A Teta e a Lua

In Bigas Lunas' final part of his 'Iberian passion trilogy', The Tit & the Moon is both a refreshingly open foray into the fantasies of the female flesh by a young boy, Tete (Biel Duan) but also one with more of a message.

In his mind, breast milk means love, as his mother's maternal affections turn totally to his baby brother. When she breast-feeds him and he nuzzles up and is content and happy - and Tete is not, Tete soon decides that what he needs from Life is a breast all to himself.

On a silvery, moonlit beach, one night, he prays for such and soon a French couple, a cabaret double act, move in locally and his fascinations and fantasies turn to her. She's (Mathilda May) a knowing and sexy sort of circus dancer - dark and seductive.

Whilst the film deals openly and slightly naughtily about sex, desire and womanly seduction, it never feels dirty or squalid, though you wouldn't make it the no. 1 choice to show to your Granny. The humour is earthy and natural, whilst as with the best of European cinema, there's that hint of fantasy and a heightened, fiery emotion.

The Tit &... is gentler and less charged than the other two of Luna's trilogy - arguably Jamon Jamon is better, Goldenballs a bit of a bad mistake and this, with its narration by the young boy, it's more akin to Cinema Paradiso. It also has a certain charm about it and in some ways, The Tit &... could be my favourite of Lunas' trilogy.

Probably Bigas Luna's finest achievement for it achieves a delicate balance between sleaze, eroticism and surrealism. The delicious Mathilda May, who spent most of Tobe Hooper's "Lifeforce" in the buff, is the object of young Biel Duran's pre-teen lust. He can't get May's breasts out of his mind and wants so badly to suckle them and suckle the breasts of his own mother, too. His pursuit of May IS the film. As in Luna works such as "Lulu" and "Jamon! Jamon!", the director brings a slightly warped sexual sensibility to his strange but beautiful tale. The usual suspects will be offended, but those with open minds will enjoy this frothy erotic poem to the female breast. José Luis Alcaine's images are gorgeous and Nicola Piovani's score is sweet and rich. A gorgeous cinematic confection with a delightfully anarchic sensibility that the Spanish do so naturally.

What did I just watch? The movie was bad. So the plot is that Tete doesn't want to share the milk with his brother so he decides to find his own "source of milk?". The plot was so absurd and disturbing. The movie wants to deliver a message that "women only produce milk, women with big breasts are beautiful, and women are born to serve men ". Great sexual objectification there. I'll never get my 90 minutes back. A lot of female topless scenes and sex scenes like I watching a porn clip. Thought it would be better than that. The rating wasn't supposed to be 6 out of 10 overall. 5 would be the highest.

Nine-year-old Tete (Biel Duran) has a problem any older brother can relate to . The child cannot stand the idea of having a new brother and dreams about drinking milk from the breasts of his mother again . As the family's new arrival has replaced him at his mummy's (Laura Maña) breast . The boy asks and invokes the moon to bring him a tit only for him . Then , an imposing woman called Estrellita (Mathilda May) , a Gallic performer , comes in and he falls in love for her . However , his adolescent brother (Miguel Poveda) already his eyes on her . While the gorgeous lady herself seems sweet on her stage colleague Maurice (Gerard Darmon). The whole issue being unified by the scene of the tit suckling one and all .

Typical and stirring Bigas Luna picture filled with strange happenings , twisted events , erotic scenes and surrealist images . This attractive as well as erotic story is a passionate retelling and an ironical story about a dreamer kid in which his short age doesn't avoid to follow his impossible dream . Full of visual images , fetishism and wonderful scenes , but including bad taste and strong sex scenes with loads of female nudism . Third part of Bigas Luna's "Iberian Trilogy" also adding Jamón, Jamón and Golden eggs . The first installment ¨Jamon , Jamon¨¨ concerns on satiric machismo in which a ¨macho man¨ falls in love for a lower-class girl ; ¨Huevos De Oro¨ dealt with a mean young attempts to build the great phallic symbol of power , at whatever cost ; while ¨The tit and the moon¨ director Bigas Luna adopts a more reflective approach . It's more sympathetic , gentler piece than its immediate predecessors . Filmmaker Luna sets up symbolic opposition between sexual experience of the various males and their excessive youth . In the flick we find brief description about several Catalan habits such as : human castles , Bread with tomato , Barretinas , Sardana music , among others . This Spanish picture is an enjoyable tale with a thought-provoking characterizing about a few characters , compelling drama and colorful outdoors . It is an overblown as well as strange drama , including surrealist elements , being screen-written by the same filmmaker along with his usual screen-writer Cuca Canals . Director Bigas Luna also writes the script filmed in his usual formal and stylistic scholarship , without leaving a trace the brooding issues , in terms of dramatic and narrative excitement . However , the film's essential problem is its failure to generate the sort of pace drive that would forge its metaphoric patterns into interesting drama . The storyline relies heavily on the continued dreams of the starring , including a lot of sexual scenes , almost softcore , but it doesn't make boring , however the film is entertaining . In spite of , the movie results to be acceptable and compellingly realized . Bigas carries out a perfect imaginary , a willingness almost perfect of the elements of each shot , every sequence, every space . Good acting by quartet protagonist , all of them give fine performances , such as Biel Duran as likable child who must invoke the moon for a new tit to call his own ; Miguel Poveda as a sex-crazed teenager usually singing Andalucian songs and Gerard Darmon as anguished romantic performer , his interpretation is genuinely moving . And special mention to Mathilda May, she is marvelous and charming with her sweet and enjoyable countenance and appealing body . Sensitive as well as evocative musical score by Nicola Piovani who won Academy Award for ¨Life is beautiful¨. Furthermore , a colorful and evocative cinematography by Jose Luis Alcaine who was first cinematographer to use fluorescent tube as "key" lightning and deemed to be one of the best Spanish cameraman . Alcaine frequently works with Pedro Almodóvar , Bigas Luna and Vicente Aranda , as he has photographed ¨The skin I live in¨ , The bad education¨ , ¨Volver¨ , ¨Women in the verge of a nervous breakdown¨, among others . Here he shows splendidly the impressive landscapes from Cataluña.

