How does a sad-eyed, mediocre encyclopedia salesman rouse his artistic sensibilities and begin to make pornos starring his equally mundane wife? The answer lies in director Pablo Berger’s adept “Torremolinos 73” which (like PT Andersons’ “Boogie Nights”) is both a fantasy about artists with only pedestrian tools to express themselves and the threads of the family they create. It is never vulgar, however, given its subject matter and, it never grandstands, like some of Anderson’s ’70’s magnum opus. It actually shares more of Tim Burton’s fiendish movie-geek sentiments from “Ed Wood” with its main character almost cursed with a voracious desire to make films despite his artistic and financial handicaps.
Alfredo Lopez (Javier Camara) is a dopey and depressed encyclopedia salesman whose luck seems to run the gamut of most movie encyclopedia salespeople, especially when all its 10 volumes only cover the Spanish Civil War. His relationship with his wife Carmen seems to be the only beacon in his dreary universe, but with the only blemish that she wants a child and he is medically impotent. Their luck changes, however, when Alfredo’s bosses request a confidential weekend conference with him and his wife and another couple. It seems that their “Swedish” clients requested a specialized encyclopedia detailing human sexual behavior and they want visual aids to sell, with the models being paid much more than if they were selling regular encyclopedias. “Experts” are on-call to explain to the couples how to make an effective film and Alfredo and Carmen are taught the basics.
“Torremolinos 73” could have kept its tone light and it does during these passages. At first, Carmen and Alfredo fumble with the camera. The results, grainy footage combined with the pair devising some increasingly goofy scenarios like cowboys outfits or nurse/patients scenarios all set in their hostile ’70’s décor, made me feel like Benny Hill was about to emerge from a closet. Alfredo, however, discovers and nurtures his artistic inspiration while watching Ingmar Bergman’s “The Seventh Seal” on TV and commences writing his tour de force while devouring books on the master. And, as luck would have it, Carmen becomes a vixen in Sweden with enough star-power to attract Swedish tourists in department stores. This fame culminates in Alfredo being asked to write, produce and direct his vision: ‘Torremolinos 73,’ complete with a real crew and actors, starring Carmen without Alfedo, which leads to a crisis of conscience for both.
What I loved about “Torremolinos 73” was its ready sense of the film geek and his passion for movies. Alfredo makes his films out of a heady intoxication for film during a time when movies were still seen as an exciting and even exotic art-form, especially in Europe. His films themselves may not be everyone’s dish, but the passion he injects into them certainly is compelling. I may also note that Candela Pena is also very good in the tough role of Carmen, whose duality between ordinary housewife and vixen in the “educational films” is a great concoction of alluring physicality and subtle poignancy.
–Joe Ramirez
