PLANTS: Roberto Doveris explores voyeurism, sex, coming-of-age and the vegetative state -- in an oddball Latin American series at AFA

Despite New York City's being a place in which -- even though Los Angeles/Hollywood claims to be the film capital of the world -- one could always see more international cinema, new or classic, than anywhere else in the USA, because this world-cinema capital regularly misses out on certain perhaps important movies that have garnered acclaim at international festivals or in their home country, Cinema Tropical and NYC's Anthology Film Archives (AFA) are joining forces to help remedy this -- so far as Latin American film are concerned, at least -- with monthly screenings, the last of which (for now) takes place tomorrow, Thursday, December 14, at 7:15 pm at the AFA, in a series, entitled charmingly and lengthily, If You Can Screen It There: Premiering Contemporary Latin American Cinema NYC. 

This final offering in the series is a Chilean movie from first-time filmmaker (who also edited his film and perhaps had a hand in the writing of it, too, but I can find no accreditation for its screenplay), Roberto Doveris, shown at left, entitled PLANTS (Las plantas). In it, a young girl, Florencia (newcomer Violeta Castillo), who appears to be in transition from adolescence to womanhood, undergoes some very bizarre experiences, feelings, ideas and reading material. The latter, a book (or maybe a comic) entitled Las Plantas, is the story of sentient plants who take over their human nurturers at night (or maybe only during the full moon: things are not always too clear here), to which our heroine becomes rather addicted, to the point at which we wonder if she herself is not imagining this story to actually be happening to her. Or not.

Meanwhile, she has the care of her comatose brother Sebastian, a very hot-looking sleeping beauty (Mauricio Vaca, below, right), whom she bathes and cares for and whose diaper she changes, all in a manner than seemed to me pretty unbelievable. (Are comatose patients so easily managed at home, while being left along for hours upon end?). Florencia's other interests range from choreography and dancing with two male friends to combing the internet for possible sexual partners.

The one she finds -- we watch, as do Florencia and her pals, as he jacks off  online and later in person through her glass doorway, above -- proves to be another very hot young man, older and more experienced than our girl, but ready for some nice hard-core action. The actor, Ernesto Meléndez, has a handsome face, a good body and proves very well-endowed in the dick department (hard and soft), so for these couple of scenes alone, the movie may be worth some viewers' time. In any case, Señor Doveris once again suggests that hard-core moments can easily be shown in an otherwise dramatic/comedic film without the world of culture coming to a sudden end.

Florencia also has a mother, above, who is ill (or doing a good job of feigning, as another relative suggests), and our poor girl has clearly been saddled with too much responsibility, though in almost all matters save those sexual, she is quite willing to slough things off much of the time.

Doveris is concerned here, among other things, with coming-of-age, sexuality, the vegetative state (of both plants and humans), and storytelling, together with its ability to entrap us. He even flirts with a touch of animation, as above, along the way. His skills include some visually stunning scenes in which color (bright lavender and pale green), composition and camerawork (by Patricio Alfaro) come together in stunning manner; and his ability to slowly reveal the who, what, why and how of his characters and their connection is a plus, as well.

The big problem is that, beyond all this, he is unable to actually join his themes and ideas into anything more than vaguely coherent. Nothing comes home to roost. We understand what he wants his movie to be about, but that's not the same thing as actually achieving it. Beyond this, the decent acting, and the hot and fun sex scenes, Plants amounts to mostly a big shrug. The movie certainly shows promise, however, so we'll look forward to Doveris' next endeavor.

Meanwhile, this one plays just one time in New York City at AFA tomorrow, December 14, at 7:15pm. Click here for tickets and/or further information.

Rediscovered (again!) cult classic, Leslie Stevens' PRIVATE PROPERTY hits Blu-ray/DVD

Much is being made of the recent theatrical (and now available on DVD and Blu-ray) release of PRIVATE PROPERTY, the 1960 cult classic written and directed by Leslie Stevens, and starring his then-wife Kate Manx, in her movie debut, alongside two better-known actors Corey Allen (from Rebel Without a Cause) and Warren Oates (who was yet to come into full prominence). Supposedly lost and out of circulation for more than 50 years, the film was seen by TrustMovies when it was first released, and then again when it was re-released, either in theaters or maybe on videotape or DVD, at least decade or more back in time.

I cannot recall exactly how or when this earlier re-discovery happened, but I am certain that it did. (Might it have come from a European DVD brought to us via the now defunct Greencine?) Consequently, I greatly question the claim that this is the first time the film will have been seen in all those many years since its debut.

Mr. Stevens (shown at right), whose credits include even more writing than directing, was onto something -- several somethings, actually -- with this film, the first of these being how empty seems the wealthy lifestyle inhabited by the married couple we see here: he, forever trying to make a further buck, and she, so unsatisfied at his constant inattention and patronization. The movie also offers a look at the haves against the have-nots, some of the most voyeuristic scenes seen in a movie up to this time, as well as an enormous undercurrent of homoeroticism that keeping threatening to bubble over into overt homosexuality.

Into the lives of this "model" twosome comes another twosome, a couple of hunky and somewhat frightening drifter buddies -- Duke (Mr. Allen) and Boots (Mr. Oates), who first threaten a gas station attendant to get some free food and drink and then quietly highjack a car and its driver (very well-played by Jerome Cowan) in order to follow another car and its driver, Ann (the lovely Ms Manx) on whom the guys have designs.

For nearly a full hour of its hour-and-twenty-minute running time, Private Property is a slow burner full of longing and hesitation, as Duke comes on to Ann, supposedly setting her up for a sexual rendez-vous with Boots, but also seeming to want to her for himself. All the while, the two men appear awfully close to each other, with Duke joking about Boots just wanting a sugar daddy (which he may, in fact, have already found in Duke). All of this is handled extremely well by both Stevens and his excellent cast, which includes Robert Ward as Ann's thoughtless, thankless hubby.

Although three-quarters of the film is first-rate, the finale descends into full-blown melodramatic-thriller mode, with all the usual conventions and nonsense the genre often includes. While the ending offers a kind of release from what's been building up, it is hugely second-rate compared to the build-up itself. Still, the 4K restoration look great; the jazz score, very "of its time," is appropriate; and Ms Manx (above and further above) looks simply great in her fashions of the day and also does a creditable acting job. (The actress sadly ended her own life just four years later, after making one other movie and three TV appearances.)

The talented Mr. Allen (above) gave probably his best performance in this film -- sexy, scary, charming and even, at times, vulnerable and hopeful -- while Oates (below and on poster, top), in the smaller role, shows plenty of that understated charisma he would demonstrate in many movies to come. With Ted McCord as cinematographer and Conrad Hall on camera, the movie had plenty of talent behind that camera, as well as in front.

This re-release is yet another gift from Cineliciouspics and, having just completed its theatrical run as of tomorrow (you can click here and scroll down to see where it has played), the movie is available now on DVD and Blu-ray, for purchase and/or rental. There is a terrific extra here, too, in the form of a current-day interview with Alexander Singer, the movie's still photographer and technical consultant, who talks about the filming and what went on personally and professionally at the time. It's all fascinating stuff, as is the film itself.