Review of El mirón y la exhibicionista

I am a fan of the controversial cinematographer Jess Franco, so my point of view is not going to be shared by many readers, which is OK with me: this is a free world! As a matter of fact, I must confess that I watch every Franco's movie I can get my hands on and, honestly, I find always something intriguing and interesting in his work. Yesterday I watched "El Mirón y la Exhibicionista". I expected some kind of erotic-horrific romp, instead I discovered, after a few minutes watching, that this is definitely pure hard core. Yes folks, people really making love to each other (or to themselves) and you get to see it all. So, if you are offended by the graphic depiction of sexual acts, stay away, watch something else since this is not...your piece of cake. The usual hard core stuff available nowadays in carload quantities in the market, doesn't strike me too much. Generally, after a few minutes, I'll find it boring and this is probably due to the lack of fantasy and intelligence of the makers. A good Porno is very difficult to make. So, why comment a Porno? First of all, because nobody else did on this one and second, because this is made with a certain style and intelligence. I think in this one, Jess delivers to his audience big time! The plot is very simple: in what appears to be a resort/hotel room, a good-looking woman (Lina Romay, still gorgeous and with a great skin, in spite of a few pounds too many and a funny red wig), is reading magazines and listening to music from a tape-deck. She is obviously bored but, after a while, she realizes (what an eye...) that a man is watching her from the window of a conveniently placed building in front of her room. It appears that he has binoculars, which qualifies him immediately as a "skilled Peeping-Tom". She doesn't let the opportunity skip by and starts staging a quite titillating and very arousing show in total benefit of this uninvited, but evidently quite welcome, guest. I skip describing all the sexual variations (including girl to girl and boy to girl) we are presented with, during the 60 minutes duration of this movie. I couldn't possibly do it anyway, without risking to be thrown out of IMDb...and I very much like it here. I can only say that the images and the situations, in spite of being as explicit as they can be, are well done and far less vulgar then one could expect. But this is not the point. The point is the ability of the director and the leading lady (which I think is a far better actress then she was given credit for), to create and show the compelling and escalating atmosphere of tension and complicity, which is building up, as time goes by, between "watcher" and "watched". Lina gets "busy" with her body and soul and you can tell she likes what she does, but her eyes constantly run at the window, looking to be assured that "He" is still there and that he likes what he sees. Believe it or not, her facial language is (particularly under these peculiar circumstances) quite expressive and convincing. There is a mounting tension between the two which, in spite of being at least a couple of hundred yards away from each other and linked only by sight and some other person body, which is the "occasional-transfer", have never been so close and this, till the...inevitable conclusion. The dialogue is basically non existent. However at one point Lina says (in Spanish) to her occasional and cooperating "transfer-partner": ...you may think I'm a maniac but...I love this game! It says it all! Great Lina Romay! "Que Viva la Lina!" (By the way, I'm also a Lina Romay's fan...) Only a true voyeur and exhibitionist can be capable to recreate this kind of atmosphere and I think that, both Jess and his long time companion and muse Lina, are all that. Otherwise how could they be so good at it! On the other hand I have to admit that, probably, it takes also a real voyeur and an exhibitionist, to really appreciate this little movie.....Hmmmm!....which makes me think.......Hmmmm!.....but who doesn't have a little bit of this, somewhere in the deepest part of his soul...? Strong direction, skilled and sharp cinematography, excellent acting, gorgeous colors, pleasant jazzy big band music in the background, babes who haven't discovered yet the use of a razor... This is not the usual boring porn flick. I rate it: 8 out of 10 (but, of course, I'm a Jess Franco and Lina Romay fan).