Movie review: Private Tropical 13 "A hidden pleasure" (2004) (Cristina Fella, Cindy Hords, Alessia Pompei)

Today we delve into the dark universe of paraphilias, as Max Bellocchio, in the 13th film in the tropical saga, decided to tackle the disorder, behavior, or paraphilia of voyeurism. A voyeur is someone who gets aroused by watching other people in intimate situations: taking a shower, changing clothes, or having sex. Under the title "A Hidden Pleasure," the Italian director attempted to address a complex and controversial issue, and to do so, he enlisted a great cast of actors who gave their all in front of the cameras.

A hidden pleasure

TRAILER A Hidden Pleasure

In the opening scene, we see two young men escorting a beautiful woman along the beach. Behind them, at a suspicious distance, the film's protagonist, played by Francesco Sitcom, walks with the gaze of a capercaillie.

Nice views

What a scoundrel!

This hopeless pervert stares lustfully at the voluptuous young woman's suggestive thong and pretends not to look at her when the two men turn around with unfriendly expressions. The two men are Phil, with bleached-blond hair reminiscent of a Festina cyclist, and "The Villain," played to perfection by George Bull.

Looking at the stands...

Finally, after a long walk on the sand, the trio seeks some privacy in a private hammock area, and the protagonist settles on a promontory to get a full view of all the hustle and bustle. Just then, the film's title is superimposed, with a font that suggests emotions ranging from the comical to the dark.

The lovers in question are initially unaware of the presence of the disturbed man following them closely across the sand, and soon the temperature rises... Kisses begin, and much more follows, while the voyeur watches intently.

Long live polyamory!

Wow! 2x1 with Jet2 Holidays

And there are stupid days, and stupid days every day, so sooner rather than later, the idiots notice the presence of the voyeur and run towards him like two Miura bulls, without measuring their strength when it comes to giving him a severe corrective while asking him obvious questions like "What are you looking for here? or What are you looking for?"

The protagonist flees like a soul that the devil is after

Judo at the beach

After managing to escape, the protagonist continues running along the beach

until he reaches a safe distance

It must be acknowledged that the first scene of "A Hidden Pleasure" is absolutely masterful because it contains many important elements. In this scene, we encounter controversy, enjoy love, and face a moral conflict over the inappropriate behavior of "The Protagonist" and the instant justice meted out by "The Villain." However, we also experience some distress when the voyeur, suffering from a paraphilia beyond his control, is reprimanded.

Next, we come to a key scene in which a MacGuffin comes into play: "The Sorcerer." This character will approach the protagonist and turn his life upside down by granting him supernatural powers. So, in addition to The Protagonist and The Villain, there is also the Sorcerer. All of them are nameless, to heighten the sense of bewilderment.

The protagonist is lost in his thoughts and The Sorcerer appears.

The sorcerer doesn't seem to reach him. We'll learn why later, but for example, in the Sistine Chapel, God's finger is extended while man's is not fully extended. In this way, Michelangelo wanted to convey through his art that reaching God is a matter for each person.

After a brief conversation, the sorcerer assures our beloved protagonist that he can make him invisible, which is perfect for enjoying his paraphilia without complications or getting beaten up. At first, the protagonist seems to decline the offer, but eventually decides to accept the proposition in order to stop the crazy guy from bothering him.

Express service to start a cathartic path

Logo of the Cabarete-based medium, whose target audience is 

European tourists experiencing existential crises

Invisible... in theory

Immediately afterward, we're introduced to a filler scene with a few seconds of romantic conversation between Susan, Phil's wife, and a stranger who only appears at this point in the film. What Max is trying to tell us here is that there's a lot of vice on this island, and that's why it's the place where the protagonist has decided to put down roots. Throughout the year, he can enjoy a large number of encounters with which he can satisfy his obsessions and control his needs.

