Justin at Filmbar70 sent me this trailer that he's put together for the Italian book 'Edwige Fenech - Il Corpo dei Settanta', or 'Edwige Fenech - The Body of the Seventies' and relates her career and the sexy comedy filone to the decade's socio-political situation.
Filmbar70 is also showing Lenzi's Almost Human on 18th November, at the Roxy Bar and Screen, London Bridge.
Showing posts with label Edwige Fenech. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Edwige Fenech. Show all posts
Saturday, 6 November 2010
Sunday, 11 April 2010
Edwige's Eyes
The metal band Cathedral have a new song entitled Edwige's Eyes, inspired by Edwige Fenech and her appearances in 1970s gialli; it's on the cover CD of the current Metal Hammer magazine.
Sunday, 8 March 2009
Cornetti alla crema / Cream Horn / Custard Croissants
What? Another Sergio Martino / Edwige Fenech sex comedy.
Well, when they’re as entertaining as Cornetti alla crema / Cream Horn, it would be churlish to complain.
Fenech plays Marianna, an aspiring singer with an estranged, over-possessive pro-football playing boyfriend; oddly the football in question is of the American variety.
She’s rescued from his unwanted attentions by Domenico Petruzzelli (Lino Banfi), a buffoonish businessman who makes vestments for the Vatican and has a shrewish wife (Milena Vukotic) and lazy, fat, idiot son back home in Rome.
Unable to tell Marianna the truth about his own domestic situation, Domenico gives her his best friend and upstairs neighbour Gabrieli Archangeli’s (Gianni Cavani’s) name and number.
In contrast to Domenico and his pure sounding name, Gabrieli’s very much the ladies man, with a raging libido that sees him make love to a different “physical therapist” every night for the good of his purported allergies.
Things quickly start spiralling out of control as Marianna then turns up unexpectedly and Domenico tries to keep her secret from his wife, while Gabrieli tries to explain to his own girlfriends – none of whom knows about the others – that he doesn’t know the new arrival.
Benefitting from a solid ensemble cast and a set-up that allows for all manner of amusing – if predictable – scenarios, most revolving around the family, church, hypocrisies and double standards around public virtue and private vice, and other staples of Italian life and comedy, Cornetti alla crema / Cream Horn is an perfectly constructed example of its form.
While Fenech again showcases her comic talents more than her physical assets, only exposing her breasts on a few occasions, real fans shouldn’t mind, especially when the compensation also includes her doing a drunken rendition of when the saints alongside some prostitutes dressed as nuns.
The supporting cast is also first rate, with Banfi also being a reliable sex comedy trouper – he also appeared in one episode of Don’t Play with Tigers, for instance – and Milena Vukotic having ample experience in the long suffering / long a cause of suffering wife via her similar role in the Fantozzi series. The most surprising performer in this right is Cavina, whom most giallo fans will probably better know for his on and off screen contributions to Pupi Avati’s The House with the Windows that Laughed.
Well, when they’re as entertaining as Cornetti alla crema / Cream Horn, it would be churlish to complain.
Fenech plays Marianna, an aspiring singer with an estranged, over-possessive pro-football playing boyfriend; oddly the football in question is of the American variety.
She’s rescued from his unwanted attentions by Domenico Petruzzelli (Lino Banfi), a buffoonish businessman who makes vestments for the Vatican and has a shrewish wife (Milena Vukotic) and lazy, fat, idiot son back home in Rome.
Unable to tell Marianna the truth about his own domestic situation, Domenico gives her his best friend and upstairs neighbour Gabrieli Archangeli’s (Gianni Cavani’s) name and number.
In contrast to Domenico and his pure sounding name, Gabrieli’s very much the ladies man, with a raging libido that sees him make love to a different “physical therapist” every night for the good of his purported allergies.
Things quickly start spiralling out of control as Marianna then turns up unexpectedly and Domenico tries to keep her secret from his wife, while Gabrieli tries to explain to his own girlfriends – none of whom knows about the others – that he doesn’t know the new arrival.
Benefitting from a solid ensemble cast and a set-up that allows for all manner of amusing – if predictable – scenarios, most revolving around the family, church, hypocrisies and double standards around public virtue and private vice, and other staples of Italian life and comedy, Cornetti alla crema / Cream Horn is an perfectly constructed example of its form.
While Fenech again showcases her comic talents more than her physical assets, only exposing her breasts on a few occasions, real fans shouldn’t mind, especially when the compensation also includes her doing a drunken rendition of when the saints alongside some prostitutes dressed as nuns.
The supporting cast is also first rate, with Banfi also being a reliable sex comedy trouper – he also appeared in one episode of Don’t Play with Tigers, for instance – and Milena Vukotic having ample experience in the long suffering / long a cause of suffering wife via her similar role in the Fantozzi series. The most surprising performer in this right is Cavina, whom most giallo fans will probably better know for his on and off screen contributions to Pupi Avati’s The House with the Windows that Laughed.
Tuesday, 24 February 2009
Ricchi, ricchissimi... praticamente in mutande / Don't Play with Tigers
There’s quite a difference between the Italian and English titles for this three part sex comedy anthology directed by Sergio Martino.
The Italian, Ricchi, ricchissimi, practicamente in mutande literally translates as rich, richer, practically in (the) underwear, referring to hotter / colder kind of game and thus providing a more apt analogy for the ‘nearly there’ sexual outcomes of the three stories.
They are framed via the device of a day in the life of a court, where the judge presides over the three cases, each presented via flashback narrated by the male accused, incarnated by Pippo Caruso, Lino Banfi and Renato Pozzetto respectively.
In the first he takes his wife and sons to the beach and builds a beach hut but is then understandably threatened and troubled by the presence of a free-living and loving group of French nudists, led by a rather well-endowed man, who have also decide to set up camp there...
In the second he’s a businessman, the owner of a successful sausage factory, who believes he has attracted the attentions of a German contessa, with all manner of farcical antics ensuing as he thus tries to avoid his own family...
In the third he’s another businessman, the owner of an struggling shipbuilders, who sees salvation in the form of persuading an Arab sheik to commission a yacht. Unfortunately the sheikh takes an undue interest in his wife, wanting her to join his harem as the brunette pearl amongst the existing 12 blond ones as part of the deal.
While the second and third episodes also feature Janet Agren and Edwige Fenech respectively, the latter also being paired with her old giallo colleague George Hilton as the Sheikh, fans of the two actresses may be disappointed the lack of actual T&A on display, all of which is concentrated in the first story and of an equal opportunities nature.
If the filmmakers may be accused of playing on stereotypes, particularly in the third episode, this is offset by their fair-minded skewering of various Italian types, whether the judiciary, the bourgeoisie or the proletariat and the various comic reversals and misidentifications that occur as the narratives are resolved.
Here, we might also consider a skit from the contemporaneous British show The Young Ones, representative of a new comedy that purported to reject the racist and sexist values of its predecessor: in an Arab court, the advisor asks the sheikh if he would like to see the foreign ambassador over the subject of their alleged mandatory cruelty. Yes, replies the sheikh. Which bit of him would you like to see? asks the advisor.
Above all, however, is that it is simply funny - and more specifically essentially harmlessly so.
The Italian, Ricchi, ricchissimi, practicamente in mutande literally translates as rich, richer, practically in (the) underwear, referring to hotter / colder kind of game and thus providing a more apt analogy for the ‘nearly there’ sexual outcomes of the three stories.
They are framed via the device of a day in the life of a court, where the judge presides over the three cases, each presented via flashback narrated by the male accused, incarnated by Pippo Caruso, Lino Banfi and Renato Pozzetto respectively.
In the first he takes his wife and sons to the beach and builds a beach hut but is then understandably threatened and troubled by the presence of a free-living and loving group of French nudists, led by a rather well-endowed man, who have also decide to set up camp there...
In the second he’s a businessman, the owner of a successful sausage factory, who believes he has attracted the attentions of a German contessa, with all manner of farcical antics ensuing as he thus tries to avoid his own family...
In the third he’s another businessman, the owner of an struggling shipbuilders, who sees salvation in the form of persuading an Arab sheik to commission a yacht. Unfortunately the sheikh takes an undue interest in his wife, wanting her to join his harem as the brunette pearl amongst the existing 12 blond ones as part of the deal.
While the second and third episodes also feature Janet Agren and Edwige Fenech respectively, the latter also being paired with her old giallo colleague George Hilton as the Sheikh, fans of the two actresses may be disappointed the lack of actual T&A on display, all of which is concentrated in the first story and of an equal opportunities nature.
If the filmmakers may be accused of playing on stereotypes, particularly in the third episode, this is offset by their fair-minded skewering of various Italian types, whether the judiciary, the bourgeoisie or the proletariat and the various comic reversals and misidentifications that occur as the narratives are resolved.
