Sascha Zacharias & co in “Tatanka” [2011 Italy]

Posted on September 13, 2011 by TR

Promising director Giuseppe Gagliardi’s latest crime drama “Tatanka” [Eng. Title: Raging Tatanka] is about a boxer growing up in a tough Neapolitan neighbourhood, under the constant shadow of the Gomorra. The film casts Clemente Russo in the titular role – a real-life professional boxer who was given the sobriquet “Tatanka” meaning bison, and who also grew up under similar circumstances.

While several films – some even legendary, have been made about boxers fighting their way to glory, “Tatanka” is different in many ways. It is not as much about he seeking glory, fame or recognition, but something more personal – his fight to live with dignity and honour. The film is very well scripted and the screenplay/direction is surprisingly well done, even if it has a documentary feel to it. The cinematography and editing is excellent, especially during the first fifteen minutes of the film as the kids are chased by police through the narrow lanes of Naples. The soundtrack is also imaginative, and I think overall this is an above-par piece of entertainment, and therefore Recommended Viewing..!

Amazon.it DVD Link

 

Storyline:
Michele and Rosario are close friends but with different attitudes to life. While Rosario is impetuous and often lands himself into trouble, Michele is more level-headed, but even he wouldn’t hesitate to come to Rosario’s rescue when needed (which is very often). It’s during one of his favours that he gets done for a murder committed by Rosario, and spends eight years in prison while Rosario lives free. Fatefully, Michele was to attend an important meeting regarding sponsorship for his boxing training – to get qualified for the Olympics when Rosario calls on him to help seek revenge on another guy. Upon release, Michele finds Rosario doing pretty well – he had joined hands with the Gomorra (Neapolitan equivalent of the Mafia) and started making big bucks. Rosario refurbishes Michele’s locked-up gym and organises pre-fixed fights to raise Michelle’s ranking.

But sooner or later it was bound to happen – Michele is asked to throw away a particular fight. But he just couldn’t go through with it, he k.o’s his opponent instead. Knowing his life is now in danger, Michele accompanies Petra, a woman who had watched his fights and who now wants him to help run her posh restaurants back in Germany. But it doesn’t work out as their outlook on life are worlds apart. Michele participates in seedy underground boxing contests, until he gets spotted by a former Olympic coach, who trains him for the highly regarded Stammring tournament. But when he had to return to Naples for his grandfather’s funeral, Rosario comes looking for Michele…


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Angélica Chain & Ana Martín in “Cadena Perpetua” [1978, Mexico]

Posted on September 12, 2011 by TR

Let me start Arturo Ripstein’s filmography here with one of his more remarkable films, the crime drama “Cadena Perpetua” [Eng. title: Life Sentence], considered a landmark in Mexican cinema by the manner in which it lays bare the country’s internal state of affairs – something that’s common knowledge but rarely discussed in cinema until then.

Arturo Ripstein, in brief:
He is widely regarded as one of the finest directors to emerge from Mexico. His foray into direction began as an assistant to none other than the great Luis Buñuel in the classic, “El Ángel Exterminador” (The Exterminating Angel). But Ripstein’s films nevertheless have a stamp of their own – his trademark is depicting characters who are consciously flawed but unable to change their destiny or redeem themselves, either due to circumstances or society. The mood in his films, needless to say are often downbeat. I must however admit that at the time of posting, I’ve seen only seven of his forty-odd feature films, so my knowledge of Ripstein is still in its infancy. There are a few films however that I know about and dearly like to see, but are either unavailable or hard-to-find. “Cadena Perpetua” falls under this hard-to-find category…

Storyline:
Lira aka ‘Tarzan’ wants to turn a new leaf. As ‘Tarzan’, he had been a common crook picking pockets and pimping women, and often got into trouble with police comandante Prieto, who’ll let him off only after taking a cut. But after one crime too many, Lira finds himself serving time in prison, and his unpleasant experience there plays a part in him wanting to mend his ways. Upon release, fortune favours Lira with a job, of all places at a bank – as a debt collector. He gets married and is now also father to a child. But his tranquil world is turned upside down when comandante Prieto decides to return from retirement, only to torment Lira after learning of his whereabouts. Lira is left in a predicament – to resist Prieto and put his family in danger, or return to his criminal ways in order to meet Pietro’s demands.

