«Matador» (1986)

 Sex and Violence, Death and Silence 

An ex-matador Diego Montes has a paraphilia – he gets sexual gratification from watching female murders in the movies. He runs a bullfighting school and one of his students – religiously repressed Angel, - desperately tries to prove his manhood. The student tries unsuccessfully to rape a girl and, after that, he claims that he is guilty in a series of murders. The police commissioner is not convinced is that this neurotic kid is capable of such things, but is there any evidence to find the true murderer?

Red is the color which is associated with two things – sex and violence. The bullfighting is strongly associated with the red muleta, which is used during the final stage (the tercio de muerte or «the third of death»). Skilled matadors are rich, famous and desired by women. Nevertheless, the legalized ritual murders of animals and adrenaline addiction could seriously change the psyche of the matador and make them highly unsuitable for regular life.

Catholic teaching is strongly against pre-marital sex and promiscuity. Angel wasn’t lucky to be born with the religious mother, who repressed his sexuality and who is constantly controlling every aspect of his life. Still, the hormones, mixed up with the distorted psyche, makes an explosive thermonuclear cocktail. It surely exploded, but who is the true culprit behind those horrific murders? Watch and find the answer.

Media could sexualize the violence, especially in thrillers and horror movies. Pedro Almodóvar distorts the traditional cliches of Italian giallo movies. In his world, the attractive women are like bulls, who are running towards the red muleta of a dangerous person. Still, there is one unusual twist, like in the best giallos of Dario Argento. I am not going to spoil it; I hope you will be as pleasantly surprised as I am.

«Matador» is a good dark comedy about sex and violence in Spain of the 1980s. If you are not very impressionable or moralistic, then check out this film.

«Emmanuelle» (2024)

 Mélodie d'amour chante le coeur d'Emmanuelle

 

There are films which will hardly impress the modern viewer, but they are very important in the history of the cinema. One of such films is the very first Emmanuelle by Just Jaeckin, which even got X-rating in the initial American release. Nowadays, this film is suitable for a kid, who graduated from the first grade in the elementary school.

There were numerous sequels and rip-offs, but most of them are not even worthy of googling. What about a remake? Not even one until 2024. How can you reshoot a film from an age, when the Sexual Revolution just started, and people were much more impressionable. Sounds funny, isn’t it? I think so too, but I have decided to satisfy my curiosity. Was it worth it?

No, absolutely not. The author completely lost the spirit of the original novel. The novel, if you are oversimplifying it, was about a woman who is discovering her sexuality in the Orient (Thailand). This time it’s about a woman who comes to Hong Kong to check the luxury hotel and who just gets laid by some irrelevant persons. Sounds interesting or tempting? Absolutely not.

What about beautiful scenery? The original «Emmanuelle» movies always took you for a ride in some beautiful parts of the world (Thailand, Hong Kong, Seychelles, Brazil). This time we see only the lobby and the rooms of the luxury hotels and some generic streets and cafes. Yes, you could watch beautiful landscapes on YouTube, but if you want to remake a film, at least take something good from the original (it’s beauty).  

Actress? Silvia Kristel wasn’t a bombshell, but she captured the childish naivete and innocence of Emmanuelle, who becomes a clay in the hands of her husband Jean and Mario and turned into a devotee of free love. Noemie Merlant doesn’t radiate anything, and all her scenes only make you yawn from boredom. I think Naomi Watts would have been better Emmanuelle; she got much more spark.

Sex? Of course, modern viewer have seen everything in the high school, but nothing beats the sensitivity of the first four Emmanuelle films. In this film sex is boring and mechanical and it feels like almost real sex in night club’s bathroom. We want to watch these films for some escapism, and we need some good music for it, which is also absent in the film. Additionally, there is no playfulness in it and the film tries to present its story in serious way or maybe the director hasn’t realized what kind of story she wanted to give.

The tagline for original «Emmanuelle» was «X was never like this». It perfectly captured the spirit of the film, which was, despite its adult film rating, a playful and beautiful story without excess on physiology, and you could watch with your girlfriend. The new «Emmanuelle» failed in everything, and you could watch it with your girlfriend only in one case - if you are both suffering from insomnia.

Better check out «Supersex» - a funny Netflix-series about Rocco Siffredi.

«The Belly of an Architect» (1987)

 Everything’s permissible for art

An American architect Stourley Kracklite and his wife Louisa are coming to Rome, and the former is entrusted with organizing of exhibition about the XVIIIth century French architect Etienne-Louis Boullee. Stourley is excited about this possibility, but the world is starting to crumble around him, and it all starts... with severe stomach pains. What not-so-known American architect can do about it.

Rome, without any exaggerating, is the cradle of the Western civilization. It has numerous museums, statues, archeological digs, exhibitions and etc., and millions of tourists come to visit them annually. The artists also draw their inspiration from Ancient Rome. Nevertheless, what can we say about modern Rome? It’s like almost any other big city is the city of blood, meat and money.

Monumental art is always funded by big money and history knows many examples when this money is not very clean. Just remember that the Renaissance artists were funded, among other things, by the corrupt cardinals and by the shady bankers. Cinema also could be financed by dirty money or used for money laundering; it even concerns such films as «The Wolf of Wall Street» (check 1MDB scandal).

Additionally, history is full of the artists, who were not very revered by the contemporaries, but whose work became influential for the next generation of the artists. Their legacy is presented in professional books, but the general audience has a very limited recollection of their life and work. Still, from time to time even such artists are getting exhibitions, and the public are introduced to their work.

The film draws a parallel between the vocations of architect and film director. Among other things, both vocations are requiring knowledge of the technical stuff (strength of materials for architects and physics of sound for film directors), people management skills and, the most important of all, they require substantial financial backing. In this aspect, struggling architect Stourley Kracklite is akin to struggling film directors from such films as «8 1/2», «The Public Woman» and « Beware of a Holy Whore».

