snoozer1

This one is a forgotten gem. I watched it again after some 35 years and it struck me that all the ingredients for a good film are on display. Firstly, a stellar cast that are all uniformly excellent. A directer who, tho predominately from a TV background, innately understands the material .. and lastly, a wonderfully taught script by Jay Presson Allen who would go on to pen such films as Hitchcock's "Marnie" and "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie".

If you're a fan of the genre, in this case the early 60's 'sex comedy', you could do worse than to seek this out. It's a cut above the Doris Day/Rock Hudson films of the period.

I don't know who manages the back-catalogue for Paramount, but this could certainly do with a DVD release given the popularity of the afore-mentioned Day/Hudson films and the buying power of the baby boomers. Certainly, it has more 'bite' in the screenplay with some dialogue that obviously went under the censor's radar at the time.

I've seen 2 more recent offerings on DVD from director Michel Deville and quite enjoyed them so I thought I would give "La Femme en Bleu" a try. This one didn't do it for me I'm afraid.

The story is simple enough. Pierre spots "The Woman in Blue" in a shop one day and is instantly intrigued. He wonders to himself whether he should approach her but decides against it. Upon leaving the shop he again sees her in the distance and slowly his intrigue turns into obsession. The rest of the film sees us joining Pierre in his quest to find this mysterious woman. He enlists his friend Edmond to assist in locating her and also draws in his sometime lover Aurelie (Massari) who reluctantly agrees to help him as well.

That's the film really ... at a plot level anyway. Of course, Deville is exploring more deeper concepts here, primarily that of OBSESSION. Pierre's obsession with the mysterious woman in blue and Aurelie's obsession with him. Why would she assist in the search for a potential rival? Perhaps a little bit of the 'if you can't beat him - join him' philosophy perhaps? This is a FRENCH film afterall !! The music of Schubert features prominently throughout as both a background score and often as a plot device. Most films are written and then scored later -- watching this however, I couldn't help but feel the Deville chose some of his favourite Schubert pieces and constructed a film around them. A novel approach if nothing else.

I must say i did find "La Femme en Bleu" quite chauvinistic tho. Piccoli's character is far from likable and why Aurelie tags along just doesn't ring true ... but as I said earlier ... this IS a French film. I doubt it would appeal to a female audience (they may even find it offensive) and, frankly, has little to recommend it it to a male one either.

I caught a little bit of "Haz Conmigo lo que Quieras" on cable one night and it immediately grabbed my attention. To my surprise i found it was available on DVD so i immediately purchased it.

The plot is not simple to describe as it takes a number of twists and turns. Essentially, it's the story of Manalo - a debt collector who's job it is to harass his targets into paying up. His job is to dress up in a bunny suit, follow them wherever they go and embarrass them into coughing up the dough! This can be both humiliating and fraught with danger (as Manolo soon finds out). Along the way he meets Maribel (played by the wonderful Ingrid Rubio) and the attraction is instant. Together with Maribel, Manolo sets out to prove to his boss that he is ready to dump the bunny suit and move up the ladder to 'strongarm' man in the debt collection agency.

This film should certainly appeal to fans of Almodóvar or even Tarantino. It's a wonderfully quirky, sexy little black comedy as only the Spanish can do. All the more surprising considering it's the directorial debut of Ramón De España. He shows a wonderful flair for character development and comedy.

Grab the DVD ... you wont be sorry.