Fuego

Not quite as jaw dropping as some Japanese 'pinks' perhaps but this Argentinean gem gets pretty close. A product of writer, director and male lead, Mr Armanso Bo who also happens to be the husband of the unbelievable Isabel Sarli. Is this soft porn, high art or melodrama? Well, it's not high art but is kitsch enough to attract attention now and again away from Ms Sarli's considerable assets. Torrid, overwrought and bursting with energy, what this lacks in leading lady acting skills makes up for in originality and startling images. Sex in the snow, a geriatric lesbian maid, random breast exposure plus kissing close-ups so gross you will have to hide behind the sofa. If the dialogue doesn't make you giggle then the soundtrack will, at once naive, derivative, repetitive and irresistible. Much like the whole film, come to think about it.

When mentioned at all, this movie is often compared (usually unfavorably) to a Russ Meyer film largely due to to the pendulous charms of its leading lady, Isabela Sarli. However, director Armando Bo, while technically less talented than Meyer (and seemingly unable to afford a dolly) is also refreshingly much less pretentious than Meyer, and his overripe, unintentially hilarious dialogue is much more entertaining than the wry, pseudo-hip dialogue penned by Meyer collaborators like Roger Ebert. This movie mostly resembles an especially entertaining Latin American telenovela except that it was shot on filmstock before liposuction and plastic surgery was all the rage and Latina actresses looked like human beings rather than plastic brunette sex dolls.

Sarli, who was the director's real-life wife, carries the movie, of course, as an insatiable woman who destroys the lives of everyone around her with her hilariously compulsive infidelities. Sarli certainly fits the physical mold of a south-of-the-border Meyer girl, but where Meyer's actresses were all pretty much strippers and Hollywood casting couch veterans not terribly different from the promiscuous characters they played in his movies, Sarli was reputedly a nice Catholic girl who hated doing nude scenes (which is kind of like finding out that Michael Jordan hated playing basketball) and whose international career never took off due to her loyalty to her hack-director husband. Thus Sarli is actually acting here a little, and while her talent may be strictly limited, at least she HAS some talent, which is more than can be said for most Meyer girls.

The best thing about this though is the cheesy Spanish music which is even more ridiculous than the dialogue but in Spanish and put to music ("Fuego! en tu boca/Fuego! en tu corazon/Fuego! en tu alma"). Listening to this over and over while watching Sarli have her voluptuous body licked dry by her homely lesbian maid after a nude swim or dressed only in a fur coat and fondling herself in front of male strangers on the street is truly a unique cinematic experience.

FUEGO's director Armando Bo has been called Argentina's answer to Russ Meyer, and the stunning (and, yes, well-endowed) star of FUEGO,Isabel Sarli, would not at all be out of place in a Meyer film. One is even tempted to describe FUEGO as a South American version of Meyer's VIXEN, in that both films depict the exploits (or sexploits) of an insatible, irrestible woman. On the down side, Bo lacks Meyer's flair for disorientating camera angles and rapid-fire editing, but nonetheless, FUEGO features enough inventive camera work and (of course)gratuitous nudity to keep the viewer alert, and contains moments that are erotic and disturbing -- often at the same time! Overall, by no means a masterpiece, but a provocative and even compelling step above most so-called "nudie-films."

This film is nothing to write home about and was controversial for its time. However,Isabal Sarli is on fire in this film. She is in heat all the time and is ready to bed any man who is interested and if none can be found, she lets her lesbian maid have her way with her. What is a bit strange is that Sarli who was in her early 30s is taken to bed by all older and not overly handsome men. Even her lesbian maid is in her 50s. Well, if you want to see Isabel Sarli on fire see this movie; if not, order a pizza.

That's about all I have good to say about this. I blame either bad-dubbing, the alcohol needed to build the courage to watch this, or a combination of the two, but I found myself utterly confused by this movie. The lesbian mid-wife, servant, escort, whatever, served to do nothing other than make me want to stick a mousetrap in my pants. The large breasted star had two things going for her...and I do believe I just mentioned that. Her geriatric, lesbian servant...she made my flesh crawl. And her balding boyfriend, oh he was my favorite. The look on his face whilst Mrs. Hot Stuff was undulating with desire in the ice cold snow...that look, didn't really say to me "oh you're so beautiful and mysterious, I want you now". To me, it looked more like a bewildered, "Get the F#$% out of the snow, you moron." I hate this movie.