«Bellas de noche» is a documentary that becomes painful to the eye and not because it reflects how old age and the physical alterations that these showgirls inflicted upon themselves have left them as little more than human wrecks. It is painful because it shows how five women were trafficked, abused, exploited and abused by their male counterparts: Princesa Yamal, Wanda Seux, Rossy Mendoza, Olga Breeskin and Lyn May. Whether they are aware of the facts or not does not affect the equation, but in the cases of those who do know what they were subjected to, their stories reach the level of tragedy. Perhaps the less exciting cases of the film are the stories of Lyn May, a freak of few contrasts, too frivolous, banal and sadly less informed, to become attractive and even to take her seriously; and Olga Breeskin, who took the always thorny path of religion as a lifeline, while her appearance suggests other intentions. Breeskin is the only one who openly alludes to alcoholism, drug addiction and sexual promiscuity, but apparently she always counted on the favor of her admirers, who have allowed her to continue her "spiritual" preaching with her trademark violin and under 20 kilos of makeup. In contrast, Rossy Mendoza and, above all, southern Wanda Seux and Princesa Yamal are women who went through a harder road of marketing their images, in the margins of prostitution, who faced the violation of their right to a fair trial, who went to jail, suffered diseases and became impoverished, without the celebrity of the others, who feel more "revered" than used by all the men who passed through their lives and trampled them. Mendoza shows footage where she is profusely groped by male cast members, in titillating movies, too hypocritical to show what they really wanted: hard core pornography. Mendoza chose literature as a kind of "route of expiatio"n and published her memories and reflections. Then there is the Paraguayan Wanda Seux, a fascinating character who, at almost 70 years old, had a highly appreciable, well-modulated singing voice, and dedicated herself to the protection of animals. However, the one that really seems to have reached a greater fullness in her older adult life is the Argentinian Princesa Yamal, who today is at peace with her past life, her triumphs and setbacks. Director María José Cuevas has tried to exalt aspects of these five lives by talking about their "empowerment" as women. Perhaps it would be more opportune to talk about their willpower and tenacity, than to speak about facts that suggest that they "empowered" themselves of little, though valuable: their own self-esteem. However, Cuevas knew how to harmonize the five contrasting and varied biographies, in a moving, attractive and quite hard product, that remains as testimony of an era and a profession that no longer manifests itself with these ambiguous characteristics, in the limit of the permissible and the forbidden. Highly recommended. Bravo.
