Movie review: Private Tropical 21 "Aphrodisiac" (2006) (Liliane Tinder, Monica Tweetharm, Sharka Glue, Tiffany Hawkins)
In the initial scene we see a castle of the European nobility at dusk. Today, after the donation of the west wing by the patron Mr. Carli, it is the headquarters of the Remi Academy of Archaeologists. Remi is one of the most prestigious explorers today, and the fame he has equates him to illustrious people such as Lord Carnavon or Howard Carter.
Trailer of Private Tropical 21 Aphrodisiac
1st part of the movie Aphrodisiac on Youtube
2nd part of Aphrodisiac on Youtube
The archaeologists academy
Logo of academy
Recent Facebook post of this very castle, which is the Château de Rouillon
Near Paris, in Fontainebleau. link to web
In one of the chateau's dark alcoves, a promising young archaeologist named Alan finishes packing his backpack to start a great journey. He is focused on not leaving anything important because at the destination it is difficult to find the right tools.
Meditating before the big trip
The purpose of art is to embody the secret essence of things, not to copy their appearance (Aristóteles)
In the inhabited wing of the castle, Mr. Carli talks with Sergio after dinner. The sponsor curiously colludes against his sponsored, Professor Remi. Maybe he is fed up, maybe he wants to be himself, or feel somewhat betrayed by him. For his part, Sergio is the class climber and a true fortune hunter, and both agree to steal the pieces that Mr. Remi finds. Sergio will receive a hefty commission of $50,000 in exchange for his broker-finder services.
The call of the nerves
Alan, enamored with the remnants of ancient civilizations, is oblivious to such greedy conspiracies. Still worried about the bags, he phones Remi to see if he can discuss in person the list of just-in-case items that need to be taken to the Indian Ocean.
Remi cuts him off quickly, claiming that he is his best student and therefore fully trusts him. In other words, you don't need your experienced teacher's advice. The real reason for his compliments is none other than to serve his guests well.
I am busy tonight: i have guests
The guests...
The scene reminds us a bit of the video that the Archbishop of Chicago kept in his private library, in the film Primal fear (1996) because Remi acts as conductor without intervening at any time and his guests (Bruno and Mark ) are ostensibly younger than him (possibly they want to enroll in the sought-after Academy of Archaeologists). He patiently savors a cognac, one of those in a bohemian glass bottle, while he contemplates the scene. At the end, he says goodbye to his muse, named Valerie, before embarking on the trip to the tropics.
¿Drinking Remy Martin in honor of his name? ¿veiled product placement?
Like Flavio and Heidi
After the introductory apocope and the pertinent narrative ellipsis, we embark towards a tropical paradise, a common denominator in this magnificent saga by Max Bellocchio.
The plane arrives mid-morning and Sergio, who has been delayed due to customs procedures, arrives the last to the hotel La Villa du Soleil. Alan is in the pool, lying on the hammock, researching the flora of the island, to avoid poisonous plants during the excavations.
Hotel La villa du soleil, Reunion
The oppressive pool area of the hotel located in Boucan Canot.
Tireless reader, tireless worker
Good students also think about girls and that is the first thing they comment on. Traveling with them is Mandy, who is a former classmate from their university. The meticulous Alan, thanks to his recently bought herbal book at Duty Free, already has information about a flower classified as an aphrodisiac. They're up to no good.
Discovering the panacea
The next morning they go into the jungle. The mature professor Remi, accompanied by Sergio, Alan and other students in their twenties advance in single file along paths little traveled. The adventure will be unleashed from one moment to another.
Cocodrile Daddy
Ancient ruins, but not Roman
Before beginning the shameless looting, Remi harangues his charges with a historical context. According to their research, the Romans arrived on Reunion Island 2,000 years ago. and they must look for pottery remains from that time (there were no closer oppidum in Europe itself...).
Indiana Balls
It is appropriate to make a small subsection to speak of an offensive lack of historical rigor because although it is documented that the Romans arrived in Africa, they settled in the northern region of the continent. The victory over Carthage in 146 BC and the domination of Egypt by Gaius Cornelius Gallus are vestiges of Roman glory, but in the following map we will see that they did not set foot in what is now Ethiopia.
Even if they had traveled the 3,500 kilometers that separate the region of Sudan from present-day Mozambique, the Romans used coastal navigation (link in spanish language) without losing reference to the mainland and that would have made it very difficult to cross the Mozambique Channel even with a stopover in Comoros and Mayotte. And it would definitely have made it impossible to transfer from Madagascar to the island of Reunion, at a distance of 700 kilometers from the open sea according to the website mapsdirections.info.
