WIP MOVIES: gennaio 2008

mercoledì 30 gennaio 2008

sabato 26 gennaio 2008

mercoledì 23 gennaio 2008

martedì 22 gennaio 2008

female prisoner in uniform and apron

Laura Gemser in uniform (from "Blade Violent")

Pam Grier in uniform (from "Jackie Brown")

sabato 19 gennaio 2008

venerdì 18 gennaio 2008

martedì 15 gennaio 2008

lunedì 14 gennaio 2008

ANNA MAGNANI: "Nella città l'inferno"

Regia: Renato Castellani
Interpreti: Anna Magnani, Giulietta Masina, Alberto Sordi, Renato Salvatori, Cristina Gajoni, Miriam Bru, Saro Urzì
Durata: 92’
Produzione: Italia 1958 b/n

domenica 13 gennaio 2008

sabato 12 gennaio 2008

giovedì 10 gennaio 2008

mercoledì 9 gennaio 2008

The House of Whipcord (1974

I’ll bet you haven’t seen very many like this before. The House of Whipcord is sort of a horror movie, sort of a women’s prison movie, and extremely English all the way around. Despite the external appearances of extreme cheesiness (just look at the box art, man!), it’s actually one of the better English exploitation movies that I can recall seeing. It lumbers a bit, in that characteristic British way, but it’s relatively fearless in the face of its potentially controversial subject matter, and director Peter Walker seems to have spared not a moment’s concern for the sensitivities of the easily offended. This is also a movie with a Message. Even before the main title card is displayed, the following caption appears on the screen: “This film is dedicated to those who are disturbed by the lax moral codes of today, and who eagerly await the return of corporal and capital punishment.”

une affaire de femmes

tibool

lunedì 7 gennaio 2008

Pavel

great, mysterious artist

The Bamboo House of Dolls (1973)

Bamboo House of Dolls, The

Story: Women in a Japanese Concentration Camp make a break for it with the help of some insiders. Their goal is to escape the clutches of the japanese and reach a hidden stash of gold that will aid China in buying weapons to fend off their enemies.

Review: Women in prison films have a celebrated history of masking the reality of how nasty most women in prison really are. In place of hairy, worn out she-males we have a virtual harem of gorgeous Chinese and American women, wearing the standard "night shirt and panties" prison uniform. In this fantasy world of film, you never know when some girls are going to randomly make out or have a communal shower party. Constant images of Gina Gershon come to mind for some reason. This is the world of "Bamboo House of Dolls", which follows a 70's stash of babes enveloped in the dark and vicious clutches of the Japanese.

In the film, six of the imprisoned women are aided in escaping by an insider posing as a cook for the soldiers. They are faced with the arduous tasks of escaping the prison and finding the hidden gold that will fund the Chinese in obtaining much needed weaponry, as well as dealing with an unknown spy within their group and the burden of outrunning the pursuing soldiers.

The Japanese are downright nasty in this film. Portrayed as sex crazed beasts at times, even the female leader gets in some action with one of the girls via ye olde strap-on. Most of the intense moments are pushed towards the first half of the film, which makes it seem somewhat unbalanced. During the initial entry into the 13th Women's Concentration Camp, the viewer is introduced to the ruthless methods of punishment and torture issued out in the prison. They make the women take turns beating a fellow prisoner to death, and when one tries to escape she gets completely fried on the electric barbed wires. The tension is much greater during these moments, and the situation always seems bleak.

But the film is dominated by faceless characters that serve their typical purpose, such as the blind girl whose heightened sense of sound aids them in a couple tough jams, and the rest of the main group of characters that are easily mixed up and for the most part too quickly forgotten. It's not necessarily a problem that lies solely with the generic performances, but is contributed to by the overall humdrum nature of the plot. The most exciting part of the movie should be the escape sequences. While at first interesting, it ends up turning into a continuous and patience-trying volley between freedom and captivity.

"Dolls" does have it's moments, though, some exciting and some unintentionally hilarious. There are a couple decent action sequences, and a battle between the Japanese soldiers and a group of guerillas ends up with some amusing bloodshed, bright crimson and in the classic gushing Shaw style. Other than this and a few less memorable brawls, not to mention the films first quarter, there isn't as large an amount of violence as one would expect. However, a couple of the choice rivalries created in the movie seemed to beg for some more vindictive action.

A couple moments in the film managed to be funny in a more awkward sense. One image that will forever be burned into my mind is when the prisoners take a public shower with each other. Cue the party music as they rub a dub like they were miles away from any sort of horrible and violent situation. This scene is classic mostly because it's sandwiched so tightly between such serious moments.