Here, we might also consider a skit from the contemporaneous British show The Young Ones, representative of a new comedy that purported to reject the racist and sexist values of its predecessor: in an Arab court, the advisor asks the sheikh if he would like to see the foreign ambassador over the subject of their alleged mandatory cruelty. Yes, replies the sheikh. Which bit of him would you like to see? asks the advisor.
Above all, however, is that it is simply funny - and more specifically essentially harmlessly so.
Monday, 2 February 2009
Delitti privati / Private Crimes
The discovery of murdered businessman Marco Pierboni sends shock waves through the small Italian town of Lucca. At first journalist Nicole Venturi (Edwige Fenech) sees the crime and the mystery surrounding it as an opportunity to make her name But then, as her own daughter Sandra proves missing and is subequently found dead, her involvement takes a decidedly more personal turn....
Also investigating are Rome-based crime reporter Andrea Baresi; Sandra's former boyfriend Paolo and Inspector Avanza (Ray Lovelock) with a plethora of suspects for one or other murder and all manner of intrigues involving the town's prominent citizens (including Alida Valli, Paolo Malco and Gabrielle Ferzetti) in blackmail, loan-sharking, prostitution and so forth...
There's no getting away from it: Delitti privati often appears very much to be Twin Peaks all'italiana. But while it's certainly possible that it was put together in the style of Lynch's series, there are certain elements that thankfully show its creators were not just slavishly attempting to copy their US model and instead adapted it to their own context.
One obvious difference is what, for want of a better description, we might term the 'weirdness' of the two series. Whereas Twin Peaks increasingly moved into surrealistic terrain, Delitti privati remains firmly within the realm of the mundane. Crucially, it's not that director Sergio Martino couldn't have done a more supernaturally tinged mystery thriller, as illustrated by All the Colours of the Dark, more that he and his collaborators again seem reluctant to abandon 'narrative' logic (Colours' approach to the occult) in favour of 'cinematic' logic (Tragic Ceremony's approach to similar material), with this further demonstrated by the importance of various McGuffins here, most obviously the ten letters that will reveal the identity of Sandra's killer.
Indeed, it is also telling that the two apparent exceptions to the mundane within Delitti privati, a spirit medium who attempts to determine the location of the missing Sandra and a ghostly appearance at the window of a supposedly abandoned villa, are retrospectively explained away in non-supernatural terms. (A wider Martino thought / question: is one of the distinguishing characteristics of his cinema a basic refusal of non-rational / scientific explanations, of countenancing any world beyond what can be known empirically?)
Fragments of yellow
Another related difference is the relatively closed nature of Delitti privati as a text, running six hours, as a duration more comparable to the first series of Twin Peaks than the seemingly endless second, and containing a clear beginning, middle and end narrative trajectories in the discovery, the investigation and the resolution of the crime / mystery.
Little details and impossible points of view
Perhaps, however, the real point of comparison is less Twin Peaks than one of its sources, namely Peyton Place, insofar as it introduced the small-town with secrets setting common to both Lynch and Martino's series, along with the more soap-opera like intrigues of affairs, illegitimate children and suchlike.
Whie Martino's direction appears less stylish than his 1970s gialli, it is evident on closer examination that this can be attributed to a combination of the smaller dimensions of the screen; the limitations in presenting graphic content in a prime-time series for which international sales were sought; and the sheer imaginative challenge that presenting even the set pieces in a poetic manner would pose given the series’ length. If Lynch arguably achieved poeticism through the aforementioned atmosphere of weirdness, the increasing alienation of the mainstream audience from Twin Peaks’ second series seems indicative of a more fundamental problem of expectations and understandings here.
Not an image for ailurophobes...
What we do get within Delitti privati are, however, a number of more subtle touches that serve to indicate Martino’s ever-adaptable talents. There are some nicely executed suspense sequences, including one featuring a gliding Steadicam shot that would not have been out of place in Opera and is belatedly revealed / justified as being from a dog's point-of-view; some clever set-ups and lighting effects, involving the symbolic use of reflections and colour, as with the image of Fenech reflected, multiplied and fragmented in a crystal glass lamp shade, or a tellingly demonic-looking close-up of her normally peaceful white cat, Minou; and the recurring but crucially not over-emphatic use yellow objects to remind us of the giallo filone itself.
Not, in truth, that the viewer would really need reminding given the plethora of intrigues and mysteries, the important role played by the amateur detective relative to the professional; the director, star and cast's previous history; or the various possible allusions to other gialli.
Thus, for example, the murder in the rain, the conservatory students and the revenge-seeking boyfriend cum suspect – the last admittedly also a Twin Peaks-ism – all recall The Bloodstained Butterfly, the small university town setting and suspect professor Torso.
Similarly, whilst a necklace found in one character's possession again has its counterpart as a McGuffin in Lynch's series, it can also be read in relation to the likes of The Case of the Scorpion's Tail; that it is of St George might be understood as an obscure in-joke targeted at Dario Argento's penchant for wearing a similar piece of jewelery.
Another point of interest for the fan of the early 1970s giallo is in seeing how things have changed over the course of the intervening two decades.
Fenech's strong, independent, divorced protagonist with an actual career of her own as a journalist – an element which goes largely unremarked upon, unlike in Deep Red – is about as different as can be imagined from the fragile, neurotic, in need of male protection characters typical of her earlier films for Martino, suicide attempt notwithstanding, and thus might be read something a testament to feminist progress.
Fenech deglamourised
The use of technology is also worth noting. On the one hand, computers are omnipresent tools, a suspect worries about the DNA evidence that would surely incriminate him, and the pragmatism of the gun has triumphed over the fetishism of the straight razor. On the other, the mobile phone has not yet rendered impossible certain classic scenarios, whilst the old device of a typewriter's tell-tale signature is used rather than the more anonymous laser printer.
A statement of strength and independence
As with the performances, the production values are always at least competent, serving to indicate that the decline of the Italian popular cinema around this time – or its retreat onto the small screen – was less about a lack of talent as of opportunities for this talent to prove itself to a wider audience. (Who, watching Monica Belucci as one of Dracula's brides in Bram Stoker's Dracula, would have predicted a wider international career for her in 1992?)
As indicated, Fenech, who co-produced the series through her company Immagine e cinema, really demonstrates how far she had come as an actress over the previous quarter century. Though certainly still incredibly attractive in a MILF-y way, it's less about removing her clothes at almost any opportunity than showcasing her hard-won range and, in some sequences, an admirable willingness to appear distinctly un-glamorous. This in turn also helps explicate why she has endured in a way that otherwise comparable starlets such as Femi Benussi – equally lovely though she was stripping nude for her killers – have not.
Natale Massara's music is a bit of a mixed bag. His orchestral themes, which I felt betrayed the influence of frequent collaborator Pino Donaggio, were more effective than his action and suspense cues, which suffered from artificial, cheap and anonymous sounding synth and percussion work. While the two numbers sung by Milva are welcome, one appearing to be an attempt at producing something comparable to the Twin Peaks theme, the overall impression was of a relative lack of coherent identity of the sort that Bruno Nicolai – admittedly sadly deceased by this time – brought to Martino's 1970s gialli scores.
In sum, a series that requires a bit of effort to get into and appreciate and which, as such, is better recommended to the already committed giallo fan than the newcomer, but which nevertheless proves rewarding watching – especially if one is also a Fenech fan.
Also investigating are Rome-based crime reporter Andrea Baresi; Sandra's former boyfriend Paolo and Inspector Avanza (Ray Lovelock) with a plethora of suspects for one or other murder and all manner of intrigues involving the town's prominent citizens (including Alida Valli, Paolo Malco and Gabrielle Ferzetti) in blackmail, loan-sharking, prostitution and so forth...
There's no getting away from it: Delitti privati often appears very much to be Twin Peaks all'italiana. But while it's certainly possible that it was put together in the style of Lynch's series, there are certain elements that thankfully show its creators were not just slavishly attempting to copy their US model and instead adapted it to their own context.
One obvious difference is what, for want of a better description, we might term the 'weirdness' of the two series. Whereas Twin Peaks increasingly moved into surrealistic terrain, Delitti privati remains firmly within the realm of the mundane. Crucially, it's not that director Sergio Martino couldn't have done a more supernaturally tinged mystery thriller, as illustrated by All the Colours of the Dark, more that he and his collaborators again seem reluctant to abandon 'narrative' logic (Colours' approach to the occult) in favour of 'cinematic' logic (Tragic Ceremony's approach to similar material), with this further demonstrated by the importance of various McGuffins here, most obviously the ten letters that will reveal the identity of Sandra's killer.