The film is gritty without going overboard – it poses questions on ethics, duty and morality, and portrays how inept state mechanisms, rather than checking corruption, are a problem in itself. It is a very well made film with good screenplay and direction, and an awesome soundtrack (but poorly mastered on DVD). The film also won the Golden Ariel the following year for best feature. Recommended Viewing.

The DVD I could get hold of is the NTSC Region-1 DVD, which is letterboxed and not particularly a great transfer – the DVD itself is poorly stamped. Until it is remastered and re-released, we’ll have to put up with this – shame because it is a good film.
Amazon DVD Link


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Margherita Buy in “Lo Spazio Bianco” [2009 Italy]

Posted on September 10, 2011 by TR

“Lo Spazio Bianco” [Eng. title: The White Space] is a typical woman’s film by Francesca Comencini – with the topic of premature birth as its theme, but focusing on the middle aged mother and her existential crisis as she struggles to cope with the uncertainty concerning the baby, her job, and love life. Yes – it is one of those post-feminist films using voiceless men merely as passers by – they just come and go with nothing much to contribute apart from helping women conceive – in other words – this is mensploitation..! Even if the film has good technical merits, I don’t think this is Ms. Comencini’s best effort. In fact my reason for watching this was her brilliant earlier film, “A Casa Nostra“. The screenplay for this is nowhere near that standard.

Storyline:
Divorced forty year old Neapolitan Maria teaches literacy to adults. She tries to change her monotonous lifestyle by watching matinees before starting work, and in the process meets Pietro – a single father of a six month old infant. Maria falls in love with him and soon becomes pregnant, which doesn’t please Pietro as he already has a young child – they split up when Maria decides to keep her baby. But the baby is born several months premature, and had to be kept in an incubator for fifty days before the doctors could ascertain whether the child will survive, grow up to be a normal person, or have some lasting defects. The bulk of this slow-paced film is of Maria trying to cope with this uncertainty. The title ‘White Space’ refers to leaving some blank space when stuck while answering an exam question, so that you can revisit after completing the others.

I have to admit, the only reason I’m even on the film is because, this is the only instance of nudity from the veteran actress who plays Maria – Margherita Buy, as far as I’m aware – you may correct me if I’m wrong.

Amazon.it DVD Link


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Theresa Russell in “Hotel Paradise” [1996 UK, Germany]

Posted on September 8, 2011 by TR

British director-cinematographer Nicolas Roeg had also worked in several US productions, but I’ll be focusing on his predominantly UK and European filmography for this blog.

Nicolas Roeg, in brief:
His was one of the most magnificent careers in British cinema, starting as an apprentice and working his way upwards to become a cutting-edge film-maker. By the time he got to direct his first film, he already had over twenty years of industry experience. He never did film school, but is a great master of cinema, exquisitely mixing his narrative to give the audience information only when he feels they’re ready for it, expecting them to put the pieces back together on their own – he’s one man who can force you to sit through his films. His classics such as The Man Who Fell to Earth, Don’t Look Now, and Bad Timing, to randomly pick a few, speak volumes of his artistry and understanding of the medium. He remains one of my favourite British directors, even as I prefer his ground-breaking and innovative earlier work. Here’s some great further reading on Nic Roeg’s work from a different site.

I’ll ease Roeg into the blog with his 1996 short and sexy film, “Hotel Paradise” – conveniently hidden in my DVD “Erotic Tales volume 3” (from which “Diabelska Edukacja” was also compiled). Roeg cast his then wife, American actress Theresa Russell as the bride opposite a young Vincent D’Onofrio.