After this large digression, the students are divided into three groups: Alan, Sergio and Mandy, just as the bigardos had planned. Susana and Remi on the other hand, and Anna and Sandra as a rookie couple. There are more students at the hotel: Mike, Martina and Giulasso have stayed at the headquarters because they are dedicated to filing documentation, cleaning pieces and classifying the material.
Dispersion!
Mandy team... more than archaic art
The two rookies look more like Barking (london) hairdressers than promising archaeologists
Without herniating too much, Alan takes advantage of the fact that Mandy is concentrating on her work to, with Sergio's connivance, leave in search of the pheromone flower.
Alan sneaks off
Not even with a GPS navigator would I find the aphrodisiac flower at such a speed
A hint of "narrowness"
Metacinematically speaking, it could be said that here there is a clear environmental wink from Bellocchio, as happened in Sunrise, where the viewer is confronted with the conflict of the destruction of Isla Saona to erect a hotel mega-complex.
Max Bellocchio joins the list of social cinema directors, commanded by Ken Loach and Stephen Frears, for his eco-thriller films in favor of nature. In this sequence we are subtly shown that plant diversity can be of great use to the human species and, although it is a thoughtless exaltation, bordering on hyperbole, to baptize the film with this leitmotif, we must applaud the Neapolitan filmmaker for his committed cinema .
Tropical cocktail
The potion is in the canteen and it will not be difficult, in view of the high temperatures of the island, for Mandy to take a small sip. Alan and Sergio are putting into practice what they have learned in a book. They go from theory to practice, and want to evaluate the results of the experiment within a short period of time. It will work?
"San penisgrino" water
It looks warmer...
"Stay here... I feel weak..."
Mandy feels an overwhelming heat and before the inexorable acceleration of her heart rate, she decides to get away from the satyrs. She knows these sensations well, but she does not understand the cause and does not imagine that her innocent classmates have something to do with the sudden suffocation.
Remi team: the age difference doesn't matter
Remi and Susana arrive to Le bassin des Cormorans and there the ancient archaeologist makes a pass at the young Czech, hardly blushing. In a few words, he tells her that if she is nice to him, he will evaluate her benevolently. Susana's excessive ambition tips the balance and she has already chosen. The age difference is considerable, perhaps not as much as that of Clint Eastwood and Fernanda Urrejola in Cry Macho, but not as far as they think.
¡Eureka!
Beginner's luck
Remi's dichotomy: ancient objects and women
Of the three groups of archaeologists, as some have focused on natural narcotics, and another on a potential exchange of goods with patent vices of consent, that of the hairdressers is the only one that has managed to cover the required performance quota. Remi is handed over the ceramic remains of a vase with extremely well-preserved paint and magnificent borders.
The jungle and its pernicious effects
Mandy is out of her mind, and Sergio and Alan watch her from behind a tree trunk. It is necessary to add that the use of narcotic drugs to achieve a sexual relationship divides the legal doctrine between those who classify it as a mere sexual abuse and those who classify it as sexual assault using "chemical violence".
We are sure that this aphrodisiac flower served as an inspiration for Steven Soderbergh, who at that time was in the middle of filming the outcome of the Danny Ocean trilogy. Matt Damon appears in the El Gilroy scene along with Ellen Barkin, who falls victim to an overexposure of pheromones.
The vault key
Gilroy scene
The scene from Ocean's 13 appears to be shoehorned in, outside of the footage, and is likely related to the release of Aphrodisiac a year earlier. In Max Bellocchio's tropical film, the stimulant agent requires oral ingestion and is not airborne, and its origin is natural, as opposed to the chemistry behind El Gilroy. Still, the similarities are compelling and there is a clear relationship.
Whispered call
That same night, Sergio calls Mr. Carli to announce that they have found some valuable pieces and that the plan is going ahead as planned.
Private class with Martina, for misfiling
For Remi, age is not a problem, it is a state of mind and that is why he continues to take advantage of his stay in the tropics to get to know his group of students better. The excavation is being very beneficial for the academy and it must be celebrated in the purest style of the god Bacchus.
The expert auditor examines the pieces found, recently arrived from Paris
After the pleasure, it's time to work, and Remi studies with the auditor, who has flown in from Fontainebleau. Sergio watches them meanwhile and asks how royal pieces differ from elaborate swindles like The Princess of Amarna. The auditor confesses that an expert eye is needed and that many rich people in Europe keep fake pieces in their safes, completely unaware of their lack of authenticity.