Indeed, it is also telling that the two apparent exceptions to the mundane within Delitti privati, a spirit medium who attempts to determine the location of the missing Sandra and a ghostly appearance at the window of a supposedly abandoned villa, are retrospectively explained away in non-supernatural terms. (A wider Martino thought / question: is one of the distinguishing characteristics of his cinema a basic refusal of non-rational / scientific explanations, of countenancing any world beyond what can be known empirically?)
Fragments of yellow
Another related difference is the relatively closed nature of Delitti privati as a text, running six hours, as a duration more comparable to the first series of Twin Peaks than the seemingly endless second, and containing a clear beginning, middle and end narrative trajectories in the discovery, the investigation and the resolution of the crime / mystery.
Little details and impossible points of view
Perhaps, however, the real point of comparison is less Twin Peaks than one of its sources, namely Peyton Place, insofar as it introduced the small-town with secrets setting common to both Lynch and Martino's series, along with the more soap-opera like intrigues of affairs, illegitimate children and suchlike.
Whie Martino's direction appears less stylish than his 1970s gialli, it is evident on closer examination that this can be attributed to a combination of the smaller dimensions of the screen; the limitations in presenting graphic content in a prime-time series for which international sales were sought; and the sheer imaginative challenge that presenting even the set pieces in a poetic manner would pose given the series’ length. If Lynch arguably achieved poeticism through the aforementioned atmosphere of weirdness, the increasing alienation of the mainstream audience from Twin Peaks’ second series seems indicative of a more fundamental problem of expectations and understandings here.
Not an image for ailurophobes...
What we do get within Delitti privati are, however, a number of more subtle touches that serve to indicate Martino’s ever-adaptable talents. There are some nicely executed suspense sequences, including one featuring a gliding Steadicam shot that would not have been out of place in Opera and is belatedly revealed / justified as being from a dog's point-of-view; some clever set-ups and lighting effects, involving the symbolic use of reflections and colour, as with the image of Fenech reflected, multiplied and fragmented in a crystal glass lamp shade, or a tellingly demonic-looking close-up of her normally peaceful white cat, Minou; and the recurring but crucially not over-emphatic use yellow objects to remind us of the giallo filone itself.
Not, in truth, that the viewer would really need reminding given the plethora of intrigues and mysteries, the important role played by the amateur detective relative to the professional; the director, star and cast's previous history; or the various possible allusions to other gialli.
Thus, for example, the murder in the rain, the conservatory students and the revenge-seeking boyfriend cum suspect – the last admittedly also a Twin Peaks-ism – all recall The Bloodstained Butterfly, the small university town setting and suspect professor Torso.
Similarly, whilst a necklace found in one character's possession again has its counterpart as a McGuffin in Lynch's series, it can also be read in relation to the likes of The Case of the Scorpion's Tail; that it is of St George might be understood as an obscure in-joke targeted at Dario Argento's penchant for wearing a similar piece of jewelery.
Another point of interest for the fan of the early 1970s giallo is in seeing how things have changed over the course of the intervening two decades.
Fenech's strong, independent, divorced protagonist with an actual career of her own as a journalist – an element which goes largely unremarked upon, unlike in Deep Red – is about as different as can be imagined from the fragile, neurotic, in need of male protection characters typical of her earlier films for Martino, suicide attempt notwithstanding, and thus might be read something a testament to feminist progress.
Fenech deglamourised
The use of technology is also worth noting. On the one hand, computers are omnipresent tools, a suspect worries about the DNA evidence that would surely incriminate him, and the pragmatism of the gun has triumphed over the fetishism of the straight razor. On the other, the mobile phone has not yet rendered impossible certain classic scenarios, whilst the old device of a typewriter's tell-tale signature is used rather than the more anonymous laser printer.
A statement of strength and independence
As with the performances, the production values are always at least competent, serving to indicate that the decline of the Italian popular cinema around this time – or its retreat onto the small screen – was less about a lack of talent as of opportunities for this talent to prove itself to a wider audience. (Who, watching Monica Belucci as one of Dracula's brides in Bram Stoker's Dracula, would have predicted a wider international career for her in 1992?)
As indicated, Fenech, who co-produced the series through her company Immagine e cinema, really demonstrates how far she had come as an actress over the previous quarter century. Though certainly still incredibly attractive in a MILF-y way, it's less about removing her clothes at almost any opportunity than showcasing her hard-won range and, in some sequences, an admirable willingness to appear distinctly un-glamorous. This in turn also helps explicate why she has endured in a way that otherwise comparable starlets such as Femi Benussi – equally lovely though she was stripping nude for her killers – have not.
Natale Massara's music is a bit of a mixed bag. His orchestral themes, which I felt betrayed the influence of frequent collaborator Pino Donaggio, were more effective than his action and suspense cues, which suffered from artificial, cheap and anonymous sounding synth and percussion work. While the two numbers sung by Milva are welcome, one appearing to be an attempt at producing something comparable to the Twin Peaks theme, the overall impression was of a relative lack of coherent identity of the sort that Bruno Nicolai – admittedly sadly deceased by this time – brought to Martino's 1970s gialli scores.
In sum, a series that requires a bit of effort to get into and appreciate and which, as such, is better recommended to the already committed giallo fan than the newcomer, but which nevertheless proves rewarding watching – especially if one is also a Fenech fan.
Friday, 5 December 2008
Some nice Edwige Fenech pictures
Thanks for all the kind words about the blog and apologies for the paucity of updates this week. By way of compensation, here are some nice pictures of Edwige Fenech, looking glamorous as always...
Wednesday, 26 November 2008
Dottor Jekyll e gentile signora / Doctor Jekyll Likes them Hot
Like the other couple of Steno films I've seen, the not dissimilar horror themed comedy Uncle was a Vampire and the anti-Magnum Force styled poliziotto La Polizia ringrazia, Dr Jekyll Likes them Hot incorporates a higher quotient of direct social commentary than is usual for filone cinema.
Indeed, incorporates is precisely the word here, with our Dr Jekyll (Paolo Villaggio) being the top troubleshooter for multinational oil and chemical corporation Pantac, with his and its every action - legal, illegal or borderline - motivated by the search for profit.
Though there is a lot of low humour here, as with the various nameplates listing the chairmen's qualifications including the extent to which they are figli di puttana in a sight gag borrowed from Villaggio's Fantozzi series, the board's subsequent discussions of of instigating regime changes in (fictitious) African countries and what to do with some otherwise unusable chemicals already known to have harmful side effects, have a more serious edge to them.
Some of the signs
One of the side effects of the chemical
Jekyll's ambitious new secretary Barbara Wimply (Edwige Fenech), who hangs on his every word, provides the answer to the latter: why not make the chemicals into chewing gum?
If the gum immediately corrodes the consumer's teeth, so much the better since Pantac can then sell them dentures.
The conspirators hit upon the idea of compelling no less than the queen to endorse the gum and accordingly summon and dispatch corporate mercenary Pretorius (Gordon Mitchell) and his team of hand-picked cut-throats to carry out the mission.
It is at this point that Dr Jekyll's grandfather throws a spanner in the works, by encouraging his evil nephew to take some of the old family recipe, the effect of which is to bring out the hitherto repressed nice side of his personality.
It's that man again...
This inverted Mr Hyde, complete with angelic countenance, then proceeds to scupper his alter-ego's plan, leading the other members of the board to want him dead. He also attracts the amorous attentions of Barbara...
Fenech doesn't really have a great deal to do in the first half of the film, which is very much dominated by the antics of Jekyll and Hyde, other than showcase her beauty in a number of outfits, some somewhat dated - her late 70s secretary with big glasses - and others more appealing - the maid outfit with which she infiltrates Buckingham Palace.
Though she is more prominent in the second half, she still keeps her clothes on most of the time, only briefly exposing her breasts before being saddled with a unflattering curly blonde wig and ditzy dubbing voice after her own inevitable transformation...
Really, however, it is clearly Villaggio's show. Not being familiar with his work and persona, I must reserve judgement on how well or badly Dr Jekyll Likes them Hot represents him compared to others, but certainly found his antics to pass the basic comedy test of being funny.
The film is relatively functionally shot, though this is perhaps better attributed to the general tendency of the comedy film, where the director is often better keeping things simple in order to showcase the performers, than any lack of imagination or ability on Steno's part. We may also note the relatively extensive use of location shooting rather than just stock footage combined with Cinecitta or Incir de Paolis studio sets, indicative that the veteran director was working with a decent rather than poverty-row budget.
Armando Trovajoli provides yet another quirky and endearing score.
