Scanialara You won't be disappointed!

CrawlerChunky In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

StyleSk8r At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

Humaira Grant It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

lazarillo This Brazilian movie begins as many movies of that era (unfortunately) do with two horses mating. While this will probably repel most viewers, it turns on "Giselle", a teenage rich girl just back from European boarding school, so much that she goes off with the studly ranch hand to have sex in a waterfall. Her new, young stepmother sees them and decides to give this free-spirited young girl a tongue lashing, but not quite the kind you'd expect (actually, if you've ever seen one of these movies, it is EXACTLY the kind you'd expect). This eventually leads to a three-way with the studly ranch hand. Then the son of the stepmother also shows up at the estate ("Giselle's" new stepbrother if you're keeping score). It turns out he and the ranch hand each swing both ways, so when "Giselle" walks in on them, suddenly we have a very different kind of "three-way". Then there's a massive gang rape scene where all three of the main protagonists are beaten and sexually assaulted by local yokels. And though it's thankfully kept off screen, there are sinister implications made about the father's sexual proclivities.OK, right away this sounds like a hardcore porn movie, but that's actually not quite accurate. This is a Brazilian "pornchachada", a genre that is part softcore sex and part lurid Latin American soap opera. There is no actual penetration shown, and while the sexual couplings are ridiculously numerous, they're very abbreviated in length (whereas in porn they usually go on for 15 minutes or so) or they take place mostly offscreen (i.e. the homosexual scenes, for the most part). This leaves time not only for numerous sex scenes, but also for all kinds of other messed-up crap to happen. "Giselle", at one point, gets involved with a communist neighbor who comes to a bad end, and she herself gets kidnapped (it is actually very unusual to see any political stuff in pornchachadas because, interestingly, the military government at the time actually encouraged these type of sex films, but only as long as they avoided politics). "Giselle" also happens to drive by a mass lynching/burning where the local thugs who raped her earlier are getting their comeuppance. Eventually, the action moves from rural Brazil to the big city of Rio de Janiero where there are more ridiculous plot twists in store, each one more ridiculous than the last. There are, I guess, some SERIOUS messages here about the destruction of the family, but not being Brazilian, they largely eluded me.This movie very much reminded me of one of 70's Italian-made Joe D'Amato/Laura Gemser "Black Emanuelle" films in that it contains numerous, fast-moving sex scenes sprinkled with liberal doses of appalling violence, but none of it seems to phase the lead character in the least. But I have to confess, I LIKE films like this because while they may not always be very sexy, they're far less BORING than what passes for sex movies today. The lead Alba Valeria is not in the class of Laura Gemser (or the even two most well-known female stars of 80's Brazilian pornchachada, Helena Ramos and Vaness Alves), but she is by far the most attractive person in the movie (although, I suppose if you're more "metrosexual", you might prefer her pretty-boy brother or the ranch hand, who has more hair on his chest than your average grizzly bear). The enjoyment of Valeria's perpetually nude body is probably marred somewhat by her blinding 70's tan-lines and the generally lousy transfer (this is only available from Greek VHS sources).Oh yeah, and the movie also liberally "borrows" (often completely inappropriate) musical cues from The Beatles ("Yesterday" and "Let It Be") and the 60's song "If You're Going to San Francisco" (which will now forever remind me of two horses screwing). I would actually really like to see this legitimately released by one of your more adventurous international DVD labels, but they're going to have a lot of work to do. . .

thesiouxfallskid I emphasize **spoiler**, because to make my point I am giving away the ending, which I myself would not want to have known before seeing the film (the Greek subtitled release passably dubbed in English). I read what others have written, and I was well into the film before I started seeing it differently. The story involves a "family" of five individuals, who experience good times with each other, but as the film progresses we see their indulgences, failings, weakness, and even treachery. We see each of the five as human beings, likable despite their wrongdoing, and we can understand why they do the things that they do. What struck me most is that despite the family breaking up, despite the disappointments, the jealousy, and what could have been hatred, all five in the end went their own way to make a better life and left without anger or rancor for one another. There was plenty of reason for anger, contempt, hatred, and revenge, but they had a commemorative photo taken to remind themselves of the good times they once had. It quite a ways into the film before I saw that the film is not as certain others have depicted it. There is enough sex to cloud some people's interpretation (both the sex and the film itself) and even turn off those who are disturbed by such scenes, which I consider done very beautifully. Note that when their relationship is all over, Giselle speaks of the beauty lying around and Haydee responds, "Yes, indeed, the world is full of beauty if we can only see it." If only somehow most of us would be willing to put aside our criticism, our anger, our indignation, and our thoughts of vengeance and be willing to see the beauty around us.

locket79 I really don't know how to describe this movie and be clean about it. Before the opening credits, we see actual "hardcore" horse copulation. Then we get to know the family that the movie is centered around. Her dad's a child molester. The step-mom (Heidi) is an unhappily married lesbian. Giselle is, um... noticeably promiscuous and bisexual. The step-brother (Sergio) is, rather obviously, gay. The ranch hand (Angelo) swings every which way that he cares to. He seems to have sex with everyone save Giselle's father (though his dear dad did have an extended fling with him). Plus, the love of Giselle's life turns out to be a philanthropic lesbian communist physician. It is basically like an early-80s "trashy-to-the-max" soap opera (it seems like a weekday-afternoon television line-up melded with a Penthouse or Hustler magazine). There is nudity aplenty, but nothing more than stalely shot soft-core (other than the aforementioned horse "interaction"). I have only seen the American video version (Her Summer Vacation) and don't know if it was "doctored" upon its US release as quite a few other foreign films of the era have been. * (It is cut, but not rearranged further than that) ** I came across a copy of a Greek video release that actually expands on the US video release. Several scenes are extended, but the majority of what is missing from the US release relates to the male/male encounters (mainly the ranch hand and the step-son). For some reason, these scenes must qualify (then, and perhaps even more-so in the US's current political environment) as more scandalous than the lesbian scenes and/or the opening hardcore "horseplay" that entertains the family. *** The film apparently was never given an official release in any English speaking areas, as the credits are in Portugese in all versions that I have seen.

walrus-5 OK, this may not be the weirdest movie ever, but it was probably the one that most shocked me. It's an erotic drama from Brazil, that starts with a long text about how the fall of every major civilization was preceded by moral decadence, and family disruption.However, this is only an attempt to hide that this movie is just a porn like a hundred others, behind a social critic explanation. The film is not critical after all, and it would just please a couple of sex freaks.It has everything: incest, male homosexualism, female homosexualism, child abuse, animal sex, drugs , bondage, sadism, rape, etc. Every minute of the film gives the viewer something nastier than the minute before, and it never ends.If you're a sex freak, try to find it, you'll enjoy it. If you're not, get something else, anything else. I assure you it'll be better.