Bolero (1984 film)

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Bolero
Bolero DVD cover
Directed by	John Derek
Produced by	Bo Derek
Written by	John Derek
Starring	Bo Derek George Kennedy Andrea Occhipinti Ana Obregón Olivia d'Abo
Music by	Elmer Bernstein (love scenes) Peter Bernstein
Cinematography	John Derek
Editing by	Sophie Bhaud Hughes Damois
Distributed by	Cannon Film Distributors
Release date(s)	August 1984 (U.S. release)
Running time	105 min.
Language	English
Budget	N/A
IMDb profile

Bolero was a 1984 film starring Bo Derek, and written and directed by her husband John Derek. The film centers on Bo Derek's sexual awakening and her journey around the world to pursue an ideal first lover who will take her virginity.

Bo Derek's 1979 film 10 had made her a sudden superstar; the film had prominently used Ravel's Boléro music piece as a lovemaking theme. It was said that the title of the Bolero film was an attempt to leverage audience recognition of this, five years later.

Bolero was released with no MPAA rating; its nudity and sexual content — including a nude scene from Olivia d'Abo, who was sixteen at the time of filming — disqualified it from a "R" rating. At the time of release the NC-17 rating had not yet been established and the only higher rating being X, John Derek decided to released the film unrated. The film's tagline is "An adventure in eXtasy."

The film was thrashed by the critics; it was nominated for nine Golden Raspberry Awards and won six, including "Worst Picture", "Worst Actress", "Worst Director", and "Worst Screenplay".

This critical judgment against the film appears to have stood the test of time: in 1990, the film was nominated for (but lost) the Razzies' "Worst Picture of the Decade" award; and Bo Derek won the "Worst Actress of the Decade" award, for her performances in Bolero and in Tarzan, the Ape Man. And in 1999, the Razzies nominated Bo Derek for "Worst Actress of the Century". She lost, to Madonna.

The film earned about $8.9 million in American ticket sales.

[edit] Plot summary

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Lida McGillvary, a virginal young woman, on graduating from an exclusive British boarding school, is determined to find the right man for her first sexual encounter wherever he might be in the world. Rich enough not to venture forth alone, she brings along her friend Catalina and the family chauffeur Cotton. Lida first travels to an Arab country where she meets an ideal lover, a sheik who offers to deflower her but falls asleep almost immediately, Giving up on the sheik, Lida goes on to Spain, where she meets the toreador Angel who is even better than the sheik because he manages to stay awake. Unfortunately, after she has succeeded in her quest, the perils of Angel's profession are brought home where he is gored while bull-fighting.

The injury leaves Angel unable to perform in the bedroom, and so Lida makes it her mission in life to see to his recovery. Along the way, she learns to fight a bull herself as a way of getting her despondent lover motivated to stop laying about. Eventually she is successful in aiding Angel to full recovery, and the film ends with their wedding.