelyne Didi.
• Eliane is about to get married after claiming she's pregnant, here she's trying out stuff with her seamstress mom.
• Eliane visits a timber merchant at a nearby town believing him to be her 'father', and the man, not knowing who she is, instantly falls under her spell. He just can't take his eyes nor hands off her.
• When Eliane nonchalantly admits that she might indeed not be pregnant, a furious Florimondo lashes at her, and family arrive to help.
• He pleads her not to hide things from him. Eliane assures him it is he she loves, and that he needn't be too worried by her eccentric behaviour.

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Iwona Petry in Andrzej Zulawski's "Szamanka" [1996 Poland]

Andrzej Zulawski raked up controversy (again) through one of his later works back in Poland, in the dark psycho-sexual drama "Szamanka" [Eng. Trans: Female-Shaman]. Sometimes you wonder what makes a director pick up disturbing material to work with, especially if he doesn't come across as a tormented soul - I mean, you don't expect him to be if he'd just fathered a child with someone like Sophie Marceau, his long-term partner. To call this film 'intense' is a bit of an understatement - it is a vigorously fetishistic treatment of a dark fantasy - of primeval mysticism, lust, and possessiveness.

Storyline:
Michal, a university anthropologist meets a mine-engineering student looking for a place to rent - he's subletting his brother's apartment - and they have casual sex within an hour of meeting. They already have partners, but this encounter would become an obsessive habit and upset the apple cart. Michal and his team have unearthed a perfectly preserved bronze age shaman, he is fascinated by it and spends a lot of time understanding the way the shaman met his end - apparently it was voluntary. Michal sees in his lover (she isn't given a name - people call her 'the Italian' because she worked in an Italian restaurant) traits of a female-shaman and develops a growing fascination with her, more specifically her sex - he implies on more than one occasion that she's nothing but sex on legs, yearning to be satiated, by him. He moves in to her apartment but one day realises she will be his death. By drawing parallels between Michal's twin-obsessions - his work and the girl, Zulawski is trying to define wilful self-destruction, the same way the mummified shaman must have met his end.

The film makes no apologies for its depiction of erotic scenes - in fact it revels in it. But at the same time, it technically manages to stay within the confines of mainstream acceptance. A lot of what's going on is implied, but enough to raise a few eyebrows. Several techniques from his earlier films like "Possession" and "Le Femme Publique" are also applied here, to varying degree of success. There is also this intense chemistry between the lead actors that is not often seen in his earlier films, they're completely comfortable in each other's presence, which helps deepen their characters' intimacy. This is another 'marmite-like' confrontational and unforgettable film from the Polish master of controversy. It is a disturbing yet incredibly intimate portrait of an obsessive and erotically charged relationship, and therefore, Recommended Viewing..!

However this DVD is hard to come by, and the ones available are letterboxed and not exactly cheap. But if like me you can't wait for a remastered anamorphic release, you may check one out here:
ebay DVD Link




Compilation: Iwona Petry and Agnieszka Wagner
Despite my efforts, at over 26 mins this must possibly the longest compilation I've made here so far. Several blog-related scenes have not been included and this is just a sampler of the almost 2-hour long film. Some of the sex scenes become tediously repetitive unless you like to see Ms Petry's overzealous depiction of orgasmic spasms. Some of the scenes need no descriptions as they're plainly visual.



Scene Guide:

• The first encounter - Michal points out to 'the girl' how wet she already is and decides to do something about it. The girl is played by the ravishing Polish beauty, Iwona Petry. They both admit later to be already engaged.
• The girl with her boyfriend, who tries all kinds of ways to satisfy her. He fails again, and after they're disturbed by some nuns, she leaves him for good as he can no longer afford to subsidise her.
• The rest of the scenes are fairly visual and require no further explanation.
• Prepositioned by a man at the cafe, the girl flashes at him and walks off, not realising the poor fella is disabled.
• Funny scene as she answers the door bottomless - she was shaving her nether regions so that Michal could look at her with equal fascination as the hairless mummy he's obsessed with - only to see it is an admirer from college who's come asking for a date. She tells him she has a boyfriend and that she's shaving her vagina as it was getting all prickly while having sex. The love-struck guy leaves broken-hearted.
• This time she goes to his flat to make him happy because he had been in love with her (and to get back on Michal for allowing his brother's gay friend to have fun with her).
• Michal's girlfriend Anna tries to win him back, and it almost works. Anna is played by the beautiful Agnieszka Wagner.

