Movie review: Private Tropical 4 "Caribbean Vacation" (2003) (Sandra Pusso, Jessica Fay, Sheena Seal, Sandra Pay)
Naples. Located at the viewpoint of the Belvedere di Sant Antonio a Posillipo, the camera takes a dive down from Castel de Sant´Elmo to Piazza Sannazaro. By the hues of the sky we deduce that the sun has already hidden behind the Mediterranean.
Private Tropical 4 Caribbean Vacation trailer
1st part of Caribbean Vacation on Youtube
2nd part of Caribbean Vacation on Youtube
Exactly same picture nowadays
Same place, with all the buildings recorded
The next shot places us in the offices of a financial consultancy where the feeling of Friday completely invades everything. They all go for the weekend and some even start vacations. Even the typical salesperson arrives with a certain organizational independence who says "good morning" at 7:00 p.m. and as soon as he arrives and files the catalogues, he leaves the office until Monday. Unfortunately, Franco still has some paperwork to do and says goodbye his colleagues between docs.
Those who are going to work greet you
He is going to rush his last hours at his office before going on a beach getaway with his wife. In the midst of a documentary frenzy, the direct telephone number for Franco's office rings. It is the manager, who asks him to come immediately to his office.
Bad news ... The manager reminds him that next Monday an inspection has been called by the Director General and file 227, assigned to Lambertini, is not accounted for and the deadline expires on Monday. Franco tries to shirk by suggesting Lambertini himself to work overtime, or Hugo Noti, but the manager replies that one is going on vacation and the other is not a conscientious man and does not trust him.
"Work comes first, Franco, look at me"
The manager then opts for a dubious coaching technique, which is to announce to Franco that when he is on the beach this weekend, tasting lobster, he will know that he owes everything to him.
Franco ends up giving in and agrees to spend the rest of the weekend putting the accounting entries and invoices in order, although his wife is more than likely to take it really badly. In fact, a call confirms it: his wife calls him useless up and takes the opportunity to remind him that he spends more hours at work than at home and expresses jealousy towards the figure of his mother.
His hysterical wife does not understand
Lambertini hands him the Palimpsest of Verona in front ot a Vetroasfalto calendar
The heavy file that Lambertini brings to the office is a maremagnum of stamped documents, invoices and tickets. A bureaucratic ocean in which Franco is going to have to submerge for several hours, and he understands it as soon as he opens the monstrance. And he also hands her a bulky black leather briefcase that someone must have left at the office that afternoon. Franco is not happy and detects a certain derision in Lambertini's words, which ends up completely infuriating him.
Che fato!
The night is very long and the director Max Bellocchio focuses us on the clock in Franco's office with a clear nod to Scarface in the scene of money laundering with the infiltrated accountants. Something important is going to happen ...
Scruffy and rambling, with the dawn coming through the window, he surprises himself by concluding that no one, all night, has gone to pick up the leather suitcase. It is logical because those who are not suckers sleep at night. Despite his physical and mental exhaustion, he decides to discover its contents and, to the amazement of nobody, the horrendous doctor's briefcase contains three generous bags of South African diamonds, a wad of € 500 bills (which he confiscates at this same moment) and a first class boarding pass to the Caribbean, for the 9:30 am flight.
Blood diamond
In a last outburst of sucker he decides to call his wife, Patricia, to inform her about the discovery, but his wife yells at him without restraint, praising him for calling him at that ungodly hour and qualifying his words as a fantasy.
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| The crappy bathroom tiles you'll see today |
Faced with such a morning reprimand, Franco takes to one´s heels and goes into exile to the Caribbean, where he will be safe from his exploiter boss, Lambertini's inept and from the clutches of Patricia, the harpy who has been embittering his life since he gave the "I do".