Indeed, incorporates is precisely the word here, with our Dr Jekyll (Paolo Villaggio) being the top troubleshooter for multinational oil and chemical corporation Pantac, with his and its every action - legal, illegal or borderline - motivated by the search for profit.
Though there is a lot of low humour here, as with the various nameplates listing the chairmen's qualifications including the extent to which they are figli di puttana in a sight gag borrowed from Villaggio's Fantozzi series, the board's subsequent discussions of of instigating regime changes in (fictitious) African countries and what to do with some otherwise unusable chemicals already known to have harmful side effects, have a more serious edge to them.
Some of the signs
One of the side effects of the chemical
Jekyll's ambitious new secretary Barbara Wimply (Edwige Fenech), who hangs on his every word, provides the answer to the latter: why not make the chemicals into chewing gum?
If the gum immediately corrodes the consumer's teeth, so much the better since Pantac can then sell them dentures.
The conspirators hit upon the idea of compelling no less than the queen to endorse the gum and accordingly summon and dispatch corporate mercenary Pretorius (Gordon Mitchell) and his team of hand-picked cut-throats to carry out the mission.
It is at this point that Dr Jekyll's grandfather throws a spanner in the works, by encouraging his evil nephew to take some of the old family recipe, the effect of which is to bring out the hitherto repressed nice side of his personality.
It's that man again...
This inverted Mr Hyde, complete with angelic countenance, then proceeds to scupper his alter-ego's plan, leading the other members of the board to want him dead. He also attracts the amorous attentions of Barbara...
Fenech doesn't really have a great deal to do in the first half of the film, which is very much dominated by the antics of Jekyll and Hyde, other than showcase her beauty in a number of outfits, some somewhat dated - her late 70s secretary with big glasses - and others more appealing - the maid outfit with which she infiltrates Buckingham Palace.
Though she is more prominent in the second half, she still keeps her clothes on most of the time, only briefly exposing her breasts before being saddled with a unflattering curly blonde wig and ditzy dubbing voice after her own inevitable transformation...
Really, however, it is clearly Villaggio's show. Not being familiar with his work and persona, I must reserve judgement on how well or badly Dr Jekyll Likes them Hot represents him compared to others, but certainly found his antics to pass the basic comedy test of being funny.
The film is relatively functionally shot, though this is perhaps better attributed to the general tendency of the comedy film, where the director is often better keeping things simple in order to showcase the performers, than any lack of imagination or ability on Steno's part. We may also note the relatively extensive use of location shooting rather than just stock footage combined with Cinecitta or Incir de Paolis studio sets, indicative that the veteran director was working with a decent rather than poverty-row budget.
Armando Trovajoli provides yet another quirky and endearing score.
Saturday, 26 July 2008
Il Profumo della signora in giallo
Or, a couple of Fenech things.
First, another image of one of her perfumes:
Second, there are currently lots of rare Fenech films on Cinemageddon for your downloading and delectation, including things like The Black and Blond Pussycat and The Sins of Madame Bovary.
First, another image of one of her perfumes:
Second, there are currently lots of rare Fenech films on Cinemageddon for your downloading and delectation, including things like The Black and Blond Pussycat and The Sins of Madame Bovary.
Sunday, 27 April 2008
La Pretora / My Sister in Law
There are two reasons why this is the best of Edwige Fenech’s comedies. The first, and most obvious, is that there’s more of her on display than in any of the others. The second, is that by playing a dual role of two ill-matched identical sisters she also gets a chance to show more of her comedic talents than would otherwise be the case.
The story is simple: Viola is the young, ambitious and, above all, beyond reproach prosecutor in a provincial Italian town. Rosa is her identical sister.
Rosa
Viola
Con-artist Esposito, the victim of one of Viola’s most recent judgement, meets and beds Rosa, and decides to extract his revenge; one of the film’s weak points in this regard is that Rosa’s character is not terribly well developed, in that we don’t really know why she has it in for her sister, beyond hints of resentment at their different upbringings and life chances. (Though she plays dumb, there’s the definite sense that Rosa is far smarter than she’s letting on; certainly she’s far smarter than the men around her, though as ever in the world of Italian sex comedy that doesn't necessarily say terribly much...)
Fulci's cameo
Rosa impersonates her sister and take bribes from some local businessmen. Viola guesses that something is up, causing her fiancé Alteri to go see Rosa in an attempt to get her to see the error of her ways, only to easily succumb to her seductive wiles.
Rosa as Biancaneve
Trivia fans may care to note that the evil queen is played by Marina Frajese
Next Rosa appears in a pornographic fumetti strip as Biancaneve, copies of which are distributed to the public during an obscenity case Viola is presiding over in her other capacity as film censor for the town. (An earlier scene featuring the unseen but heard film’s screening is another highlight, with what seems like the entirety of the town’s respectable male population sneaking into the projection booth to see all the good bits before they are cut out.)
The fumetti image
Then Rosa seduces Viola’s long besotted assistant, resulting in some compromising sex in the office photographs courtesy of Esposito and his lawyer Bortolon that soon find their way into the chief prosecutor’s hands.
Rosa or Viola?
Rosa or Viola – and yet another forbidden photo of a lady above suspicion...
Mercifully for Viola a small giallo-esque detail in one of the images provides the opportunity to extricate herself from the messy situation and turn the tables on Esposito and company…
Though Rosa and Viola are given different dubbing voices they aren’t really necessary to disambiguate the characters, with their facial expressions, movements and demeanours enough if the viewer is paying sufficient attention – which, given that the initial distinction between them might well be summed up as close to ‘one wears clothes, the other doesn’t,’ can probably be more or less assumed anyway when the target vernacular audience is concerned…
The other reason for the device, besides its inherent comedic contribution, becomes clearer later on, however, as the difference between the characters and their voices is then confused just at the point when we – and our on screen counterparts – start to think we have a handle on who is who.
At first glance Lucio Fulci’s contribution to the film is somewhat limited, with the direction functional, establishing and breaking up each scene in an anonymous, classical, degree zero style. Paradoxically, however, the lack of Fulci’s usual signatures – zooms, close-ups of eyes, rack focus between planes of action – arguably becomes a signifier of another characteristic of his work, namely his sheer professionalism. One suspects he understood that this was a Fenech vehicle (the end credits include her shoe and lingerie suppliers, to whom credit must go) and as a director for hire willingly subordinated his contributions to hers, whilst also enjoying the opportunity to again aim some well-placed jabs at the powers that be. (Fulci once remarked that censors should be shot in the head; the problem was that their brains were obviously such small targets…)
I suspect that there was also a fair bit of wordplay that I didn’t quite get, though references to sodomy and fellatio prove easy enough to decipher even with my rather limited knowledge of Italian…
Recommended for fans of Fenech and Fulci alike.
The story is simple: Viola is the young, ambitious and, above all, beyond reproach prosecutor in a provincial Italian town. Rosa is her identical sister.
Rosa
Viola
Con-artist Esposito, the victim of one of Viola’s most recent judgement, meets and beds Rosa, and decides to extract his revenge; one of the film’s weak points in this regard is that Rosa’s character is not terribly well developed, in that we don’t really know why she has it in for her sister, beyond hints of resentment at their different upbringings and life chances. (Though she plays dumb, there’s the definite sense that Rosa is far smarter than she’s letting on; certainly she’s far smarter than the men around her, though as ever in the world of Italian sex comedy that doesn't necessarily say terribly much...)
Fulci's cameo
Rosa impersonates her sister and take bribes from some local businessmen. Viola guesses that something is up, causing her fiancé Alteri to go see Rosa in an attempt to get her to see the error of her ways, only to easily succumb to her seductive wiles.
Rosa as Biancaneve
Trivia fans may care to note that the evil queen is played by Marina Frajese
Next Rosa appears in a pornographic fumetti strip as Biancaneve, copies of which are distributed to the public during an obscenity case Viola is presiding over in her other capacity as film censor for the town. (An earlier scene featuring the unseen but heard film’s screening is another highlight, with what seems like the entirety of the town’s respectable male population sneaking into the projection booth to see all the good bits before they are cut out.)
The fumetti image
Then Rosa seduces Viola’s long besotted assistant, resulting in some compromising sex in the office photographs courtesy of Esposito and his lawyer Bortolon that soon find their way into the chief prosecutor’s hands.
Rosa or Viola?
Rosa or Viola – and yet another forbidden photo of a lady above suspicion...
