BAHIA BLANCA -- Blu-ray Review by Porfle

Originally posted on 6/26/20

 

After seeing prolific writer-director Jess Franco at his most outrageous, most violent, most sexually explicit, and most, well...baffling...it's nice sometimes to see him as a restrained, thoughtful, contemplative filmmaker switching into low gear to fashion something as quietly effective as BAHIA BLANCA (Severin Films, 1984).

Franco has chosen a scenic oceanfront village as his location, and revels in capturing its pictorial beauty in shot after dazzling shot. Against a backdrop of glittering ocean waves and blazing cloud-strewn sunsets, everything and everyone in the story takes on added importance and effect.

As for the story, it's surely some of Franco's best writing, filled with memorable dialogue, interesting characters, and a low-key plot that takes its time to unfold but keeps drawing us along toward its heartrending conclusion.

Antonio Mayans is Inspector Carlos Fernández, the local lawman who must delve into the mysterious murder of one Pocho Martin after he is found with a bullet to the head. 

The investigation leads to an island tavern run by beautiful Alida (Eva León), who sells both alcohol and love to the passing sailors, and cares for her mute, simple-minded sister Maria (Franco mainstay Lina Romay) while also carrying a torch for Carlos.

This complicates her relationship with the local underworld boss Raul Sebastian (Tony Skios), a cool, cruel type with a jealous streak that tolerates no other man in Alida's life.

More drama comes in the form of Raul's amorous son Andy (José Llamas), engaged to a sweet village girl but not above forcing himself on Maria despite Alida's threats of deadly force. Franco himself appears as a supposed mystic who warns those involved for whom he foretells grave peril.

Franco the filmmaker is more interested this time in telling an involving story than shocking or titillating us, keeping the sex scenes reined in (despite numerous and very pleasant topless shots of Eva León and Lina Romay) and never going for any kind of cheap shocks.

While it takes a bit of time to draw us in, the story eventually takes root in the viewer's imagination (this one, anyway) like an unusually well-written pulp novel featuring impetuous characters bound for tragedy in an exotic location.

The Blu-ray from Severin Films is scanned in 4K from the original negative for the first time ever. Spanish mono with English subtitles. Extras consist of "In the Land of Franco, Part 4" (Stephen Thrower & Antonio Mayans tour multiple Franco locations in Spain) and "Bay of Jess" (interview with Stephen Thrower, author of "Murderous Passions" and "Flowers of Perversion").

I'm not sure how many films like BAHIA BLANCA Franco made or how characteristic it is of his work--having seen only fifteen or twenty of his films, I'm still a relative novice--but this is doubtless a prime example of the genuine filmmaking talent which was his to command when he chose to do so. It's by no means an epic, but it really burrows in and stays with you.


Limited Edition Blu-ray--MID YEAR EXCLUSIVE (Limited to 1500 copies)

Please Note: Bahia Blanca is a MID YEAR EXCLUSIVE, meaning this will be sold ONLY during the 4-day Mid Year Sale and will not be available ever again (much like Severin's Combat Shock release). ALL OF THESE RELEASES ARE REGION FREE.