Operation blondines
Trafficking in diamonds in the Caribbean
However, not everything is sex and cocktails by the sea, and Franco has a well-paying job: selling diamonds. With the emoluments of these transactions, he has bought a mansion in Le Gosier, a yacht, a German roadster and a Cuban restaurant that he will use as a money washer, and now he has liquidity tensions again and asks his aide-de-camp for name Darío, find a powerful buyer to place the rest of the precious stones. Darío, well connected on the island of Guadeloupe, tells you that he is going to meet a certain Carlo for the afternoon somebody.A bigshot from the Antilles to whom he can comment on his intentions to sell the jewels.
Friends, he has also bought them, like Escobar.
In the port of the Marina of Pointe-a-Pitre, the buddy Darío meets with Carlo and tells him that he knows someone who can sell him diamonds, cocaine (?) And that he will introduce him to him in exchange for a commission. Carlo agrees and asks him to set up a meeting for the next morning.
In the afternoon: clean shirt, deodorant, although the same sunglasses as Chimo Bayo
While the meeting takes place in the port, Franco shows off a Mercedes SLK roadster R170 titansilver, and of a loyal woman, and returns to her house located in Impasse du Madrepore to take a dip in the pool and what can be scratched. The truth is that with his women, his car, his mansion and his arrogance, Franco seems to have left his naivety behind, in fact, he never stops imagining what his old boss and his friends would think if they knew about his new Caribbean life.
Mafia car
As for the musical register, at the beginning of that scene the viewer believes that diegetic music is playing from the subwoofers of the beautiful German roadster. However, the car disappears from the camera and the flamenco-inspired rhythms composed by Oreste Fiengo accompany the couple to the villa's swimming pool, so it is non-diegetic music. An effective way of interacting with the audience.
The mansion must be inaugurated ...
Cornering pool
Bing Maps hat best quality satellite pics in this area
The next morning, Franco and Carlo finally meet at the port and set the agreement for the sale of the rest of the diamonds at 600,000 euros. It is a reasonable price but it is a definitive sale and Franco is under pressure from the fixed assets; what he needs now is cash. They agree to carry out the exchange that same night, at Franco's Cuban restaurant.
Hawaiian Shirt Fight Who Will Win?
The meeting place is the Restaurant Café Cubano, which is a joint with the smell of Ron Negrita, moldy wood and posca marker. Franco has taken it over to launder the capital that comes to him from the sale of diamonds. Cuban flags, Che Guevara paintings and handwritten signatures from all corners of the planet decorate its walls. A true pirate stronghold in which to take refuge from evildoers.
¡Free Cuba!
"You have to give me the briefcase, man"
Franco is now a gangster who deals with the mafia and drug lords without disheveled, and decides that he is not going to give him the diamonds today. She compensates him with Samantha's company, who agrees in exchange for money to go spend the night with Carlo and go on a trip on his yacht. Carlo shows that he lacks discipline by agreeing to put pleasure before work.
Too easy isn´t it?
But the inevitable, no matter how much it is postponed, ends up arriving and Franco goes to Carlo's mansion in the afternoon. We are facing one of the key scenes of the film. As soon as Carlo and Franco arrive, they start talking in the company of their henchmen, and Carlo, who is holding the bag with the 600,000 euros, shows serious signs of impatience.
Breakfast at Tyffany´s
This scene was filmed in La Kak a Zak, house placed in Deshaies, in Impasse del l´Harmonie
Reverse angle
Franco soon begins to put obstacles, claiming that he keeps the diamonds in the car, and then his buddy Darío, who above all is a friend of money, demands the commission. Carlo tells Richard that the time has come to "pay him" and without a word, the bald hitman aims a pistol barrel at his jugular.
Payment in 44 mm.
Richard "The Mohican"
After taking out Franco's greedy bully in the back street, the next step is clear. Carlo gives the order to kill Franco right there and return from the car with the diamonds. Richard, impassive, abides by the calm mandate and wearing a school worthy of an experienced Medellín Cartel thug.
However, Franco is going to avoid his destination once more and notifies Carlo that the diamonds are not there and that perhaps his brunette girlfriend, Bernadette, has taken them home, to better guard them. Carlo is fed up but he needs the diamonds for his client, with whom he has already agreed to the operation, so there is no other option but to postpone the transaction again until the next day.
