Passione violenta

The two leads are French in a Spanish context ,which does not help credibility(particularly the blond girl).The movie constantly fluctuates between thriller and S/M relationship between a corrupt cop and a gangster's moll.The thriller side is worthless ,the umpteenth attack on security guards.The "psychological" side is not more successful,Fanny's behavior defying any logic.A lot of nudity and a crude language (almost every conversation revolves around sex)do not make this film appealing for all that.In order to give the movie an "intellectual" flavor,a sociologist's comments frame it.

This is an intriguing and suspenseful Spanish production full of thrills , cheating , lots of nudity , twists and turns . It deals with a robber woman named Fanny (Fanny Cottencon) , she has been in prison and now , she has got freedom at last ; as Fanny seeks vengeance against the corrupt cop called Andres Gallego (Bruno Cremer) that broke her denture when he arrested her . However , the brutal policeman spontaneously became passionately involved with her into a masochist relationship . Later on , she organizes a robbing to an armored van , in which the ex-cop is now working . The hold-up is carefully schemed , Fanny pretends the perfect robbery recruiting expert delinquents , involving the robbery of a blinded security truck . Fanny along with her colleagues wielding ¨Cetme¨ rifles and carry out a perfect hold-up and after that , they head to skirts city where she again meets Andres Gallego and executes her vendetta . But the bad luck does the crime gone awry . Then , Fanny nearly rents a room from a hotel and takes place a surprising final .

Exciting thriller plenty of violence , suspense , sexual scenes , intrigue , crude language , delusions and plot twists . Despite being somewhat of a cinematic cliché, rarely has a feature been so aptly deserving of its description as a thriller film along with some elements from Noir cinema such as Femme Fatale appearance . It is a decent picture in which suspense is well developed from start to finish by means of some flashbacks , though crammed with abundant erotic scenes -in Softcore style- between Fanny Cottencon and Bruno Cremer . Interesting as well as twisted screenplay from the same director , he adapted the script based on a novel by Andreu Martín titled "Prótesis" filled with violence , emotion , intrigue , turns and profanities , as almost every dialog revolves around sexual relations . This is a film in which the roles are unpleasant and unfriendly , and when you start making your own conclusions on the topic, suddenly something happens and you instantly change the course of your thoughts . Passable performance by protagonist duo as Fanny Cottencon as a sexy thief with a shady past and whose behavior defying any reasoning . Nice acting by Bruno Cremer as rotten as well as grumpy policeman who mistreats Fanny and his family . Bruno has appeared in dozens of films, including The 317th Platoon, Is Paris Burning?, William Friedkin's Sorcerer and Bertrand Blier's Ménage . Cremer also appeared in over fifty television movies as the popular Commissaire Jules Maigret . Fine support cast such as Paco Algora , Berta Cabré , Ian Sera ,Marta Padovan and Paca Gabaldón . Colorful cinematography by Juan Amoros , filmed on location in Barcelona , showing efficiently slums , barrios and squares . I think it's an acceptable thriller and it sure kept me interested till the very amazing end . This heist movie packs thrills , emotion , violent scenes , extraordinary performances and exciting finale . Recommended to the suspense , Noir Film and thriller buffs .

This motion picture titled "Fanny Straw-Top" - International title - was well produced by Spanish/French producers , being professionally directed by veteran filmmaker Vicente Aranda . He directed a series of award-winning movies firmly establishing him as one of the best Spanish filmmakers . Vicente is an expert on literary adaptations , he has been working from the 60s with ¨Fata Morgana¨ , Las Crueles¨ and ¨Novia Ensangrentada¨ . His greatest successes were intense dramas with plenty of sex such as ¨Amantes¨, ¨Pasion Turca¨ , ¨Si Dicen Que Cai¨ , ¨Intruso¨ , ¨Tiempo De Silencio¨ , ¨Carmen¨ , and specially the historical story titled ¨Juana La Loca¨.

What attracted me to this film were Bruno Cremer and Fanny Cottencon who are two good french actors. Unfortunately they are teamed in a lost cause here. The film being a co-production between Spain and France, we have to believe that those two french characters (a whore and a cop) evolve in Spain for some unknown reasons! Having seen the film in french, it is clear that during the shooting of the picture both lead actors spoke french while the rest of the cast spoke Spanish. Worst than that is the screenplay that doesn't care to be original at all. Not satisfied by the fact she made a cop lose his job and even got him in jail for a few years, a prostitute avenges the death of her former lover (and the brutality she physically suffered from this dirty cop) by arranging and robbing the money from a secure bank truck in which the now ex-cop works as a watchman. They meet again later, she "makes his day" and ends up in an asylum... Unless you like a little trivial sex scene here and there, this slow paced film with bad lighting will probably only be testing your patience. Avoid it!