Doubts about authenticity
"I was an atheist and now I believe"
The most valuable information Sergio obtains is that on the island of Reunion itself there is a professional forger who makes antique pieces with a patina of water and humidity, and with a high level of realism. The auditor adds that he gives him this information because he considers that Sergio wants to acquire them as a souvenir for his house, and that he is not going to try to sell them to anyone as if they were authentic pieces. Sergio and the viewer connect the dots at full speed and we are all clear about the future of Mr. Carli from that moment on.
Field investigations continue
Anna, the brunette hairdresser, asks for the afternoon off to party with the boys.
The young archaeologists lose interest a bit and Anna leaves to enjoy youth, divine treasure. Sergio asks Remi for permission to visit the forger and it is not surprising that the forums call it the fourth installment of Indiana Jones due to the great importance of ceramic remains and archeology in general. The quality of fake objects is such that it is really difficult to discern.
Archaeological forger looks like Nehru Place seller
Made in China
At this point, with the fake item purchase made and the $50,000 reward on the horizon, Sergio gives in. Archeology is no longer so important and he pretends to have a health problem to go with Anna and a platinum blonde foreigner. He wants to say goodbye to the island with a good party and not spend the day digging like a dung beetle. It is evident that this group of archaeologists like to step on gravel and dirt more than Carlos Sainz Jr and it is known by all that the F1 Ferrari driver loves excursions through the Pozzolana.
Sergio is selfish, but Alan gives himself to his work
Sergio's insincere alleges a sudden headache
The professor continues to find many vestiges and wants to continue with the looting without a license, and that nothing else distracts him, so he will not require a medical certificate. It is fair to point out that the expedition to Reunion Island is going to grant huge benefits to the Academy of Archaeologists.
Small stone snake
Colonial style garden
The last night in the Gallic colony, Sergio makes a night call, again whispering, to remind Mr. Carli that tomorrow he is going to deliver the ceramics of the "Roman Empire".
Money, money, money Always sunny In the rich man's world
Sergio leaves first because he has advanced his flight. Impatience is your fuel.
Tropical experiences come to an end with this farewell at La villa du Soleil and we return to the Old Continent. At Mr. Carli's house and with Remi thousands of miles away, we reach the end point of this story of greed and swindle.
Hands stained by greed
The pieces are purer than their consciences
"I go to ATM and comeback"
Despite Sergio's insistent international calls, Mr. Carli does not have the money on hand and has to go to the office to look for it. We assume that Mr. Carli has other companies and that the Academy is a CSR action. There you will have a safe with wads of bills, simulated contracts and stolen industrial patents. Where some see a setback and fret, others see an opportunity. Sergio is one of those who sees an opportunity: when you consider the problem, you already have part of the solution. As a curiosity, it should be added that this scene was not shot in the Chateau de Rouillon, but rather the interior of the Chateau de Ferolles Domaine Trigano. The same thing happens in the scene of the initial conversation between Mr Carli and Sergio, at the beginning of the film.
To give the fuck
To give her "the drink"
Some reader traveling by plane will be surprised that Sergio was able to bring a full canteen from Reunion, but the film is from early 2006 and the restrictions on liquids did not come until the attempted bombing of flights between the United Kingdom and the United States in August. of that same year.
One thing leads to another and on and on, like a tea cup and saucer...
Doubly traitor
Mr. Carli's wife, Stephany, falls for the charms of the tropical flower and Sergio, not content with giving a considerable financial blow (aggravated type of scam for exceeding €36,000), has fun with Stephany. Those of us who are faithful to the tropical saga expected here that Mr. Carli would catch them red-handed, as has already happened in Ocean Dream but on this occasion, Bellocchio chooses to leave us without one of his characteristic plot-twists.
¿50 bucks under the bed?
Ripped off scammer
The popular saying goes that "he who steals from a thief has a hundred years of forgiveness" and Sergio has earned the sympathy of all of us who have reached the end, respecting his mentor Remi, earning money thanks to his cunning and giving Mr. Carli a very expensive poisoned gift. By the time you realize it, Sergio will be far away and you can always accuse him of inducing theft. A fairer ending than usual for a story that loses plot tension as the footage progresses.
THE END
RATING: 3/10
Info:
Private Tropical 21 "Aphrodisiac"
Year: 2006
Film genre of the plot: adventures
Destination: Reunión Island
Actors: Sharka Glue, Veronica De Arousa, Jane Cruising, Tiffany Hawkins, Melany Jolin, Jennifer Acetone, Monica Tweetharm, Liliane Tinder, George Bull, Remigio Hampa, Kevin Thong, Max des Cortés
Where can i find it: Private or Google
Enlace a la versión en español
Comentarios
Publicar un comentario