Mercifully for Viola a small giallo-esque detail in one of the images provides the opportunity to extricate herself from the messy situation and turn the tables on Esposito and company…
Though Rosa and Viola are given different dubbing voices they aren’t really necessary to disambiguate the characters, with their facial expressions, movements and demeanours enough if the viewer is paying sufficient attention – which, given that the initial distinction between them might well be summed up as close to ‘one wears clothes, the other doesn’t,’ can probably be more or less assumed anyway when the target vernacular audience is concerned…
The other reason for the device, besides its inherent comedic contribution, becomes clearer later on, however, as the difference between the characters and their voices is then confused just at the point when we – and our on screen counterparts – start to think we have a handle on who is who.
At first glance Lucio Fulci’s contribution to the film is somewhat limited, with the direction functional, establishing and breaking up each scene in an anonymous, classical, degree zero style. Paradoxically, however, the lack of Fulci’s usual signatures – zooms, close-ups of eyes, rack focus between planes of action – arguably becomes a signifier of another characteristic of his work, namely his sheer professionalism. One suspects he understood that this was a Fenech vehicle (the end credits include her shoe and lingerie suppliers, to whom credit must go) and as a director for hire willingly subordinated his contributions to hers, whilst also enjoying the opportunity to again aim some well-placed jabs at the powers that be. (Fulci once remarked that censors should be shot in the head; the problem was that their brains were obviously such small targets…)
I suspect that there was also a fair bit of wordplay that I didn’t quite get, though references to sodomy and fellatio prove easy enough to decipher even with my rather limited knowledge of Italian…
Recommended for fans of Fenech and Fulci alike.
Monday, 17 December 2007
Edwige Fenech clips
I'm sure I've posted some of these before: various clips of Edwige Fenech in various states of undress from various films.
http://rapidshare.com/files/61196828/Edwige_Fenech01.avi
http://rapidshare.com/files/61196605/Edwige_Fenech02.avi
http://rapidshare.com/files/61196689/Edwige_Fenech04.avi
http://rapidshare.com/files/61196680/Edwige_Fenech13.avi
http://rapidshare.com/files/61196652/Edwige_Fenech26.avi
Madame Bovary
http://rapidshare.com/files/66275558/Bovary.mov
Asso
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661841/asso-fenech1.mov - 5.7 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661838/asso-fenech2.mov - 5.2 Mb
Cornetti alla crema
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661795/cornetti-fenech1.mov - 1.8 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661805/cornetti-fenech2.mov - 1.9 Mb
Tais-toi quand tu parles!
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661827/tais-fenech1.mov - 4.7 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661803/tais-fenech2.mov - 2.1 Mb
Il Ficcanaso
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661817/ficcanaso-fenech1a.mov - 4.4 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661804/ficcanaso-fenech1b.mov - 2.9 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661806/ficcanaso-fenech2a.mov - 3.0 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661812/ficcanaso-fenech2b.mov - 3.3 Mb
Io e Caterina
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661835/ioecater-fenech1.mov - 7.0 Mb
La Moglie in vacanza... l'amante in citta
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661479/moglie-fenech1.mov - 3.9 Mb
Il Ladrone
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661821/illad-feneche1.mov - 7.7 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661765/illad-feneche2.mov - 1.8 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661774/illad-feneche3.mov - 2.5 Mb
La Poliziotta della squadra del buoncostume
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661773/polizio-fenech1.mov - 3.8 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661801/polizio-fenech2a.mov - 5.9 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661818/polizio-fenech2b.mov - 6.4 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661782/polizio-fenech3.mov - 4.6 Mb
L' Insegnante va in collegio
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661750/insegnante-fenech1.mov - 1.5 Mb
La Soldatessa alla visita militare
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661753/solda-fenech1.mov - 2.0 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661767/solda-fenech2.mov - 4.0 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661779/solda-fenech3.mov - 5.3 Mb
Taxi Girl
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661740/taxi-feneche1.mov - 2.4 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661763/taxi-feneche2a.mov - 4.6 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661754/taxi-feneche2b.mov - 3.6 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661766/taxi-feneche3.mov - 4.9 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661756/taxi-feneche4a.mov - 3.5 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661772/taxi-feneche4b.mov - 4.4 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661755/taxi-feneche4c.mov - 2.9 Mb
La Vergine, il toro e il capricorno
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661729/vergin-fene1.mov - 2.5 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661744/vergin-fene2.mov - 3.9 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661745/vergin-fene3.mov - 4.0 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661758/vergin-fene4.mov - 5.5 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661778/vergin-fene5.mov - 7.8 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661762/vergin-fene6.mov - 5.6 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661730/vergin-fene7.mov - 1.7 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661771/vergin-fene8a.mov - 6.4 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661781/vergin-fene8b.mov - 7.7 Mb
Cattivi pensieri
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661713/cattivi-fenech-01.mov - 1.8 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661723/cattivi-fenech-02.mov - 3.1 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661749/cattivi-fenech-03a.mov - 6.5 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661731/cattivi-fenech-03b.mov - 4.3 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661719/cattivi-fenech-04.mov - 1.8 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661725/cattivi-fenech-05.mov - 2.5 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661733/cattivi-fenech-06.mov - 3.8 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661717/cattivi-fenech-07.mov - 0.8 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661764/cattivi-fenech-08.mov - 6.9 Mb
La Dottoressa del distretto militare
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661734/dottor-fenech1a.mov - 6.2 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661735/dottor-fenech1b.mov - 5.9 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661743/dottor-fenech2.mov - 6.4 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661721/dottor-fenech3.mov - 3.0 Mb
La Pretora
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661737/pretor-fenech1.mov - 6.8 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661722/pretor-fenech2a.mov - 5.3 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661738/pretor-fenech2b.mov - 7.5 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661757/pretor-fenech3.mov - 9.4 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661706/pretor-fenech4.mov - 2.0 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661710/pretor-fenech5.mov - 2.4 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661736/pretor-fenech6a.mov - 5.8 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661752/pretor-fenech6b.mov - 8.1 Mb
Sex with a Smile
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661697/sexsmil-fenech-01.mov - 2.4 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661696/sexsmil-fenech-02.mov - 2.2 Mb
Grazie nonna
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661702/graznon-fenech-01.mov - 3.5 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661689/graznon-fenech-02.mov - 0.9 Mb
L' Insegnante
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661047/inseg-fenech1.mov - 3.7 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661493/inseg-fenech2.mov - 7.0 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661466/inseg-fenech3a.mov - 1.7 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661474/inseg-fenech3b.mov - 2.6 Mb
La Moglie vergine
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661035/lamoglie-fenech1.mov - 5.6 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661016/lamoglie-fenech2.mov - 1.7 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661019/lamoglie-fenech3.mov - 2.0 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661052/lamoglie-fenech4.mov - 7.8 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661032/lamoglie-fenech5.mov - 4.5 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661020/lamoglie-fenech6.mov - 1.4 Mb
Nude per l'assassino
http://rapidshare.com/files/24660940/nude-fenech1.mov - 3.2 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24660960/nude-fenech2.mov - 7.1 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24660933/nude-fenech3.mov - 1.2 Mb
La Poliziotta fa carriera
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661046/poliziotta2-fenech1.mov - 3.8 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661043/poliziotta2-fenech2.mov - 3.3 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661053/poliziotta2-fenech3.mov - 5.3 Mb
La Signora gioca bene a scopa?
