Erótica

Erótica (1979) was not the softcore sex film I was expecting, but rather a love triangle from noted Mexican director Emilio Fernández.

This film stars Jorge Rivero, Jaime Moreno, and Rebeca Silva as the woman they both love. At the beginning, the two of them are cracking a safe. When they decide to dynamite it, it attracts security guards, and one of them is shot. The other escapes to a waiting boat, manned by Erotica (Silva). Cut to a year in the future, and the two are living in a remote town on the coast where people don't ask a lot of questions in a small hut outside of town. They earn enough for rum and cigarettes diving for sponges.

NUDITY REPORT

As the film opens, we see a topless Rebeca Silva walking down the beach, and putting on a transparent peasant top. For the rest of the film, she is either topless, or wearing this see-through top. You have to see this to believe the jiggling when she is carrying baskets of sponges over her shoulders into town.

On a trip into town to sell sponges, Erotica discovers that their friend didn't die after all, but was in prison, and has escaped. He follows her home, and her husband insists that he live wit them. Bad idea. Where the husband is lazy, drunk, and abusive to Erotica, his pal is good looking, respectful, and defends Erotica. It is only a matter of time until the sparks fly.

not currently available in region 1 DVD

Before his death on August 6, 1983, director Fernández amassed 111 credits at IMDb, and he added five more after his death! His numerous awards include a Grand Prize at Cannes.

Rebeca Silva's 62 credits include Enemy of the State, Mars Attacks! and El Año de la peste.

The Critics Vote

no reviews online

The People Vote ...

IMDB summary. Not enough votes for a score.

IMDb guideline: 7.5 usually indicates a level of excellence, about like three and a half stars from the critics. 6.0 usually indicates lukewarm watchability, about like two and a half stars from the critics. The fives are generally not worthwhile unless they are really your kind of material, about like two stars from the critics. Films under five are generally awful even if you like that kind of film, equivalent to about one and a half stars from the critics or less, depending on just how far below five the rating is.

My own guideline: A means the movie is so good it will appeal to you even if you hate the genre. B means the movie is not good enough to win you over if you hate the genre, but is good enough to do so if you have an open mind about this type of film. C means it will only appeal to genre addicts, and has no crossover appeal. D means you'll hate it even if you like the genre. E means that you'll hate it even if you love the genre. F means that the film is not only unappealing across-the-board, but technically inept as well.

Based on this description, this film is a C+. Even though the film had a moral (read unhappy) ending, I found it more than watchable, mostly due to good performances from the three leads.