Monday, September 27, 2010

Danke Schön Dolores, Danke Schön

Across the Bridge (1957) - Annakin
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When a German born industrialist Carl Schaffner(Rod Steiger) hears the news of investigation by the Scotland Yard on his company while on a business trip to New York, he plans his escape to Mexico by train. But on the way there, he finds out that there is an arrest warrant out for him and that the border is notified of his disappearance. He manages to swap his identity with a fellow traveler by drugging him, taking his passport and throwing him overboard. Then he discovers the guy he took the identity of is a wanted man in Mexico for assassinating a Governor there.

So starts this unusual noir that is in part Trading Places, part Strangers on a Train and part Touch of Evil that develops in to the best love story btwn man and his dog ever put on film. Elaborate and not too convincing plot settles down when Schaffner gets stranded in the small Mexican town with no chance of escaping. His luck turns sour when his ignorant gringo millionaire shtick no longer buys him any help, thanks to a Mexican police chief who seems to be bent on teaching the man a lesson.

Adapted from a short story by Graham Greene, with all the financial scandals and the US-Mexico border issues, Across the Bridge really needs to be revived for today's audience. Steiger is of course, at his sweaty best, going from a bespectacled, hands rubbing industrialist to a calculating thief and a murderer to a "habla Inglés?" bum in the dusty streets of Mexico with a dog named Dolores as his only friend. Danke schön, Dolores, danke schön.

Sensual Panique

Alucarda (1978) - Moctezuma
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After her parents' death, 15 yr old virginal Justine(Susana Camini) is sent to the convent/orphanage. There she meets Alucarda (Tina Romero), a dark haired beauty with mischievous smile. They develop a relationship quickly even though Justine smells danger around her new, mysterious friend. After their naked blood-letting initiation with a Puck like creature, the Sisters and the priests at the convent suspect that the girls are possessed by the devil and perform a barbaric exorcism on Justine on a cross. A big mistake.

I'm not a huge fan of Mexican Panic Movement of the '70s that includes Arabal and Jodorowsky who presented surreal, counterculture epics. But their colleague Juan Lopez Moctezuma seems he had a different sensibility. It's very sensual and I like it a lot. The film has almost eastern European feel to it (Valerie and Her Week of Wonders comes to mind). Vibrant color palette and organic looking sets are quite beautful to look at. Plenty of nudity, vampirism, beheading and spontaneous combustion occur throughout, all in the sacred ground. The craftmanship and its subversive nature of the film makes it more than just a b-horror.