FEATURED POSTS

10 Questions with Shane Briant

The talented British' born actor Shane Briant made his screen debut in the Hammer horror film Demons of the Mind. Since then he's gone on to appear in over 60 films and television productions including Straight On Till Morning (1972), The Picture of Dorian Gray (1973), The Mackintosh Man (1973), Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter (1974), Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell (1974), The Naked Civil Servant (1975) and Lady Chatterley's Lover (1981). Currently Briant is focusing his attention on writing fiction and he has recently completed a psychological thriller called Worst Nightmares that will be released May 12th. I've admired his film work for many years so I was thrilled to get the opportunity to ask Shane Briant a few questions about his early movies and current writing projects. READ MORE

THIS MONTH'S FEATURED POSTS

The Girl On a Motorcycle (1968)

The talented director and cinematographer Jack Cardiff has passed away at the age of 94. As the tributes start to roll out from various news sites and film blogs its become clear to me that most people regard Jack Cardiff as a great cinematographer and have little regard or knowledge of his directing contributions, which is a shame. Cardiff was a brilliant photographer and his groundbreaking contributions to cinematography are well worth celebrating. But his impressive work as a director on films like the wonderful D.H. Lawrence adaptation Sons and Lovers (1960), the entertaining spy thriller The Liquidator (1965), the excellent erotic drama The Girl on a Motorcycle (1968) and the effective horror film The Mutations (1974) is also worthy of applause. READ MORE

THIS MONTH'S FEATURED POSTS

Favorite DVD Releases of 2008

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but overall 2008 was somewhat of a lackluster year for new Region 1 DVD releases of '60s and '70s era films when compared to the previous two years (See: 2006 and 2007). Some of my favorite DVD companies such as BCI Eclipse and most recently New Yorker Films have folded. Boutique DVD companies are releasing fewer products and what is being released is often of questionable quality. With the failing economy and the rise in popularity of Blu-ray discs, it seems like the number of new worthwhile DVD releases might continue to drop dramatically in 2009. READ MORE

THIS MONTH'S FEATURED POSTS

Resurrecting Yusaku Matsuda

Toru Murakawa's Resurrection of the Golden Wolf (aka Yomigaeru kinrô; 1979) is a wildly uneven Japanese crime film that left me wishing it had been helmed by another director. The film's script was adapted from a popular novel by Haruhiko Ooyabu and directors like Seijun Suzuki have had great success turning Ooyabu's hard-boiled fiction into films, but Toru Murakawa doesn't have Suzuki's eye for detail or his pop art sensibility. Resurrection of the Golden Wolf runs much too long and the dramatic filler weighs down the action, but even with its flaws the movie still keeps your attention thanks to the star performance of Yusaku Matsuda. READ MORE

THIS MONTH'S FEATURED POSTS

We Are Controlling Transmission

This year analog broadcasting is coming to an end. On June 12th 2009 television stations in the United States will stop broadcasting in analog and switch permanently to digital. Digital broadcasting promises to provide viewers with a sharper picture and more diverse programming options, but this unavoidable change is forcing millions of people to buy new television sets or opt for getting a converter box that will often cost them $40 or more. I feel for these people because I didn't have complete cable TV Access or a digital television myself until 2007. READ MORE

This is a story about greed, love and violence…

by Kimberly Lindbergs | May 29, 2006

Categories | Movie Reviews, Crime, Steve McQueen, Claudia Cardinale

“This is a story about greed, love and violence, set in the steaming jungles and tropical cities of Latin America. It was written by a man who spent years of his life in the tropical hell of the worst prison on earth, where he learned the truth about greed and love and violence.”

I’ve been interested in seeing Popsy Pop (a.k.a. The Butterfly Affair) for a long time and I recently got the chance to after I came across a cheap DVD of the movie available from East West DVD. The quality of the East West DVD is awful, which should be obvious from my screen shots below, but I was happy that I finally got a chance to see the movie.

Popsy Pop (1971) is a heist crime/caper film made by the French director Jean Herman. Herman is responsible for one of my favorite heist films of all time (Adieu l’ami a.k.a. Honor Among Thieves) so I knew I’d probably enjoy Popsy Pop and I wasn’t wrong.

This fascinating film was scripted by Henri Charrière who also stars in the film. Popsy Pop is loosely based on his second book called Banco the Further Adventures of Papillon. If that title sounds familiar, it’s because Henri Charriere’s first book was the critically acclaimed Papillon, which was later made into an award winning film. Many people are aware of Henri Charrière thanks to the film version of Papillon that told the story of his long captivity in the penal colony of French Guiana as well as his later imprisonment and eventual escape from the notorious prison, Devil’s island.

The real Henri Charrière and Steve McQueen as Henri Charrière in Papillon
In the film version of Papillon the role of Henri “Papillon” Charrière is played wonderfully by Steve McQueen who was nominated for a Golden Globe thanks to his terrific performance in the movie. Popsy Pop is no Papillon, and no one was nominated for any awards after it was released, but it is a fun movie and fascinating to watch if you happen to be interested in the real Henri Charrière like myself.