http://rapidshare.com/files/24660095/signora-fenech1.mov - 6.6 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24660094/signora-fenech2.mov - 6.7 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24660101/signora-fenech3a.mov - 7.7 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24660085/signora-fenech3b.mov - 3.9 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24660099/signora-fenech4a.mov - 6.6 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24660102/signora-fenech4b.mov - 8.3 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24660100/signora-fenech5.mov - 6.3 Mb
La Vedova inconsolabile ringrazia quanti la consolarono
http://rapidshare.com/files/24660055/lavedova-fenech-01.mov - 2.1 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24696041/vedova-fenech1.mov - 2.9 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24660053/vedova-fenech2.mov - 1.8 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24660090/vedova-fenech3a.mov - 6.6 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24660062/vedova-fenech3b.mov - 2.4 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24660076/vedova-fenech4.mov - 3.3 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24660047/vedova-fenech5a.mov - 0.6 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24660089/vedova-fenech5b.mov - 5.8 Mb
Escape from Death Row
http://rapidshare.com/files/24660078/escaperow-fenech-01.mov - 5.8 Mb
Giovannona Long-Thigh
http://rapidshare.com/files/24660098/giovannona-fenech1.mov - 9.8 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24660044/giovannona-fenech2.mov - 1.6 Mb
Secrets of a Call Girl
http://rapidshare.com/files/24660088/annaQuel-fenech1.mov - 8.6 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24660033/annaQuel-fenech2.mov - 1.2 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24660071/annaQuel-fenech3.mov - 5.1 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24660072/annaQuel-fenech4.mov - 4.9 Mb
La Bella Antonia, prima Monica e poi Dimonia
http://rapidshare.com/files/24660057/bella-fenech1.mov - 6.4 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24660025/bella-fenech2.mov - 2.9 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24660064/bella-fenech3.mov - 6.9 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24660010/bella-fenech4.mov - 1.5 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24660023/bella-fenech5.mov - 2.3 Mb
Quando le donne si chiamavano 'Madonne'
http://rapidshare.com/files/24660017/quandoledon-fenech1.mov - 3.6 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24660048/quandoledon-fenech2.mov - 6.5 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24660007/quandoledon-fenech3.mov - 2.3 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24660034/quandoledon-fenech4.mov - 4.8 Mb
Ubalda, All Naked and Warm
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661061/ubal-feneche1.mov - 7.9 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661058/ubal-feneche2.mov - 8.0 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661078/ubal-feneche3.mov - 9.8 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661051/ubal-feneche4.mov - 6.0 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661033/ubal-feneche5.mov - 3.0 Mb
The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh
http://rapidshare.com/files/24660009/strangevice-fenech1.mov - 4.3 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24659999/strangevice-fenech2.mov - 3.2 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24660040/strangevice-fenech3.mov - 6.7 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24660042/strangevice-fenech4.mov - 6.3 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24660012/strangevice-fenech5.mov - 3.7 Mb
The Blonde and the Black Pussycat
http://rapidshare.com/files/24660019/alle-fenech2.mov - 6.6 Mb
Frau Wirtin hat auch eine Nichte
http://rapidshare.com/files/24660011/frau-feneche1a.mov - 5.0 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24659998/frau-feneche1b.mov - 3.7 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24659991/frau-feneche2.mov - 2.4 Mb
There were a few others, but they didn't copy and paste with the paths to the files.
Enjoy :-)
http://rapidshare.com/files/61196828/Edwige_Fenech01.avi
http://rapidshare.com/files/61196605/Edwige_Fenech02.avi
http://rapidshare.com/files/61196689/Edwige_Fenech04.avi
http://rapidshare.com/files/61196680/Edwige_Fenech13.avi
http://rapidshare.com/files/61196652/Edwige_Fenech26.avi
Madame Bovary
http://rapidshare.com/files/66275558/Bovary.mov
Asso
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661841/asso-fenech1.mov - 5.7 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661838/asso-fenech2.mov - 5.2 Mb
Cornetti alla crema
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661795/cornetti-fenech1.mov - 1.8 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661805/cornetti-fenech2.mov - 1.9 Mb
Tais-toi quand tu parles!
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661827/tais-fenech1.mov - 4.7 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661803/tais-fenech2.mov - 2.1 Mb
Il Ficcanaso
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661817/ficcanaso-fenech1a.mov - 4.4 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661804/ficcanaso-fenech1b.mov - 2.9 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661806/ficcanaso-fenech2a.mov - 3.0 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661812/ficcanaso-fenech2b.mov - 3.3 Mb
Io e Caterina
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661835/ioecater-fenech1.mov - 7.0 Mb
La Moglie in vacanza... l'amante in citta
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661479/moglie-fenech1.mov - 3.9 Mb
Il Ladrone
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661821/illad-feneche1.mov - 7.7 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661765/illad-feneche2.mov - 1.8 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661774/illad-feneche3.mov - 2.5 Mb
La Poliziotta della squadra del buoncostume
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661773/polizio-fenech1.mov - 3.8 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661801/polizio-fenech2a.mov - 5.9 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661818/polizio-fenech2b.mov - 6.4 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661782/polizio-fenech3.mov - 4.6 Mb
L' Insegnante va in collegio
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661750/insegnante-fenech1.mov - 1.5 Mb
La Soldatessa alla visita militare
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661753/solda-fenech1.mov - 2.0 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661767/solda-fenech2.mov - 4.0 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661779/solda-fenech3.mov - 5.3 Mb
Taxi Girl
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661740/taxi-feneche1.mov - 2.4 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661763/taxi-feneche2a.mov - 4.6 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661754/taxi-feneche2b.mov - 3.6 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661766/taxi-feneche3.mov - 4.9 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661756/taxi-feneche4a.mov - 3.5 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661772/taxi-feneche4b.mov - 4.4 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661755/taxi-feneche4c.mov - 2.9 Mb
La Vergine, il toro e il capricorno
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661729/vergin-fene1.mov - 2.5 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661744/vergin-fene2.mov - 3.9 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661745/vergin-fene3.mov - 4.0 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661758/vergin-fene4.mov - 5.5 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661778/vergin-fene5.mov - 7.8 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661762/vergin-fene6.mov - 5.6 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661730/vergin-fene7.mov - 1.7 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661771/vergin-fene8a.mov - 6.4 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661781/vergin-fene8b.mov - 7.7 Mb
Cattivi pensieri
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661713/cattivi-fenech-01.mov - 1.8 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661723/cattivi-fenech-02.mov - 3.1 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661749/cattivi-fenech-03a.mov - 6.5 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661731/cattivi-fenech-03b.mov - 4.3 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661719/cattivi-fenech-04.mov - 1.8 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661725/cattivi-fenech-05.mov - 2.5 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661733/cattivi-fenech-06.mov - 3.8 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661717/cattivi-fenech-07.mov - 0.8 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661764/cattivi-fenech-08.mov - 6.9 Mb
La Dottoressa del distretto militare
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661734/dottor-fenech1a.mov - 6.2 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661735/dottor-fenech1b.mov - 5.9 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661743/dottor-fenech2.mov - 6.4 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661721/dottor-fenech3.mov - 3.0 Mb
La Pretora
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661737/pretor-fenech1.mov - 6.8 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661722/pretor-fenech2a.mov - 5.3 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661738/pretor-fenech2b.mov - 7.5 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661757/pretor-fenech3.mov - 9.4 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661706/pretor-fenech4.mov - 2.0 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661710/pretor-fenech5.mov - 2.4 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661736/pretor-fenech6a.mov - 5.8 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661752/pretor-fenech6b.mov - 8.1 Mb
Sex with a Smile
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661697/sexsmil-fenech-01.mov - 2.4 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661696/sexsmil-fenech-02.mov - 2.2 Mb
Grazie nonna
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661702/graznon-fenech-01.mov - 3.5 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661689/graznon-fenech-02.mov - 0.9 Mb
L' Insegnante
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661047/inseg-fenech1.mov - 3.7 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661493/inseg-fenech2.mov - 7.0 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661466/inseg-fenech3a.mov - 1.7 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661474/inseg-fenech3b.mov - 2.6 Mb
La Moglie vergine
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661035/lamoglie-fenech1.mov - 5.6 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661016/lamoglie-fenech2.mov - 1.7 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661019/lamoglie-fenech3.mov - 2.0 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661052/lamoglie-fenech4.mov - 7.8 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661032/lamoglie-fenech5.mov - 4.5 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661020/lamoglie-fenech6.mov - 1.4 Mb
Nude per l'assassino
http://rapidshare.com/files/24660940/nude-fenech1.mov - 3.2 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24660960/nude-fenech2.mov - 7.1 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24660933/nude-fenech3.mov - 1.2 Mb
La Poliziotta fa carriera
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661046/poliziotta2-fenech1.mov - 3.8 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661043/poliziotta2-fenech2.mov - 3.3 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661053/poliziotta2-fenech3.mov - 5.3 Mb
La Signora gioca bene a scopa?