The Mohican is a lot to shoot at the minimum.
Immediately after Carlo and Richard have left the apartment, Franco's girlfriend comes out of the hiding place from which he has recorded the entire scene of the extortion, murder and diamond trafficking. He hands the tape to Franco without further delay, a tape with which he hopes to bring Carlo and Richard to the Antillean justice.
Watchwoman
After the distressing situation, in which Franco has perspired more than expected, he takes a shower, puts on a new Hawaiian shirt and goes to the Cuban Cafe, to meet a friend and tour guide who will become his new vassal , in the absence of the ill-fated commissioner whose life Richard has taken.
Jack, the new member of the Cartel
In the same bar of the bar he gives him the tape so that he can hide it well, safe from Carlo and his henchmen. This narcothriller is getting more and more interesting, with certain nods to the criminal organizations that sowed terror and death in Colombia. He also hands him a bundle of bills because he apparently lost everything at poker the night before. Maybe he have not a lot of money but the day before he was in an amazing pool near Canne, in a sumptuous villa placed in Mougins.
And then, as if it were Carlito's Way, he begins to urge the customers because it is time to close.
"Hurry up the drink, it's time to close"
Poker and women are not the hobbies of a good custodian
Finally, Franco manages to meet Carlo in the isolated Gosier island, instead of port, which is a place more exposed to ambushes. He goes by boat with Jack to the beach where Carlo waits patiently and relaxed, only in his shorts.
Franco and Jack in the Cochinos bay
¿Guess what? There is a problem
Carlo is too gullible a mobster because Franco has already postponed the transaction three times, and a fourth comes, but this time telling him that "that bitch", who is no longer the girlfriend he was strutting with in his sporty titansilver Mercedes, he has recorded his shady deals and demands payment of $ 1,000,000 or he will hand over the tape to the police. Franco proposes that she give him the money and soon after they organize a meeting at the Cubano, in which Carlo will be able to slit the extortion bitch's neck.
Blood thirsty
Carlo is still not aware that he has been ripped off and although he does not seem like one of those people who will take defeat well, we will soon understand how canceled he is. Max Bellocchio gives a new twist to the script and leaves the viewer speechless
Pirates...
With a T-shirt of Hard Rock café
We observe astonished that Darío is very much alive, in the company of Richard "The Mohican", who has therefore betrayed Carlo. Franco talks to them and like a good leader he decides to divide the 600,000 euros that Carlo has given him in Gosier, into three equal parts, to motivate his hitmen. Now, you just have to look for new victims to replicate the model of success.
Darío tells him that he knows a couple of furry guys and that they can give them a try. Franco recommends entertaining them at the bar and closing the deal at the Hotel Sur. At that moment, under the shade of a palm tree, Franco ponds on how he has gone from being a penpusher to a diamond dealer who lives in the Caribbean with women, luxury and, once again, cash, finally.
Extortions continue
Having discovered this alliance, we already know that Carlo has very little to live for. Franco will order Richard sooner rather than later to end the life of this bigshot, and thus he will occupy the throne of the Antillean mafia from now on.
Precious Extorisions Limited Company
Darío informs the two doughy men at the Cuban Café that tonight they will close the deal with the boss, but that now he leaves Samantha (all the blondes are called the same), the secretary, to close the last fringes of the operation. The Cuban Café is temporarily closed for these last negotiations, but that is not a problem because Franco is the owner of the place.
Compliant secretary
However, something happens and the plans of Darío, Richard and Franco are frustrated. His initial idea was for Bernadette to record the entire scene at the Hotel Sur to carry out the extortion again, but Robert is very clever and decides that the operation will be closed on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, in Cannes, in the Hotel Relais de la Reine, placed in Boulevard de la Croisette . 
