Take mortadella, obsession, pasta, knickers, excesses, promises, and tears, plus a naughty girl, a bottle-blond brother, and add a furious beast and lots and lots of love, and what do you get?
The answer, obviously, is something thought up by the wild, salivating mind of Bigas Luna. In this case, Bambola, his latest tongue-in-chic pic, which plays in the Venetian Nights.
Bambola kicks off Bigas' next trilogy, paeans to la regazza italiana, la femme française (a project called La femme de chambre de Titanic) and la mujer espanola (a louche version of Carmen). Bambola stars Valeria Marini as the nearest a human can get to an earthquake; whatever she does provokes hot seismic reactions.
Marina plays Bambola, who runs a trattoria with her mum (Anita Ekberg, no less), and her gay brother (Stefano Dionisi, star of Farinelli). Both siblings fall for a gigolo, Settimio (Manuel Bandera), who kills a rival suitor and lands up in jail. On a visit there, Bambola meets Furio ('the furious beast'), who intimates to Settimio that he should leave Bambola alone (or with Furio) by having him raped. Furio gets out of jail and pursues the unfortunate Bambola.
Bambola has the passionate density of a telenovela. But Bigas Luna has always had an over-the-top style. In a TV commercial this year, he had Marini sprawled on the bonnet of a car, promoting motor oil. In Jamon, Jamon, he had Penelope Cruz bonking her way to fame under an Osborne bull sign. Bambola is stuffed with Bigas' trade-marks: the iconic bric-a-brac of a culture; the frantic pace; the (often missed) self-parody; the gluttony and sexual gloating. And above all: the hedonism. 'Mangia Mangia, qui ti fara bene; Piange piange, que ti fara bene,' entreats Bigas. In other words: get a life; enjoy. John Hopewell
Prod cos: Rodeo Drive, Star Line Productions, UGC Images
Dir: Bigas Luna
Scr: Bigas Luna, Cesare Frugone
Ph: Fabio Conversa
Cos: Mercedes Gutierrez
Mus: Lucio Dalla
Cast: Valeria Marini, Jorge Perrugoria, Manuel Bandera, Stefano Dionisi
Running time: 95 mins
Int sales: UGC International
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