http://rapidshare.com/files/24660095/signora-fenech1.mov - 6.6 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24660094/signora-fenech2.mov - 6.7 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24660101/signora-fenech3a.mov - 7.7 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24660085/signora-fenech3b.mov - 3.9 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24660099/signora-fenech4a.mov - 6.6 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24660102/signora-fenech4b.mov - 8.3 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24660100/signora-fenech5.mov - 6.3 Mb
La Vedova inconsolabile ringrazia quanti la consolarono
http://rapidshare.com/files/24660055/lavedova-fenech-01.mov - 2.1 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24696041/vedova-fenech1.mov - 2.9 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24660053/vedova-fenech2.mov - 1.8 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24660090/vedova-fenech3a.mov - 6.6 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24660062/vedova-fenech3b.mov - 2.4 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24660076/vedova-fenech4.mov - 3.3 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24660047/vedova-fenech5a.mov - 0.6 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24660089/vedova-fenech5b.mov - 5.8 Mb
Escape from Death Row
http://rapidshare.com/files/24660078/escaperow-fenech-01.mov - 5.8 Mb
Giovannona Long-Thigh
http://rapidshare.com/files/24660098/giovannona-fenech1.mov - 9.8 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24660044/giovannona-fenech2.mov - 1.6 Mb
Secrets of a Call Girl
http://rapidshare.com/files/24660088/annaQuel-fenech1.mov - 8.6 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24660033/annaQuel-fenech2.mov - 1.2 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24660071/annaQuel-fenech3.mov - 5.1 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24660072/annaQuel-fenech4.mov - 4.9 Mb
La Bella Antonia, prima Monica e poi Dimonia
http://rapidshare.com/files/24660057/bella-fenech1.mov - 6.4 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24660025/bella-fenech2.mov - 2.9 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24660064/bella-fenech3.mov - 6.9 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24660010/bella-fenech4.mov - 1.5 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24660023/bella-fenech5.mov - 2.3 Mb
Quando le donne si chiamavano 'Madonne'
http://rapidshare.com/files/24660017/quandoledon-fenech1.mov - 3.6 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24660048/quandoledon-fenech2.mov - 6.5 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24660007/quandoledon-fenech3.mov - 2.3 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24660034/quandoledon-fenech4.mov - 4.8 Mb
Ubalda, All Naked and Warm
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661061/ubal-feneche1.mov - 7.9 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661058/ubal-feneche2.mov - 8.0 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661078/ubal-feneche3.mov - 9.8 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661051/ubal-feneche4.mov - 6.0 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24661033/ubal-feneche5.mov - 3.0 Mb
The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh
http://rapidshare.com/files/24660009/strangevice-fenech1.mov - 4.3 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24659999/strangevice-fenech2.mov - 3.2 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24660040/strangevice-fenech3.mov - 6.7 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24660042/strangevice-fenech4.mov - 6.3 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24660012/strangevice-fenech5.mov - 3.7 Mb
The Blonde and the Black Pussycat
http://rapidshare.com/files/24660019/alle-fenech2.mov - 6.6 Mb
Frau Wirtin hat auch eine Nichte
http://rapidshare.com/files/24660011/frau-feneche1a.mov - 5.0 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24659998/frau-feneche1b.mov - 3.7 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/24659991/frau-feneche2.mov - 2.4 Mb
There were a few others, but they didn't copy and paste with the paths to the files.
Enjoy :-)
Saturday, 8 September 2007
Edwige Fenech clips
Here's a bunch of links to clips of Edwige Fenech from a variety of films, undoubtedly in various states of undress; I haven't tested all the links are still there; credit to the original rippers and uploaders whoever they may be...
Satiricosissimo
http://rapidshare.com/files/18551342/EdwigeFenech-Satir.mov
http://rapidshare.com/files/17550263/edwigefenech.wmv
http://rapidshare.com/files/17741586/edwigefenech1.wmv
http://rapidshare.com/files/17753477/edwigefenech2.wmv
http://rapidshare.com/files/18348478/edwigefenech3.wmv
Grazie nonna
http://rapidshare.com/files/25041444/edwige_fenech_058.rar
Don Franco e Don Ciccio...
http://rapidshare.com/files/24911955/EdwigeFenechDFDC.mov
Samoa, regina della giungla
http://rapidshare.com/files/27943042/EdwigeFenechSRDG.mov
Io e Caterina
http://rapidshare.com/files/18281043/Edwige_Fenech_-_Io_e_Caterina__1980__by_mcol.avi
La Dottoressa del distretto militare
http://rapidshare.com/files/20927297/LaDottoressaDelDistrettoMilitare-EdwigeFenech1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/20927321/LaDottoressaDelDistrettoMilitare-EdwigeFenech2.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/20927325/LaDottoressaDelDistrettoMilitare-EdwigeFenech3.rar
La Potata bollente
http://rapidshare.com/files/20927027/LaPatataBollente-Edwige_Fenech1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/20927037/LaPatataBollente-Edwige_Fenech2.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/20927051/LaPatataBollente-Edwige_Fenech3.rar
Others - the titles of the files indicate the films
http://rapidshare.com/files/13746833/alle-fenech2-hi.wmv
http://rapidshare.com/files/13746938/strangevice-fenech2-hi.wmv
http://rapidshare.com/files/13747058/quandoledon-fenech1-hi.wmv
http://rapidshare.com/files/13747170/bella-fenech4-hi.wmv
http://rapidshare.com/files/13747314/tuttiicolori-fenech-04-hi.wmv
http://rapidshare.com/files/13747447/annaQuel-fenech2-hi.wmv
http://rapidshare.com/files/13747624/signora-fenech1-hi.wmv
http://rapidshare.com/files/13747789/lamoglie-fenech1-hi.wmv
http://rapidshare.com/files/13748206/pretor-fenech4-hi.wmv
http://rapidshare.com/files/23319049/EdwigeFenechTTQTP.mov
Satiricosissimo
http://rapidshare.com/files/18551342/EdwigeFenech-Satir.mov
http://rapidshare.com/files/17550263/edwigefenech.wmv
http://rapidshare.com/files/17741586/edwigefenech1.wmv
http://rapidshare.com/files/17753477/edwigefenech2.wmv
http://rapidshare.com/files/18348478/edwigefenech3.wmv
Grazie nonna
http://rapidshare.com/files/25041444/edwige_fenech_058.rar
Don Franco e Don Ciccio...
http://rapidshare.com/files/24911955/EdwigeFenechDFDC.mov
Samoa, regina della giungla
http://rapidshare.com/files/27943042/EdwigeFenechSRDG.mov
Io e Caterina
http://rapidshare.com/files/18281043/Edwige_Fenech_-_Io_e_Caterina__1980__by_mcol.avi
La Dottoressa del distretto militare
http://rapidshare.com/files/20927297/LaDottoressaDelDistrettoMilitare-EdwigeFenech1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/20927321/LaDottoressaDelDistrettoMilitare-EdwigeFenech2.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/20927325/LaDottoressaDelDistrettoMilitare-EdwigeFenech3.rar
La Potata bollente
http://rapidshare.com/files/20927027/LaPatataBollente-Edwige_Fenech1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/20927037/LaPatataBollente-Edwige_Fenech2.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/20927051/LaPatataBollente-Edwige_Fenech3.rar
Others - the titles of the files indicate the films
http://rapidshare.com/files/13746833/alle-fenech2-hi.wmv
http://rapidshare.com/files/13746938/strangevice-fenech2-hi.wmv
http://rapidshare.com/files/13747058/quandoledon-fenech1-hi.wmv
http://rapidshare.com/files/13747170/bella-fenech4-hi.wmv
http://rapidshare.com/files/13747314/tuttiicolori-fenech-04-hi.wmv
http://rapidshare.com/files/13747447/annaQuel-fenech2-hi.wmv
http://rapidshare.com/files/13747624/signora-fenech1-hi.wmv
http://rapidshare.com/files/13747789/lamoglie-fenech1-hi.wmv
http://rapidshare.com/files/13748206/pretor-fenech4-hi.wmv
http://rapidshare.com/files/23319049/EdwigeFenechTTQTP.mov
Wednesday, 13 June 2007
Perché quelle strane gocce di sangue sul corpo di Jennifer? / The Case of the Bloody Iris
En route to a meeting. presumably with a client, a high-class hooker is slashed to death in the elevator of a high-rise apartment block. Shortly thereafter one of the three people who found her body, an exotic dancer named Mizar Harrington (Carla Brait) is in turn murdered, being drowned in her bath by a masked assassin.
Did Brian De Palma see this film prior to making Dressed to Kill?
As the characteristically incompetent police investigate, a couple of models, Jennifer (Edwige Fenech) and Marilyn (Paola Quattrini), move into the Mizar's apartment at the suggestion of playboy architect Andrea Barto (George Hilton), the building's designer and also, as it happens, one of the last people to see Mizar on the night of her murder, having gone to see the “black, but not too black” (!) model at the recommendation of his campy, gay-coded photographer friend and business associate Arthur.
Professor Isaacs, Mizar Harrington and Mrs Moss discover the woman's body
Mizar is drowned in the bath; isn't it suspicious that Andrea has a claimed aversion to the sight of blood?
Andrea isn't the only suspect, however, seeing as Jennifer also find herself being stalked by by her possessive ex-husband Adam (Ben Carra), who wants her to rejoin him and his sex-cult. (“You belong to us now. You pledged yourself to us and you swore to me above all. You're my wife, remember that.”)
The titular iris, the symbol of Adam's love-cult
Obligatory psychedelic orgy sequence with kaleiodoscopic lens effect
Frightened Fenech #1
Furthermore the apartment black is also home to all manner of suspicious and suspect neighbours, any one of whom could be the killer, like old lady Moss, with her curious interest in horror comics like Killerman (“To really like horror tales you have to be nuts. She only buys horror tales – if you ask me, she's got something loose up here”) and a reluctance to be, well, neighbourly, or predatory lesbian Sheila Hendricks (Annabella Incontrera), clearly pleased to have two potential new girlfriends in the apartment and possibly not adverse to terrorizing them into her waiting arms...