Interestingly, Papillon (1973) was made after Popsy Pop (1971) which seems to have been almost completely ignored by most film critics at the time. This isn’t surprising since Popsy Pop will probably only appeal to a small audience of movie lovers like myself who enjoy unusual caper films shot in exotic locations with great soundtracks. If you’re looking for a solid well acted film with a coherent script, you should probably look elsewhere since Popsy Pop has very little to hold it together besides Claudia Cardinale’s fabulous wardrobe and wacky wigs.

Popsy Pop (Claudia Cardinale) meets Inspector Silva (Stanley Baker)
The talented Claudia Cardinale (The Leopard, Cartouche, Once Upon a Time in the West, Fitzcarraldo, etc.) plays the cute and sexy Popsy Pop, a smalltime celebrity who travels to the jungles of Venezuela to entertain locals at a shabby night spot. She arrives by boat carrying bags of heavy luggage as well as a copy of Lewis Carroll’s book Alice in Wonderland and a large porcelain doll she likes to call Alice. These strange Alice In Wonderland references almost appear meaningless at first, but soon unveil themselves. In some ways the book and doll are props to make Popsy seem more innocent than she really is, but as the film develops Popsy’s life begins to resemble a more darker version of Alice’s own adventures in Wonderland.

Tough guy Stanley Baker (The Guns of Navarone, Eva, Zulu, A Lizard in a Woman’s Skin , etc.) plays Inspector Silva who is keeping his eye on the local diamond fortune. He greets Popsy when she arrives in the steamy jungle and soon the heat between them both starts to rise. Inspector Silva falls for pretty Popsy fast and hard, which is somewhat understandable since his life in the jungle seems to have very little distractions and Popsy is most certainly an interesting distraction. Soon he is offering himself up as her personal escort and they quickly develop a loosely formed realtionship.

Popsy (Claudia Cardinale) performing her signature song
The blossoming romance between Popsy and Silva is soon overshadowed by the presence of Marco who’s played by Henri Charrière. Marco is planning a diamond heist along with a couple of unsavory thugs and the seemingly innocent Popsy. Henri Charrière’s character Marco is a career criminal who is obviously based on Charrière himself. It quickly becomes clear that Marco is already in a romantic relationship with Popsy and that he has previously come into contact with Inspector Silva. Marco knows the Inspector’s weakness for beautiful women and he has brought Popsy to the island to distract the oblivious Inspector while they steal the diamonds.

Like most good heist films, things don’t exactly go as planned and Popsy Pop ends up stealing the diamonds for herself. Soon Inspector Silva and Marco are forced to team up and together they begin a cross country chase through the jungles and cities of Latin America after Popsy and the elusive diamonds.

Marco (Henri Charrière ) and Inspector Silva (Stanley Baker) question a hotel clerk
Claudia Cardinale is always interesting to watch and she seems to be enjoying her role as Popsy. On the other hand Stanley Baker is rather dull as Inspector Silva and looks a bit lost in the movie and as much as I enjoyed seeing Henri Charrière playing Marco, his action scenes were a bit hard to watch. Charrière had lived a hard life and he was 65 years old at the time that the movie was made. Unfortunately his age and poor health are somewhat obvious in the film, but Charrière also has a sense of humor and that’s on display as well. For a man who spent much of life in prison, you’ve got admire his ambition at age 65 to attempt acting in a film based on his own script.

Jean Herman’s directing is occasionally impressive in the film, especially after the chase for Popsy and the diamonds begin, but it also seems muddled by the clumsy script and often lackluster performances from the three main stars. A lot of the action in the film is unintentionally funny and poorly executed, but I think the unusual plot turns as well as the exotic locations keep the film interesting.

Popsy (Claudia Cardinale) hides out at the home of an unusal priest
Music always plays an integral part in my own enjoyment of any movie and it can often make or break a film in my opinion. The soundtrack for Popsy Pop is without a doubt one of the most unusual ones I’ve ever heard. I really enjoyed the music conjured up by Frédéric Botton for this film, which is a strange combination of primitive drumming and early synthesizer sounds. It gives the movie an almost surreal mood at times and seems to build and build as the film heads toward it’s climax. Claudia Cardinale also sings a musical number in the production, but the only thing really memorable about that is the bizarre costume she wore while singing the song. Unfortunately the soundtrack is not available on CD yet, but you can occasionally find the soundtrack on vinyl selling for rather steep prices.

With all it’s faults I still found a lot to enjoy about Popsy Pop. It’s a shame that the movie hasn’t gotten a better DVD release yet because it would really benefit from a better quality print with good sound. Hopefully a DVD company will take the time to restore the film someday before it’s forgotten about forever.