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Scenes from Michelangelo Antonioni's "Blowup" [UK, USA, Italy 1966]

"Blowup" [also known as Blow-Up] was a turning point in the great Michelangelo Antonioni's career. After a string of critically acclaimed Italian classics, he was offered the opportunity to work with MGM on three English language films - "Blowup" being the first and the most successful, unfortunately for the wrong reasons, more of which in a moment. What marks this a turning point however is that after his return to Italian cinema after these, he will never be as prolific as he used to be before worldwide acclaim. His projects grew few and far between, even whilst his genius remained radiant as ever.

Adapted from a short story by Julio Cortázar, Antonioni developed the screenplay further to experiment with an array of philosophical themes. Prominent among which is the perception of reality. What is real, and when does it become 'accepted' as real. Is seeing believing, or isn't that enough, even with photographic evidence. Does everyone have to create their own reality. Another concept is his trying to define 'value' - the fact that things taken out of context loose their value and purpose (a bit like the compilations in my posts - oops, sorry couldn't resist that :-)) is demonstrated time and again. There's also his pet themes like urban alienation explored through a different angle using characters that conform mechanically to fit in an environment.

All these themes are woven into events during a day in the life of Thomas, a mod and fashion photographer in London during the swinging sixties. We don't know much about Thomas, he isn't particularly likeable even, but he grows on us as we get to see things from his point of view. We can see Antonioni is critiquing his protagonist but at the same time is fascinated by him, along with the glitz and glamour of his world. His world is one of attractive women throwing themselves at his feet, of drugs, parties, and rock and roll, which we get to sample intermittently through the film. And it is the documentation of these facets of Thomas' world that was the cause of much controversy - scenes like these, though tame by today's standards were not shown in film until then.

The very thought of this film being produced by MGM is incredible to say the least - they don't usually make this kind of stuff. And mainstream film or not, Antonioni nevertheless dishes out bitter-pill ideas, cunningly sugar-coating it with glamour and sex. The audience bought it too, and it apparently did well in both the US and UK. The film itself is exquisitely done. Antonioni narrates this like a stylish thriller, and gives his protagonist a purpose by allowing him to believe that he was an inadvertent witness to a murder. But the protagonist is merely part of the backdrop to what Antonioni tries to tell. It is a treat for any film-lover to watch, as there are some glorious Antonioni moments thrown in - you know you're in one when there's barely any sound let alone music, perhaps just the rustling of leaves in the breeze, or the occasional footsteps, with characters performing tasks that would normally seem too mundane to notice even - but absolutely riveting stuff in the hands of the master. And the well-rounded technical team involved in cinematography, set design, music, and editing, and the superb well-known cast aid Antonioni create this gem of a film by capturing a moment from the sixties like few others. Needless to say, this memorable film classic is Highly Recommended Viewing..!

Amazon DVD Link
(Recommended PAL edition DVD that contains an insightful commentary)




Compilation: Veruschka von Lehndorff, Vanessa Redgrave,
Jane Birkin, Gillian Hills, and Sarah Miles
Not all scenes contain nudity, but by and large blog-related, they're barely clothed anyway.



Scene Guide:

• Thomas going through the motions taking pictures of these stylish yet grotesque models - we will also learn he's not a particularly charming man. The first shoot is of supermodel Veruschka von Lehndorff, and we can see how Antonioni likens it to a sex session.
• "Can I have the film please..." pleads a vulnerable looking Jane - she is willing to do whatever it takes to get it back from Thomas - the film roll containing pictures of her with a lover in a park. Vanessa Redgrave looks gorgeous as the distressed Jane.
• Some respite from a hard day comes in the form of a brunette and a blonde, eager to get their pictures taken by the famous Thomas. And we will see the 'birds' are game for anything. The blonde is played by an up-and-coming Jane Birkin complete with her London accent, and the brunette by Gillian Hills.
• No nudity but inserted it purely for the lovely Sarah Miles who plays Patricia - she gestures Thomas to stay and watch her making love to her boyfriend - his best friend.

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