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Released by: Intervision Pictures
Released on: 2/8/2011
Director: Jess Franco
Cast: Carmen Montes, Paula Davis Lina Romay
Year: 2010
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The Movie:
As a fan of Franco's 70s and early 80s work, I wasn't expecting much from Paula-Paula: An Audiovisual Experience considering how much I dislike his more recent films, especially his One Shot Productions collaborations. I was trying to stay positive about this though based simply on the package art as it looked like a movie with a little more heart than Franco's recent stuff and the coloring and lighting gave it a much warmer feel. The film stars Carmen Montes as Paula, who we see in the opening shot rocking herself in a chair, knees to chest, crying to herself. Franco favorite, Lina Romay, shows up with a male assistant and they drag her away kicking and screaming. Not quite sure if she's a psychologist or a police officer of some sort , Alma Pereira (Romay) starts questioning Paula about the death of her friend who she refers to as “the other Paula.†Paula states that she's tried to kill her before but she doesn't die easily and talks about her job as a dancer at a porno show that she's worked at since she was five. Pereira leaves the room and Paula rocks herself again, singing quietly.
What follows is quite bizarre but fitting I suppose as the title of this film is Paula-Paula: An Audiovisual Experience. There's not much story nor is there any dialogue except for one short monologue by Paula which is a story about a Prince living in a palace (which seems to showcase the actress' lisp as she repeatedly says “palacio†as “palathio†as well as in other s/c words). Aside from that, the rest of the film is a series of flashback scenes with a seemingly intentionally loud jazz score by the late composer Friedrich Gulda (who worked with Franco on Succubus and to whom this film is dedicated) which leave you wondering whether the more important part of the film is the music or the acting. Visually, the last fifty minutes are beautiful even if a bit pretentious, and are solely memories of Paula and “the other Paula†in various dancing sequences (both together and separately) as well as softcore love scenes between the two. The contrast in body types of the “healthy†frame of “the other Paulaâ€, Paula Davis, and the more slender Carmen Montes will leave everyone happy. The colorful transitions and split screen imagery make the viewer wonder whether the two Paulas are one and the same.
Paula-Paula: An Audiovisual Experience is clearly sexual although there is not a lot of nudity beyond boobs, butts and women writhing around which just goes to show eroticism and porn are clearly two different things. I tend to prefer the former. The film was a little long even though it only runs at sixty-five minutes and would definitely be more appreciated under the influence. Basically, in my opinion, if this was a twenty five minute short film it would have gotten its point across just as well. But again, the film title is Paula-Paula: An Audiovisual Experience. It's definitely more into imagery than Franco's past works and the “acting†in it is better too compared to his films of the last twenty plus years. The two stars seem to be thoroughly “into†each other and that counts for a lot as far as believability. The ending sequence shows us the dramatic death of “the other Paula†with a bloody close up shot that, when the camera pulls away, disappears and at which point we see that there's no blood or cut mark. Meaningful or a slip-up? “And nobody ever saw Paula-Paula's show again.â€
Video/Audio/Extras:
Paula-Paula: An Audiovisual Experience is shown in anamorphic 1:78:1 widescreen and was shot on video. No noticeable flaws are evident. The color is overly saturated and bright in spots but overall has a very warm feel which I appreciate compared to the cold, heartless One Shot films.
Paula-Paula: An Audiovisual Experience is presented with a Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo audio track. The score of this film is intentionally loud and present and the few scenes with dialogue are clear with no distortion. The film is shown with its original Spanish language track with optional English subtitles (which have a crappy font unfortunately).
This Intervision Picture Corp. disc contains three segments with Jess Franco, all in which Jess looks incredibly old. He coughs, shakes and smokes his way through all three segments and barely sits up straight much at all. The man is eighty after all, but it's great to see how passionate he still is when he talks about making films. While his more recent films aren't great, I sincerely believe they're keeping him going. As he states in one segment, he truly is "young at heart." The first segment is a short introduction to the film in which Jess talks about using a new production company and his satisfaction with all involved and the film they helped create. In the second segment running at over seventeen minutes, Jess discusses his zest for making movies and his disgust in the wrong reasons to make movies (ie. money, fame, etc.). He talks about his appreciation and love for young actors as they are much more willing to take risks and possess a greater sense of camaraderie. He mentions that when he started in filmmaking, at age twenty-four, he used to lie about his age and say he was older so people in the business would take him more seriously. In the final segment he talks about Paula-Paula: An Audiovisual Experience though he doesn't divulge much, but tells viewers he feels it's one of the top three weirdest movies he's ever made. And he's fully aware that none of his films are “normal.†He mentions having a few more projects in the works and speaks about his two lovely stars Carmen Montes and Paula Davis. He also mentions recently deceased composer and friend, Friedrich Gulda, who did the scores for a few of his films and his overall appreciation of his work.
The Final Word:
I enjoyed Franco's newest flick way more than I thought I would though I think it ran a bit long for my personal tastes, but I don't think it is deliberately dragged out. Franco has always expressed himself at his quirky best and, with this film, he's succeeded at what he was trying to present to his viewers in a refreshing new way. A few years ago I had no desire to see new Franco. Though I'm not expecting anything to equal Female Vampire or Doriana Grey at this point, I am more hopeful that his remaining years will be spent making films more worthy of his legacy. Perhaps this Jekyll and Hyde story will renew the spirits of his forsaken fans and gain him a few new ones.