Every artist has a specific old master, who inspires, and the latter’s work is heavily referenced in the former’s creative activity (Fritz Lang for Jean-Luc Godard, Dario Argento for Nicolas Winding Refn). In the course of the movie, Stourley Kracklite becomes so obsessed with Etienne-Louis Boullee that he thinks that his life is beginning to parallel the life of the great predecessor.

As it was written before, architecture and cinema are very expensive and «The Belly of an Architect» captures the constant clash between money and pure art. The history knows a lot of examples when the creation was taken from the author and changed to the point of absolute noncompliance with the original vision, but it still retained the author’s name (the first version of «Heaven’s Gate» or the American cut of «Once Upon a Time in America»). Will Stourley Kracklite be able to preserve his vision? Watch and find the answer.

Summarizing all of the above, «The Belly of an Architect» is a beautiful and mesmerizing portrait of artist’s struggle in the Eternal City. I recommend you to watch it.

«Operación Ogro» (1979)

Anatomy of a Perfect Political Murder

 

1973, an ailing Caudillo Francisco Franco still has a firm grip on Spain. He wants to ensure the durability of Francoism and makes the first step – appoints Admiral-General Luis Carrero Blanco as the Spanish Prime Minister. Caudillo plans to make Admiral as his successor and the latter is accepted by the US and by the Francoist functionaries. So, it is quite possible that Spain would remain a dictatorship for many years. Still, on the 20^th of December 1973 Admiral was assassinated by a streetside bombing and the dictatorship was not able to recover from it…

Francisco Franco was a ruthless general, who didn’t hesitate to order bombing Spanish cities into submission. He was wise enough not to engage his country directly into the Second World War and he was able to cash on this, so after the war Caudillo won the support of the United States. Additionally, Franco wasn’t as war hungry as Portuguese dictator Somoza and the former was able to steer Spain into relative economic prosperity.

On the surface, Spain of 1973 was a successful European country and even the regime began to mellow a little bit. Madrid was full of happy shoppers and tourists, and the United States were giving much needed political, military and economic assistance. Nevertheless, it was only the beautiful cover for a brutal regime which still tortured and oppressed people and tried to erase certain ethnic groups (such as Basque and Catalan).

Political terrorism will always be a controversial issue. 1970s were the golden age of political terrorism in Europe. Spain was different from Italy and Germany in that it was a real oppressive dictatorship. Is it ethical to kill an oppressor extrajudicially? The answer is yes only in the case when there are no other means to punish him (if you want another historic example – check the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich in 1942).

The Director takes a nuanced approach to this controversial issue. He agrees that it was necessary to assassinate Luis Carrero Blanco, but he makes a very important point that the violence should be renounced after Spain returned to democracy. He draws a parallel between two heroes – Izara, who renounced terrorism in favor of political struggle, and radical Iker, who remained a terrorist. I think that the Director’s sympathies are with the former.

The film also raises an important issue – are those terrorists pawns in somebody’s political game? The Director doesn’t give a definitive answer and it’s up to the viewer’s decision. Additionally I recommend you to watch «Buongiorno, notte» about the kidnapping of Aldo Moro. The latter film clearly shows how certain terrorists are used for a political gain and discarded as a used ammo.

What about the attack itself? The Director depicts it as a meticulous job by professionals, who leave nothing for a chance. In addition, the film captures the paranoidal atmosphere of Madrid, where everyone can be a snitch and success is not guaranteed at all. So, don’t expect James Bond styled villains, those people are quiet and unpretentious, who want to teach a harsh lesson to the oppressive state.

Finally, «Operación Ogro» is a very good film which tackles the controversial issue with necessary subtlety. If you like political or historical films, don’t miss this one.

«The Spirit of the Beehive» (1973)

The haunted world of dictatorship

 

The Civil War in Spain has ended and some distant Spanish village tries to maintain an ordinary life. One day there is a special event – the screening of «Frankenstein». A little girl Ana is under enormous impression and, after some persuasion on the part of her older sister Isabel, starts to think that this monster is real. Is it?

In «Frankenstein» the Monster had a grotesque look, but he turns out to be an innocent creature. Still, his looks frighten people, and they suspect him of wrongdoings, and they want to destroy him. This narrative was exploited by the Francoist state or any other dictatorship to persecute everyone, who was not fit into their definition of normalcy (Republicans, Communists etc.). People also don’t want to do anything with the enemies of the state, and they will never accept them.

The human and collective psyche always tries to substitute horrible external with some tolerable inner world. Some adults go into «internal emigration», such as writing letters to imaginary lover (Anna’s mother) or spending all time with bees (Anna’s father). Nevertheless, they are still surrounded by the Francoist Spain, which resembles a wasteland after a very brutal war.

What about children? They cannot apply sophisticated psychological mechanisms and they grow up in contaminated atmosphere. Ana doesn’t understand this new world and she, like a girl in «Frankenstein», sympathizes with so-called monsters, but she cannot do it vocally. So, basically, she got two options – accept the ideology or grow estranged from her conformist family. What would she choose?

The film was released during the last years of Francoist Spain, so the author had to be very careful with critiquing the regime. The viewer won’t hear any vocal diatribes against the regime, but he will absorb it visually. The Director shows a wasteland, which doesn’t connect with the beautiful tourist image of Spain. Additionally, he employs metaphorical language, including the abovementioned Frankenstein and bees’ hive.

This subtleness creates a very haunting image of a sick society and it is more understandable to the viewers, then some words about brutality and lawlessness of a particular dictatorship (especially for those viewers, who never experienced it). Watch this old film, because it still makes a very disturbing impression.