Cannes and its Hotel Relais de la Reine
Almost 20 years later it still look modern and luxury
Front pic of the hotel, nowadays
Video from 2022
Franco travels urgently to France, wearing Caribbean clothes, and goes to the suite in the company of a slut he has hired in the middle of the street, near the Carlton hotel, in recognition of the intelligence that Robert has shown when summoning him neutral ground. Corsairs highly value this type of performance and sometimes lead to alliances. Perhaps in the near future, Franco needs an ally in Europe. Franco hands him the diamonds without hesitation, says goodbye, and leaves Robert in the company of the French prostitute.
Checking the hardness of the scale Mohs
Back in Guadeloupe, with the fresh money, Franco buys a Porsche 968 cabrio in obsidian color, which is not a problematic shade if you have employees pending to always have it shiny. In addition, despite the fact that the last play has not turned out as perfect as he thought, Franco has his ego shot up and, although Darío warns him that the next potential client is someone very dangerous in the French Antilles area, Franco replies that he has already dealt with the Camorra, with the Chinese mafia, with Colombian traffickers and that he has nothing to fear.
Sports cars are a living witness of a new rich man, but if it is a classic like this Porsche 968 it is an excusable sin
Darío talks to Don Carlo who, without even opening his eyes, accepts the deal always on the condition that he buy all the merchandise and in the event that the diamonds are at a good price. Ultimately, he's been in the gemstone business for many years, and he knows that when an opportunity like this presents itself, it shouldn't be missed. In addition, this new operation will help him recover from a severe blow he suffered a few months ago.
"In this case, i´ll take it all"
When the appointment was set for the operation on the ilet of Gosier Franco, he should have remembered that it was there that the violent Carlo was betrayed, but pride clouded the mind of our beloved ink-sucker turned capo and he went there alone, without Richard or Darío.
This briefcase is so similar to the one i lost in París...
When the key moment arrives, Don Carlo realizes that the briefcase is the same as the one he lost in Naples. Franco assures him that he bought them in Paris but there is no escape. Confidence has been broken and to increase the troubles, Franco confesses that he has already sold a large part of the diamonds. Don Carlo, overcome by anger, orders his execution right there.
Impressive chopped plane, the one that Max Bellocchio gives us
All was a dream...
Lambertini goes in the morning to see if something had happened, since no one was answering the calls, and upon entering the office he discovers Franco dreaming, trying to get away from an attacker who wants to strangle him. Franco is very confused, however, the dossier has been correctly accounted for.
Ilusions filed in 3,2,1...
Even so, Franco realizes that the briefcase, identical to the one in the dream, is still on his desk and begins to connive about whether the dream could have any premonition. Although when he decides to bring his hand closer to the closure ...
And the true possesor and owner appears
The man, a Rastafarian in his 50s, was seen to be in a hurry, thinking that he had lost "very valuable things" without specifying more, and he adds that it also contains a ticket to the Antilles for within 1 hour. As a final icing and as a token of gratitude for having saved the briefcase, he assures that he will send a postcard to Franco from the Caribbean
I will send a postcard, my friend
Franco has received a hard blow from reality, although thinking optimistically, he is now aware that his character and his greed had led him to make bad decisions and die at the hands of the Antillean hitmans. Now he has his whole life ahead of him again, with his job as a penpusher, his office with dampness, his bathroom tiles from when Mussolini goberned Italy, and his kind wife Patricia ... It is clear that there are nightmares that are not as bad as they appear.
If it had happened like that, bad ending, but what if not? The thing is the "what if not"
THE END
RATING: 9/10
Info:
Private Tropical 4 "Caribbean Vacation"
Year: 2003
Film genre of the plot: gangsters
Destination: Guadeloupe
Actors: Sandra Pusso, Jessica Fay, Francesco Sitcom, Sebastian Zarrio, Melody Tragic, Sheena Seal, Sandra Pay, Joachim Kettle, Greg Centavo, Rodolphe Bactrim, Kyra Rat
Where can I find it: Private or Google
Enlace a la SPANISH VERSION
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