Storyline:
The bride wakes up naked from drunken stupor to find herself in a hotel room, handcuffed to the bedpost, and a stranger sleeping beside her. It is her wedding day, the only thing she remembers from last night was trying on her bridal dress and having some champagne. She manages to locate the key to free herself, and promptly handcuffs the naked stranger in her bed, lest he wakes up. She spends a good part of the film trying to locate her clothing – her only intention is to get dressed and leave the room. She is not interested in knowing what happened the night before, and ignores whatever the stranger has to say after waking up. But the stranger is already in love even though he doesn’t know her name yet, and now has his task cut-out to convince her to also love him before she leaves the room. He keeps talking – handcuffed and naked – he has no other means to change her mind. Most of what he says is rubbish, but it is sincere and endearing, and we end up liking the b*stard. But will the bride who’s about to get married also feel the same..?

This is a surprisingly beautiful and sexy number as I wasn’t expecting much from Roeg at a time when he was generally making some rather mediocre stuff. The cinematography and lighting is superb and the direction spotless, even if the dialogues sound at times like a BBC radio book-reading. What’s more, it is tastefully erotic. The early scenes of the voluptuous Theresa Russell are at her sexiest best, reminding me of Marina Pierro from Walerian Borowczyk’s “Les Héroïnes du Mal”. This is a true nude scene classic. Highly Recommended Viewing..!

Theresa Russell in Hotel Paradise

Theresa Russell in the erotic short film Hotel Paradise.

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Eva Santolaria in “Susanna” [1996 Spain]

Posted on September 7, 2011 by TR

Spanish director Antonio Chavarrías’ 1996 film, “Susanna” is a passionate crime drama, made in Latin American style for the most part, with an ending however very European.

Storyline:
Àlex, a salesperson for a wine merchant gets to meet Susanna, the ‘niece’ of one of his customers who runs a café during one of his routine visits. The customer is unable to pay for new stock because she hasn’t settled an outstanding bill. To persuade him to give her more grace time, she offers him Susanna for sex, which Àlex accepts. He’ll learn later that she’s no ‘niece’, but a delinquent asked to stay there as part of her rehab. But Susanna had already fallen in love with him at first sight, even after knowing he’s about to get married. She quits her job at the café the same day and invites Àlex for more sex at her room. But Àlex soon looses contact with Susanna when he’s put behind bars for embezzlement. Upon release, he gets married and takes up a job as waiter at one of his former customers’ restaurant when he meets Susanna again, who’d come with her Arab boyfriend (Said) who loves her and wants to marry her. Àlex manages to catch her alone and forces her to continue the affair, even though he doesn’t have any plans to leave his wife who’s now expecting a baby. Susanna isn’t happy with the torrid affair and tries to end it, but fiancé Said discovers them together, triggering a disastrous chain of events.

While the story sounds interesting, the film is let down by the screenplay which has several loose ends that ends up making the film less believable. There is an attempt at studying cultural differences across ethnicities, but it isn’t explored to the extent a British or French film would, due to which the whole effort ends up looking like a side-act. The characterisation of Munsta, Àlex’s wife is woefully inadequate, which further questions the film’s seriousness. The one thing really going for it though is the impressive depiction of sex scenes between Àlex and Susanna – this is about how far one could go without making them explicit. A young (but ridiculously skinny) Eva Santolaria gives it her all playing the titular role of Susanna – she’s got one of those cute anime character-like faces that’s endearing. We also see genuine chemistry between Àlex and Susanna during all their encounters. The film, if anything, will probably be remembered for the way the sex scenes were made – also the same reason that I’d recommend the film. This is however a rare film – the DVD from which this compilation is made was bought nearly two years ago, and not sure if they’re readily available these days – you may however follow the link below to check its availability.

Amazon DVD Link


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