Susan enjoys the coast

Phil, Susan, "The Villain," and the brunette from the opening scene share an aperitif in the garden of Villa Coco Mar

The food here is worse than at an Ayurvedic retreat

In this garden conversation, there are two main themes. On the one hand, the villain and Phil brag about the brutal beating they gave the protagonist, of course, greatly exaggerating.

On the other hand, the conversation revolves around a party taking place tomorrow, which, presumably, will be attended by several of Susan's friends, eager to have a good time. There's a great connection between Susan and Phil, who enjoy their open relationship very naturally.

Sausage fest

As often happens, the friends didn't show up for the party. Their promises fell on deaf ears, and Phil and The Villain's expressions are a picture of truth. Those who did show up were a couple, the latter named Alexandra (watch out!).

Deception...

The villain now takes the opportunity to slander the women, who have apparently stayed in the city of Cabarete, buying bucks at beach bars. In the Spanish version, the villain says: "All the girls are the same: shopping, chatting..." The consumerism aspect seems more than evident, although it isn't specified whether they went to the beach bars on the seafront or a grocery store, but the "chatting" part could refer to the women's tendency to preach, or to an exhibition about "The Marine Mammals of the Caribbean" or the paintings of Cándido Bidó.

The villain doesn't let a single opportunity pass him by

As soon as the boyfriend goes to the urinals to change the canary's water and take a shower, the villain, with Phil's invaluable help, pounces like a bird of prey on Alexandra. This pair of sentimental seditious men respect nothing, but the beautiful Hungarian woman is a necessary collaborator in consummating this double adultery.

A knowing smile from this girl, who is a loose verse

And while the groom is in the shower...

Alexandra reaches for the sky 

A tragic story, so far, because we see many encounters, and our beloved protagonist isn't present at any of them. He's relegated to the background for much of the film, which disorients the viewer, who is eager for information about the life, work, and miracles of his favorite voyeur, to whom he's already grown attached.

"To those who are afraid, everything is noise" Sophocles

To the viewer's delight, the protagonist reappears, hidden behind the dense tropical vegetation because he's not yet aware of its power. He sees Susan, Phil's wife, with Alexandra's boyfriend, who has showered and is ready to surrender to love in the garden, thus making up for his wife's adulterous gesture.

And now it's time for a very epic scene, which takes place in two beautiful adjoining villas in the development, El Choco, in Sosúa. 

The villain enjoying his domains

Villa in El Choco

The villain runs into the protagonist but doesn't seem to see him. At first, the agitated protagonist tells him he's looking for his dog, when in fact he's stalking the area hoping to catch some couple of lovers making out. We can speak here of what Umberto Lenzi coined as malessere di vivere (the malaise of living that afflicts the urban bourgeoisie) because both the villain and the protagonist are lost, one due to his sexual disturbance and the other due to an excess of drugged-up, ludicrous imagination that leads him to constantly resort to partner swapping and sycophancy.

Encounter

The villain seems not to see him

The protagonist takes advantage of the situation to get revenge.

A Mitsubishi Pajero Sport (Montero in Spain) appears in this scene for history

Hacienda del Rey: cadastral reference 18 of the Haciendas El Choco

Site of the villa in the web Olimare

Aerial view of the complex, with the two villas

The protagonist is perplexed and, since he considers it impossible that the Sorcerer could have given him such a superpower, concludes that the Villain simply acted this way to let him know that he is a nobody; that his trivial importance deserves to be ignored and for people not to notice him. This catastrophic thinking is fueled, in turn, by his lack of self-esteem and the fact that he has never accepted the paraphilia he suffers from, which he considers shameful and undignified, driven by the reptilian brain of Paul Maclean's Triune Brain Theory.

Rodín: The Thinker

In the end, he decides to put his doubts to rest and asks the time of a couple of tourists sunbathing on a lonely beach. The goal is to confirm that he isn't invisible, a conclusion he's already reached because he sees his own shadow and can see his hands... A wrong conclusion, by the way.

