Aventurera [Import NTSC Reigion 1 and 4] Ninon Sevilla

Aventurera is a bizarre mix of Busby Berkeley musical, feminist melodrama, and film noir---but it works. At the very least, it's unique and solidly entertaining. Recommended.

it's great for learning the language and culture. switch on the spanish subtitles and voila! i've been studying spanish for around 5 years now but i'm still a beginner. films definitely help with the process.

Nothing could possibly prepare you for this movie, which is actuallyseveral movies interwoven in one. The only thing you need concentrateon is the incandescent presence of Ninon Sevilla in the title role asElena Tejero, first an obedient middle class daughter wearing horridplaid dresses and retarded hairdos that suddenly falls into hard timesand her work/career runs the gamut quickly from secretary/waitress tocabaret dancer/prostitute.This is a film you will never forget if onlybecause the intense gesturing and posturing (there is no acting here)of Ninon Sevilla is too delicious for words, it needs to be seen, andseveral times, to be appreciated. I will summarize by stating that herfirst cabaret appearance is directly related to the "ritual orientaldance" that was a sleazy feature of adventure/film noir and even horrormovies since the days of Pola Negri in "The Eyes of the Mummy", which Ibelieve is the first one.The Oriental dance here is set in never-neverArabia, with polyester harem pants, for the girls, false beards for thelascivious men in the marketplace that tug at Ninon's curvaceous forms.Her outfit is not to be missed: A square box hat-turban combination, anecklace of many false karats and veils a plenty. Her orientalizedmovements are hilarious and jerky, but her sensuality and raw animalcharisma comes through to save the day, and I am sure the appreciativemale audience back then rewarded this performance with far moreerections than laughter. But this is nothing compared to her "Tropical"number which will follow later. We first see Ninon in her dressing roomnonchalantly supporting a headress that consists of two full pineappleswith branches and leaves on her head. Although she looks like a giantinsect that has sprouted antenna, she acts and moves so convincingly asthe "cabaretera" that we start to think this is normal, then she jumpsinto her elaborate Brazillian number, heavily influenced by CarmenMiranda and in the midst of a cloud of fog her headress is transformedinto a basket of bananas with foil accents that are just too divine forwords.You can imagine that this flaming volcano of a dancer wouldnaturally attract as a husband an ultra conservative, nerdish lawyer(Ruben Rojo as Mario Cervera) from one of "the best families inGuadalajara" which here in the States would have translated as aRepublican from a Texas oil clan. He also happens to be the son of athe "evil" woman that owns the cabaret where Elena was transformed fromstudious secretary into dancing harlot. This middle aged womancharacter, Rosaura Cervera (played by Andrea Palma) is so outlandish,yet believable when one thinks that she anticipated the Mayflower Madamin Manhattan by almost half a century, that it deserves a study of itsown, not to mention a seminar for split personality experts. Herdemeanor and looks is that of a Latin Marlene Dietrich, cigaretteholder included, and she is obviously Elena's nemesis. Their doubleentendre conversations from the moment they meet again as 'decent'women are the blueprint of drag queen competition dialogues,accompanied by a cavalcade of sudden tragic expressions, fits offluttering from multi-leveled eye-lashes, twisting of the mouths intoserpent-like lip acrobatics, all of which could turn plumbers intofemale impersonators if adequately imitated with patient study, whichactually makes this film a true primer for drag studies.There are many more twists and turn to the story which includes a film-noir jewelryheist, the unbridled passion of an escaped criminal, a murderous,deformed, yet loyal friend of Elena's, and so much more excitement thanthis summary could possibly describe. An extraordinary creation ofkitsch that anticipates Latin soap operas by a generation, this is agroundbreaking document of B cinema, film noir and gender studies.

Just released today on DVD by Facets Video so I ran straight down to rent it. Unabashedly campy, Aventurera pays definite homage to the Hays-Code American film noir style of the 1940s, while still maintaining the very Mexican form of the cabaretera drama. According to the DVD special feature introduction, Aventurera was re-released in 1996 to critical acclaim in LA and NY. This release (as opposed to a slightly earlier one by New Form Video) is thus aimed at the upscale North American art house crowd. It has white English subtitles, somewhat annoyingly burnt onto the original images (no switching on or off, and no other languages). The image quality isn't quite Jeanne d'Arc, but the black and white is sufficiently crisp and clear. I haven't seen the cheaper release, or the VHS, and so can't comment on those. For some reason with these Mexican titles Amazon almost never provides links to different editions as they do on all other films.Back to the movie, it begins extremely campy and continues on in that fashion for some time, but the quick ending has more subtle and delightful noirish turns of fate than any film I can remember. I wouldn't dare spoil it for you. The story is well developed, the acting is above average, and the scenes are produced professionally. The (melo-) dramatic segments are framed by lovely little urban shots of Chihuahua, Juarez, and M?xico cities, as well as some jazzy Latin dance numbers, giving the viewer nice breaks. Personally my favorite number was the Samba one, performed in Portuguese. If it was in color it would have been as spectacular as those from Singin' in the Rain.Cuban immigrant Nin?n Sevilla stars. Unlike most of her fellow cubano immigrants to Mexico, and despite her platinum hairdo, Sevilla's ancestry definitely seems to tend towards the Afro-Cuban variety. She gives a wonderful performance and brings a buxom star-powered presence to the film. Mexican film aficionados will note that the villainess is played by none other than Andrea Palma, who starred in the 1934 film La Mujer del Puerto. Mexican super-regular Miguel Incl?n (Dona Barbara, Mar?a Candelaria, Enamorada, Fort Apache, Los Olvidados, etc etc etc) gives a subtle but satisfying performance as the reluctant verdugo/enforcer Rengo.Certainly this film is a bit overrated and overhyped, but it grows on you. While some of it seems clich?, so does the Godfather, because it was so often copied. Expectations mean so much when watching a film. Keep them within reason and you might be pleasantly surprised by Aventurera before it's over. It reminds me just a bit of Gilda (1946), and obviously came right on the heels of Emilio Fernandez's Salon Mexico (1949). The sleazy border scenes also seemed to remind me of Touch of Evil. I think it certainly compares favorably with other films of the era like Key Largo, All About Eve, or Nights of Cabiria. Definitely worth checking out.