TORREMOLINOS 73
Directed & Written by: Pablo Berger.
Produced by: Tomás Cimadevilla.
Director of Photography: Kiko de la Rica.
Music by: Nacho Mastretta.
Released by: First Run.
Language: Spanish with English subtitles.
Country of Origin: Spain/Denmark. 91 min. Not Rated.
With: Javier Cámara, Candela Peña & Mads Mikkelsen.

Torremolinos 73, set in the waning days of Franco’s Spain, tells the humorous story of a middle-class couple in need of money and their journey into the porn industry. Surprisingly entertaining, it also offers cleverly intertwined social commentary on issues such as labor politics, sexual relationships and even gender roles.

Alfredo Montoya’s job as a door-to-door salesman of encyclopedias is not going well. His boss invites him and other colleagues to a weekend conference about the company’s new direction - to focus on the “scientific experimentation of the sexual habits” of the Spanish for the “Danish World Encyclopedia of Reproduction.” The salesmen will be taught by two Scandinavian “experts” to handle a camera and film their own sex lives with their spouses, for which they will receive a lot of money. If they decline, as the boss puts it, “the company will no longer need their services.” In other words, porn or die. What follows is a very good mixture of comedy and tragedy, which conveys the naiveté of Alfredo, his wife Carmen’s primal need for a child, and his boss’ total lack of principles. Becoming a director, the endearing Alfredo worries about his porn videos’ camera angles, characters’ positions (no pun intended) and atmosphere (inspired by Ingmar Bergman). He even writes a screenplay, full of every cliché in the book.

When Alfredo (Javier Cámara) and Carmen (Candela Peña) first go to a reproduction clinic, he is shocked to find out he is expected to have a sperm test, and says he was just accompanying her. Because, of course, if there are any problems in conceiving, it is always the woman’s fault. Men are men, and in this society, more than just his pride would be attacked. His first comment when she tells him they can’t have children is, “I told you it wasn’t me,” paving the way for the denouement.

All in all, Torremolinos 73 is a very satisfactory film, with naturalistic performances and funny as well as intelligent dialogue. The ending, however, comes as no surprise – by the middle of the film it can be predicted. A special mention of the music: with songs from ‘70s icons, they will resonate with Hispanic audiences and help convey the naiveté of the main characters and the contrast between dreams and reality. Roxana M. Ramirez
April 15, 2005