The motion picture was stunningly directed by Bigas Luna , but somehow it's the disturbing as well as shocking of dream-sequence lactation on the end that still succours the strongest and rarest impression. Luna follows his particular style , plenty of sex , food references and surrealist homages including some abstract dream sequences . Bigas Luna was born on March 19, 1946 in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain as Josep Joan Bigas Luna . He was a Bon Vivant who along with his wife, produced wine, ham, and organic products ; they are well shown in his films . He was a writer and director, known for ¨Jamón, Jamón¨ (1992), ¨Huevos de Oro¨ or ¨Golden eggs¨ (1993) "The Chambermaid on the Titanic" , ¨Angustia¨ or ¨Anguish¨ (1987) , this ¨The tit and the moon¨ , ¨Volaverunt¨ , ¨Yo soy La Juani¨, ¨Di , Di Hollywwod¨ among others . He's also an expert on murky atmosphere such as proved in ¨Caniche¨ , ¨Tatuaje¨, ¨Bilbao¨ , ¨Anguish¨ and ¨Reborn¨. Luna discovered actors Ariadna Gil, Leonor Watling , Javier Bardem and Penélope Cruz . He sadly died recently on April 6, 2013 in Tarragona, Catalonia . This film ¨La Teta Y La Luna¨ is stylishly photographed and smartly designed and here Bigas Luna delivers his ordinary and erotic goods with nice sense of style . The picture will appeal to Mathilda May fans and Bigas Luna buffs.

I recently saw Iñárritu's most recent experiment with cinematic narrative, so I pulled this out. I've been saving it for such an occasion, where I need something from a Spanish mind that is as direct as anything in Hollywood.

But it involves two things that Hollywod just cannot seem to do: pre-adolescent wonder about sex, and genuine magical realism. I don't like the term because it is at once too broad (like "surrealism" and "irony") and at the same time usually expressed too simply. Here, the magical worlds we shift in and out of are worlds driven by lactation: one of a boy's fantasy yearning a the second of the physics of what he encounters explained through that world. And there's a third which is shared only between us as adults and the filmmaker.

That adult magical world is populated by a French couple: a young dancer played by the desirable Mathilda May and her husband who performs with her. His stage skill is farting, and he bills himself as the man of fire, appearing in fire-painted leathers and with a motorcycle as prop, both for the stage show and the film proper.

There's a magical folding of course between the show they put on, the one confabulated by the boy, the one we see in the film, and one managed by the boys' dad. In this latter case, the boy strives to be the top of a penis constructed of men. It begins the film where the boy fails and ends with him fully erect, imagining May's breasts, suckling both her's and his mother's.

The French performing farter is loosely based on a real French performer: Joseph Pujol, billed as Le Pétomane. He was the most successful entertainer in late nineteenth century France.

This film isn't Spanish at all, instead from a land called Catalonia, a quite unique land that some would say is temporarily occupied by Spain. Its a rather wonderful place which includes Barcelona. The language is more impulsive than French, more languidly sensual than Italian and far more pleasing to the ear than Spanish. It borders on France and has been influenced linguistically at least by that proximity. But just as the Brazilains make fun of the Portuguese, so the Catalons make fun of the French. You have to know that to appreciated the lack of wholeness the French couple has, plus jokes like the French loaf for a penis.

Performing: the couple performs on stage; the little boy on top of the human phallus; the older teen on the woman (and singing to her); and certain nipples produce on call.

Ted's Evaluation -- 3 of 3: Worth watching.