Misfortunes of Imaginary Beings: 08/23/24

A blog formerly known as Bookishness / By Charles Matthews

"Dazzled by so many and such marvelous inventions, the people of Macondo ... became indignant over the living images that the prosperous merchant Bruno Crespi projected in the theater with the lion-head ticket windows, for a character who had died and was buried in one film and for whose misfortune tears had been shed would reappear alive and transformed into an Arab in the next one. The audience, who had paid two cents apiece to share the difficulties of the actors, would not tolerate that outlandish fraud and they broke up the seats. The mayor, at the urging of Bruno Crespi, explained in a proclamation that the cinema was a machine of illusions that did not merit the emotional outbursts of the audience. With that discouraging explanation many ... decided not to return to the movies, considering that they already had too many troubles of their own to weep over the acted-out misfortunes of imaginary beings."
--Gabriel García Márquez, One Hundred Years of Solitude

Friday, August 23, 2024

Baba Yaga (Corrado Farina, 1973)

Carroll Baker and Isabella De Funès in Baba Yaga

Cast: Carroll Baker, Isabella De Funès, George Eastman, Ely Galleani, Daniela Balzaretti, Mario Mattia Giorgetti, Sergio Masieri, Angela Covello, Cesarina Amendola. Screenplay: Corrado Farina, Giulio Berruti, François de Lannurien, based on the graphic novels of Guido Crepax. Cinematography: Alace Parolin. Art direction: Giulia Mafai. Film editing: Giulio Berruti. Music: Piero Umiliani.

If this silly attempt at an erotic horror thriller hadn't been botched in pre-production by changes in producer, production company, and cast, and if it hadn't been heavily cut in post-production without director Corrado Farina's involvement or even knowledge, it might have been more coherent and involving. But even that's doubtful. It was only Farina's second feature film as director, and he never made another. Moreover, it's based on a tiresome and offensive trope: the predatory lesbian. The title character, played by Carroll Baker, has no resemblance to the hag of Slavic legend. She's a mysterious recluse living in a decaying mansion in Milan. One night, she runs into -- literally, in her car -- the fashion photographer Valentina (Isabella De Funès), whom she begins to cast a spell over, partly by hexing Valentina's Hasselblad. Weird stuff involving a doll in S&M garb that comes to life ensues, and Valentina has to be rescued from Baba Yaga's clutches by her boyfriend (George Eastman). People familiar with Guido Crepax's adult comics may appreciate the film more than those who aren't. I'm not, and I found it more tedious than titillating.