Juego de amor prohibido
Photos
Directed: Eloy de la Iglesia
Country: Spain
Language: Spanish
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Thriller
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0073218
Summary
Luis, a teacher at a mixed school, is finishing his class. Julia and Miguel aren’t paying attention to the teacher. The teenagers are going to finally carry out an incredibly well developed plan; to run away from home. The teacher realizes everything and there is a strange look in his eyes. Luis is 45 years old, well-off and teaches for pure entertainment. He lives in a huge run-down manor on the outskirts of the city. With him, living shut up, is Jaime, a young man reaching thirty. That afternoon, Luis collects the young pair on the main road and offers them lodgings in his house for that night.
Movie Reviews
Rare film on shocking topic of kidnap!,Author: Jlabine from IMDb
Eloy de Iglesia's lost rarity `Forbidden Love Game' would sit comfortably
next to `Salo: 120 Days Of Sodom' as being a foreign, art house flick that
borders on exploitation. When looking at Eloy de Iglesia's other works
though, this hardly comes as a surprise. Subsequently, Iglesia had made
`Cannibal Man' and `Murder In A Blue World' (also known as `Clockwork
Terror'), which were both exploitative B movies, hiding intelligent
political ideas. His films tend to be meditations on characters that do
warped and horrible things, yet we care about the characters, because you
feel that they are politically (and irrationally) motivated through their
poor economic circumstances. It is no surprise to me that Iglesia would
choose to create a Spanish version of `A Clockwork Orange' through his
film
`Murder In A Blue World', because that very film is about a protagonist
who
does horrible things, yet. we're sympathetic to what happens to him.
Though
the two films that were just mentioned are lesser known Spanish cult
films,
`Forbidden Love Game' is even more obscure (I'm not sure the film was
even
released in the U.S.?).
The film begins with a school teacher played by
Javier Escriva bidding farewell to his students, who are leaving for the
summer. As he is heading home he notices two of his students are
hitch-hiking (a boy and a girl, played by John Moulder-Brown and Inma de
Santis), and picks them up. He invites them over for dinner and lodging,
which they accept.. The majority of the film from this point on is set at
the mansion, where the two students turn from guests to prisoners under
the
teacher's command. The teacher has a thuggish (yet sensitive) henchman
played by Simon Andreu, who enforces the teacher's wishes.
The teacher
begins to sexually humiliate and torture the two students until he has
mentally brainwashed them into his way of thinking. What is really
interesting about the movie from this point on, is that the scenes are
relatively tame compared to a movie as notorious as `Salo', but the viewer
is put on edge through out, because you think something worse is in store
for the students. The film needs to be seen to recognize the political
ideal
logy, but it's just as evident as the other two films mentioned.
Eventually
there is a reversal of roles, and the girl (Inma de Santis) is not as
innocent or sweet as she looks!
This film really benefits from the great
cast that seems perfectly handpicked. Javier Escriva is perfect as the
fascist teacher, who looks like an aristocrat born from wealth. Simon
Andreu
who was a favorite among Italian and Spanish exploitation films (he's
great
in the `Bloodspattered Bride' and `Forbidden Photos Of A Lady Above
Suspicion') was perfect as the henchman who has bi-sexual leanings. His
rugged and unique appearance makes him an intriguing character, who has
different faces at different times. John Moulder Brown as the boy student
is great as well, he's such an interesting lost actor, who'd played in
numerous cult films in the 70's (I quite love `Deep End', `The House That
Screamed', and `First Love'). His androgynous youthful looks, and
egocentric
behavior fits a cocky teenager who has the rug pulled out from underneath
him. He becomes a ruthless, self centered survivor as expected.
The beautiful Inma de Santis is wonderful as well. This extremely attractive girl metamorphosis' from victim to controller with amazing ease! The film is by no means perfect (I could have done without the jarring classical music), but it did have an amazing hold on me, though I've only seen it once it quite often pops up in my mind as being memorable. That's a lot more then I can say for a lot of new U.S. films! Recommended if you can find it! Eloy de Iglesia is a very underrated director!