Donne sopra, femmine sotto

I'm a big fan of Italian films from the seventies, and I wouldn't hesitate to list the beautiful Barbara Bouchet among my favourite actresses of all time, so I did go into this film with some hopes. However, it soon becomes apparent that this is a largely pointless film that isn't going to go anywhere. Clearly nobody would go into this expecting much more, but the fact that this is pointless gets more annoying when you consider that it's also rather dull and none of the characters are interesting. As the title suggests, the film focuses on a 'rogue'; in this case one that steals, womanises and smuggles stuff. That's basically all the plot that this movie has. The film does have a real 'seventies style' to it and the idea of it all being very carefree gets across well. It sometimes seems like directors Boro Draskovic and Gregory Simpson were trying to put across some sort of point, although whatever that point is doesn't come across very well. Seeing Barbara Bouchet on screen is always a pleasure, and that is the case here too; she's definitely the best thing about the film and the sequence in which she hangs out of a car naked is the best part of the film. Overall, The Rogue will probably have some appeal for people who love the seventies style, but unfortunately it doesn't have much else to offer.

I think this film would make an excellent double-feature with "The Mean Machine" (also a Barbara Bouchet cinematic vehicle). Boro Draskovic's 1971 doozey "The Rogue" is just as silly, just as exploitative, stupid n' sexist, and just about as much fun (depending on your idea of fun). Marquee headliner Milan Galovic (looking a little like Scott Walker from the Walker Brothers) plays a young womanizing opportunist who's out to get all he can, in a really sloppy way. He's a pimp, philanderer, cocaine smuggler (but a shister one at that), and quiz show cheat. After a while he's even just annoying to look at, especially when his inner thoughts keep coming out in the form of a voice over. It's really hard to follow the exploits of someone who is suppose to be charming, but really he's just grating (on your nerves that is). Barbara Bouchet shows up though as his American girlfriend, and they drive around the country in his convertible sports car with her standing up nude waving her hands in the air. Lots of soft core stuff follows, with the director zooming in on too much tongue action that becomes silly, then tiresome, and finally gross. Even though I quite like Barbara, this film fails to excite, and one gets the impression that it was strickly a paycheck film. The music for the film (though a little lackluster) is ok, but contains a song (with vocals heavily influenced by Edda Del Orso) that is played so often that becomes aural torture. To Barbara's credit, she does catch on to Milan's shifty ways and drops the loser. Once Milan is dumped, he's already set out trying to seduce and con Margaret Lee (the new girlfriend), which will eventually be his own unmaking. Again we are subjected to more softcore footage of Milan and Margaret (if the latter failed to excite, then this is no better), and again I begin to clockwatch. The director does try to insert moments of artsy footage, that just falls to trash. Scenes of an artist spray painting nude girls, and footage of falling paint cans as Milan is stabbed to death seems contrived. But the fact that he does get stabbed to death is relevent to one factor...it's the end of the film. A pretty depressing film, with little to recommend, I found it interesting that the video box art claimed it to be a cult classic. Looking at the number of votes and reviews on IMDB, I find this highly doubtful.

The scoring may be a little generous but I'm a sucker for films of this period that are, well so, of the period. It is clear pretty early on this is not really going anywhere and we can just relax and enjoy the flesh and music, taking in the occasional distraction. Some of these asides seem rather 'real' and the authoritarian hair cutting of a group of youngsters a bit scary. One has to be aware here that there were many in the fragile union, that was Yugoslavia, not at all keen on the western influences 'infecting' their young and the contrast between the poor, traditional locals and the whiskey drinking, hippy loving young was vast. So for the most part this is a carefree, sexy super early 70s movie but there is a darker background and when the tale is infused with an aborted drug deal, the only way is down. Great performances and a most interesting film that seems to capture an aspect of the time perfectly.