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February 2005
Torremolinos '73 DVD Review |
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by Kam Williams
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| Alfred (Javier Camara) and Carmen (Candela Pena) Lopez are a married couple in crisis. Hešs a balding, middle-aged nerd and about to be laid off from his job as a door-to-door salesman, because nobody is buying encyclopedias anymore. Meanwhile, his attractive, fertile, much younger wife has become increasingly impatient about waiting to starting a family, even though they can afford to pay their rent. Desperate straits call for desperate measures, and so they settle on a surprising new career, given that this Spain in 1973, during the reign of the Puritanical Franco. In return for more money than Alfred ordinarily makes in a year, they agree to make x-rated home movies, with the understanding that the Danish production company would be pass off the porno as sex education films. As improbable as this premise sounds, Torremolinos '73 is based on real life exploits which once led to the release of "The Adventures of a Horny Widow," a picture said to have caused quite a sensation across Scandinavia. First-time director Pablo Berger makes a praiseworthy debut with this bawdy sitcom which careens back and forth between the ridiculous and the sublime. First, modest Carmen is shy about performing, and Alfred's camera work is that of a rank amateur. But then she comes out of her shell when she realizes that she has developed a following of devoted fans. Alfred reacts to their newfound fame by fancying himself a serious director and focuses on producing more tasteful skin flicks. The plot thickens when the studio pressures the pair to substitute a young macho stud as a co-star. Understandably, Alfred is suddenly less than enthusiastic and hilarious hijinks ensue, as smut collides with art, all set against the hideous retro decor representing the worst in taste of that gaudy, bygone era. Excellent (4 stars) |
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