The tourists, hieratic, completely ignore the protagonist

The flailing and annoyances fall on deaf ears. Not only do they not see him, but they don't even notice his touch when they take off their glasses or brush against their legs...

The protagonist experiences a fleeting moment of complete happiness,

when he discovers that the spell has taken effect

If a voyeur had to choose from the immense list of Marvel and DC superpowers, the Invisible Woman from Fantastic Four would undoubtedly be the one. This superpower would allow them to roam freely and enjoy the sights without fear of being discovered.

Once his new "condition" is confirmed, the protagonist wastes no time returning to Villa Coco Mar to have a sneaky encounter with a hottie from here I'll wait for you.

The protagonist doesn't waste time and has no fantasies of morality

The roof has changed since it was filmed

Google Maps picture

In the following scene, we see a monologue from the protagonist, who takes stock of the situation. He has confirmed his invisibility and has also taken advantage of this unique and unexpected supernatural ability.

A man who can't believe how lucky he is...

The sorcerer reappears and the news is not good

Of course, every good thing has a downside, and although the Sorcerer once told him that once he decided to be invisible, there would be no turning back. However, that doesn't seem to be so irrevocable, and the Sorcerer warns him that "someday" they might see him, especially since he knows about his obsessions and the vile way he's using his superpower.

Kick and keep going

The protagonist decides to ignore him and goes off in search of more couples' get-togethers, which he's determined to participate in until the very end. He finds nothing, and the next day, a cloudy day perhaps predicting a storm... he returns to the garden of Villa Coco Mar, which is a rather fertile place in that regard. In other words, he's on a mission.

Villa Coco Mar doesn't disappoint, and there he finds The Villain with an average brunette (why fool ourselves?), and Alicia with Alexandra's husband, who is constantly seeking new female companions, in a kind of unbridled playful compulsion.

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade

"Me dejarás dormir al amanecer, entre tus piernas..." Soda Stereo Lyrics

You go to heaven for the good weather and to hell for the company...

El protagonista entra en escena y se ha vuelto descuidado...

At this point in the film, the viewer has already gauged the protagonist, and his airs of grandeur no longer inspire attachment, so empathy or understanding is no longer felt. Someone once said that dark humor is the result of tragedy over time, and over the years, even he will see that this fatal outcome had a comical quality that was barely perceptible at the time it occurred.

Caught red-handed...

Alicia and the other one don't understand anything...

The viewer is not given an explanation as to why the villain discovers the protagonist, but it seems to be related to the exact moment of orgasm. On the other hand, the girls seem very surprised, and it is unclear whether it is due to the sudden appearance of a third man at the orgy, or if only the male gender is able to see the protagonist since he has lost his power of invisibility... which materializes when the girls see two men drowning nothingness and utter the now redundant rhetorical question "what are you looking for here?"

In the midst of suffocation and with a convenient fade to white, the protagonist returns to the original moment when the sorcerer greets him on the beach and is about to offer him the panacea.

Be careful with dreams because sometimes it is better that they do not come true

It's all been a complete hallucination, a dreamlike device Max Bellocchio previously used in the brilliant Caribbean Vacation and the stark Ocean Dream. This unfriendly encounter brings the final touch and finishing touch to this film, in which voyeurism is the central element and in which all the actors give their all in portraying characters with great depth and all kinds of emotional problems. A film that takes place primarily in the mental realm but is extraordinarily filmed by Max Bellocchio, and which, like Tolstoy's "Dream," explores the boundaries between dreams and reality.

Legs, what do I need you for?

THE END

RATING: 7/10

Info:

Private Tropical 13 "A hidden pleasure"

Year: 2004

Genre of the plot: suspense

Paradide destination: El Choco, Dominican Republic

Actors: George Bull, Alessia Pompei, Cindy Lords, Kevin Thong, Cristina Fella, 

Francesco Sitcom

Where can I fint it: Private or Google

Link to spanish version