Frightened Fenech #2
The iconic killer
Mirror, mirror...
...and again...
Known by a plethora of different titles – the more literal translation of Perché quelle strane gocce di sangue sul corpo di Jennifer as What are those Strange Drops of Blood Doing on Jennifer's Body, the more suggestive Erotic Blue – besides the more mystery-like Case of the Bloody Iris is perhaps the quintessential giallo, the one with everything that aficionados love about the form (well, almost – while the killer's chooses to wear brown surgical gloves he or she makes up for this fashion faux pas by eventually exit by the de rigeur fall from a great height) and which condemns it in the eyes of detractors as stupid, even offensive, trash.
Frightened Fenech #3
It's sleazy, cheesy and, I find at least, a sheer pleasure from start to end in its willingness to shamelessly contrive cliché and stereotype after cliché and stereotype; the production line, known – and knowing - quality of the piece perhaps best summarised by the way the closing scene neatly and needlessly echoes its opening counterpart as another woman goes into a phone booth, makes a call and is invited to “come on up”. Edgar Wallace may have developed the idea of the plot wheel, but on this showing at least it was the Italians who were the most enthusiastic about spinning it again and again...
Lesbian seduction interrupted?
The credits are a who's who of golden age exploitation all'italiana: Luciano Martino produced; Ernesto Gastaldi provided the script and Bruno Nicolai the score, whilst future directors Michele Massimo Tarantini and Stelvio Massi were assistant and cinematographer respectively.
The cast is likewise full of familiar faces, ranging from top-billed Edwige Fenech and George Hilton, playing very much to type as the frightened woman and the suave, shifty suspect / red herring – what trauma lies behind his aversion to blood, or is it just a convenient alibi? – down to reliable support from the likes of Oreste Lionello, as Andreas's campy, bitchy photographer friend; George Rigaud, as Sheila's perpetually violin-scraping father, a dottore in his dotage; or Alan Collins / Luciano Pigozzi, as the sweaty, shifty majordomo of the nightclub where Mizar worked.
Gratuitous shots of Fenech #1 to #4
Perhaps the only thing that the film does not have going for it is the sense of directorial sureness that Sergio Martino would likely have brought to it – I mention him by name precisely because this is a case where we can single the director's contribution out, as a comparison with The Strange Vice of Signora Wardh or All the Colours of the Dark will demonstrate. (Whether this makes Martino an auteur or merely a higher-ranking metteur en scene is another matter, as is whether such critical distinctions really matter in a case like this.)
It's not that spaghetti western specialist Anthony Ascott / Giuliano Carnimeo has an empty bag of tricks, more that what he does at the helm too often comes across as self-conspiously trickery and frippery, deployed without that sense of thought as to what it is actually contributing in terms of visual storytelling. Note, for example, the way in which a complex mirrored composition showing Marilyn and Jennifer say nothing about the duality or duplicity of either character – the former is just too much of the dumb blonde for subtext, the latter a straightforward damsel-in-distress who simply wants to put her past behind her rather than having half-submerged sadomasochistic yearnings like her counterpart in Strange Vice...
Still, precisely because the film doesn't aspire to be art, gives its target audience what they expect and cheerfully owns up to its own raison d'etre (“Andy, what really sells beer, when you come right down to it?” “How should I know? How about alcoholic content?” “No! What sells beer is a bare-assed broad holding a barrel, or a bottle, or a beaker, right here, between the tits... You've got to have a nude in there somewhere!”) it can in the end be said that this really doesn't matter.
Did Brian De Palma see this film prior to making Dressed to Kill?
As the characteristically incompetent police investigate, a couple of models, Jennifer (Edwige Fenech) and Marilyn (Paola Quattrini), move into the Mizar's apartment at the suggestion of playboy architect Andrea Barto (George Hilton), the building's designer and also, as it happens, one of the last people to see Mizar on the night of her murder, having gone to see the “black, but not too black” (!) model at the recommendation of his campy, gay-coded photographer friend and business associate Arthur.
Professor Isaacs, Mizar Harrington and Mrs Moss discover the woman's body
Mizar is drowned in the bath; isn't it suspicious that Andrea has a claimed aversion to the sight of blood?
Andrea isn't the only suspect, however, seeing as Jennifer also find herself being stalked by by her possessive ex-husband Adam (Ben Carra), who wants her to rejoin him and his sex-cult. (“You belong to us now. You pledged yourself to us and you swore to me above all. You're my wife, remember that.”)
The titular iris, the symbol of Adam's love-cult
Obligatory psychedelic orgy sequence with kaleiodoscopic lens effect
Frightened Fenech #1
Furthermore the apartment black is also home to all manner of suspicious and suspect neighbours, any one of whom could be the killer, like old lady Moss, with her curious interest in horror comics like Killerman (“To really like horror tales you have to be nuts. She only buys horror tales – if you ask me, she's got something loose up here”) and a reluctance to be, well, neighbourly, or predatory lesbian Sheila Hendricks (Annabella Incontrera), clearly pleased to have two potential new girlfriends in the apartment and possibly not adverse to terrorizing them into her waiting arms...
Frightened Fenech #2
The iconic killer
Mirror, mirror...
...and again...
Known by a plethora of different titles – the more literal translation of Perché quelle strane gocce di sangue sul corpo di Jennifer as What are those Strange Drops of Blood Doing on Jennifer's Body, the more suggestive Erotic Blue – besides the more mystery-like Case of the Bloody Iris is perhaps the quintessential giallo, the one with everything that aficionados love about the form (well, almost – while the killer's chooses to wear brown surgical gloves he or she makes up for this fashion faux pas by eventually exit by the de rigeur fall from a great height) and which condemns it in the eyes of detractors as stupid, even offensive, trash.
Frightened Fenech #3
It's sleazy, cheesy and, I find at least, a sheer pleasure from start to end in its willingness to shamelessly contrive cliché and stereotype after cliché and stereotype; the production line, known – and knowing - quality of the piece perhaps best summarised by the way the closing scene neatly and needlessly echoes its opening counterpart as another woman goes into a phone booth, makes a call and is invited to “come on up”. Edgar Wallace may have developed the idea of the plot wheel, but on this showing at least it was the Italians who were the most enthusiastic about spinning it again and again...
Lesbian seduction interrupted?
The credits are a who's who of golden age exploitation all'italiana: Luciano Martino produced; Ernesto Gastaldi provided the script and Bruno Nicolai the score, whilst future directors Michele Massimo Tarantini and Stelvio Massi were assistant and cinematographer respectively.
The cast is likewise full of familiar faces, ranging from top-billed Edwige Fenech and George Hilton, playing very much to type as the frightened woman and the suave, shifty suspect / red herring – what trauma lies behind his aversion to blood, or is it just a convenient alibi? – down to reliable support from the likes of Oreste Lionello, as Andreas's campy, bitchy photographer friend; George Rigaud, as Sheila's perpetually violin-scraping father, a dottore in his dotage; or Alan Collins / Luciano Pigozzi, as the sweaty, shifty majordomo of the nightclub where Mizar worked.
Gratuitous shots of Fenech #1 to #4
Perhaps the only thing that the film does not have going for it is the sense of directorial sureness that Sergio Martino would likely have brought to it – I mention him by name precisely because this is a case where we can single the director's contribution out, as a comparison with The Strange Vice of Signora Wardh or All the Colours of the Dark will demonstrate. (Whether this makes Martino an auteur or merely a higher-ranking metteur en scene is another matter, as is whether such critical distinctions really matter in a case like this.)
It's not that spaghetti western specialist Anthony Ascott / Giuliano Carnimeo has an empty bag of tricks, more that what he does at the helm too often comes across as self-conspiously trickery and frippery, deployed without that sense of thought as to what it is actually contributing in terms of visual storytelling. Note, for example, the way in which a complex mirrored composition showing Marilyn and Jennifer say nothing about the duality or duplicity of either character – the former is just too much of the dumb blonde for subtext, the latter a straightforward damsel-in-distress who simply wants to put her past behind her rather than having half-submerged sadomasochistic yearnings like her counterpart in Strange Vice...
Still, precisely because the film doesn't aspire to be art, gives its target audience what they expect and cheerfully owns up to its own raison d'etre (“Andy, what really sells beer, when you come right down to it?” “How should I know? How about alcoholic content?” “No! What sells beer is a bare-assed broad holding a barrel, or a bottle, or a beaker, right here, between the tits... You've got to have a nude in there somewhere!”) it can in the end be said that this really doesn't matter.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)