Torremolinos 73
During the making of documentary that accompanies this Spanish film TORREMOLINOS 73, the best part of the cast and crew are all doing their best to state that this film is based on actual events. Not convincing enough for this viewer, it is done in a way that attempts to mythologise the films central character. The film concerns Alfredo Lopez, a down on his luck early 1970’s Encyclopaedia....
During the making of documentary that accompanies this Spanish film TORREMOLINOS 73, the best part of the cast and crew are all doing their best to state that this film is based on actual events. Not convincing enough for this viewer, it is done in a way that attempts to mythologise the films central character. The film concerns Alfredo Lopez, a down on his luck early 1970’s Encyclopaedia salesman who is selling Spanish Civil War encyclopaedia’s with a free bust of Franco thrown in to up sales. However, no one is interested, which is the main reason why his forward thinking boss is thinking of going into a different business. He explains to Alfredo that he has been approached by the institute of Sexology in Copenhagen who wants to create an audio-visual encyclopaedia on reproduction.
Upon returning home and finding his wife Carmen has been sacked, they both decide to go along for the weekend to a special seminar that outlines all the details. Carmen is whisked off and shown how to undress for the camera, whilst Alfredo is shown how to use a Super 8mm camera, as well as being shown what and how he must film, which is aptly demonstrated by the fat instructor and his blond, beautiful assistant. To cut along story short and jumping over many funny sequences, they decide to commit to making these sex flicks. After making a few films, Alfredo finds himself watching one of Ingmar Bergman’s classics THE SEVENTH SEAL on TV. The next day he goes out to find a Bergman book and gets hit with the film making bug. From this point on Alredo’s films start to get more artistic and experimental.
Running simultaneously to what we are watching, Alfredo and Carmen making these porn films, the Danish encyclopaedia’s are doing very well, which culminates in Carmen and Alfredo going shopping and being spotted by a Danish tourist. He pulls out his own film camera and starts filming Carmen and seeking an autograph. It is clear now to viewers but a shock to Alfredo, to learn that they their films are being sold in Scandinavian porno mags.
Slightly put off by this idea, Alfredo decides that he wants to make a feature film and goes through the writing process to produce TORREMOLINOS 73. He shows his boss, who agrees to fund the film and help produce it, even though the film is missing sexual content. During production, the producer pulls him aside and suggests that Alfredo should look at a couple of changes he has made to the script that he should include. No surprise in that to make it sell the producer thinks that Carmen should be washing her Danish costars genitals with her mouth. Alfredo, who wants to put all of that behind him flatly refuses and confronts the fact that it would mean his wife sleeping with someone else. His artistry is tested and we move towards the end of the film, for which you will have watch to find out what happens.
All in all, the film itself is well controlled. Even though the content matter is exploitative, it is handled in a down to earth, sensitive way, which is often very funny. The 2 main actors who play Alfredo and Carmen are both superb, as is the man who plays the producer Don Carlos. The cinematography has a bleached out look and a muted primary pallet that according to the director adequately recreates the look of 1970’s Spain. The energy of Alfredo and his embracing of his new passion would be surely familiar to anyone who has ever wanted to get involved in filmmaking or who just loves film. The film unfolds pretty effortlessly and that is a tick in the directors box for this because what could have been your usual Spanish tosh, ends up being an enjoyable, if what slightly empty, 90 minutes.
EXTRAS
MAKING OF (28 Mins)
This is book ended by two sections that seek to create an actual myth for Alfredo Lopez’s life and films. We are shown old photographs of Alfredo and Carmen (all slightly out of focus), as well as clips from the real life TORREMOLINOS 73 (“only fragments remain”, we are told) and are exposed to a multitude of people who all attest to having either a) heard of these 2 people, or b) who have seen the film in Denmark once. However, the fact is that they are just having a laugh. As is the person who called this documentary a Making Of, as we mainly get the actors talking about their characters and how fantastic their co actors were and how much they loved making this film, etc etc etc, yawn yawn. However, underneath their voices we do see clips from the real film making and on set happenings, as well as a few sound bites that are nothing more than filmmaking gossip, such as the first time director Pablo Berger telling us it took 4 years to make and that it is a Spanish/Danish co production. But for anyone interested in how you make a film, this is nothing more than the usual take it or leave it sound bites put together in a package.
SOUND AND PICTURE
The picture quality is superb, as we have come to expect from Tartan, as is the sound which appeared to me about as crystal clean as it could be - well the Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo that I chose to listen to this one in did anyway. It also comes with Dolby Digital Surround 5.1 and DTS Digital Surround 5.1 for those of you with the juice to shake apart your wall just through vibration alone.
Overall, the film is pretty harmless and it is quite funny in places, mainly down to its great cast and talented director. I don’t mark it on the same sheet as Alex De La Iglesia’s films for example, maker of Accion Mutante, Day of the Beast and Perdita Durango, or even of the quality of Spain’s most heralded film maker Pedro Almodovar but don’t let that put you off. You could do a lot worse that this little film. The DVD comes with a hit or miss documentary and nothing else to speak of but for those interested in a down to earth approach to making porno films or just films in general then get it on your rental lists, you could find yourself coming up with a few potential money making schemes yourself.
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