| La Muchacha de Las Bragas de Oro | |
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Theatrical release poster |
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| Directed by | Vicente Aranda |
| Produced by | José Antonio Perez Giner Carlos Durán |
| Written by | Vicente Aranda Santiago San Miguel Mauricio Wallerstein |
| Starring | Lautaro Murúa Victoria Abril Hilda Vera |
| Music by | Manel Camp |
| Cinematography | José Luis Alcaine |
| Editing by | Alberto Torija |
| Distributed by | Morgana Films |
| Release date(s) | 28 March 1980 |
| Running time | 105 minutes |
| Country | Spain |
| Language | Spanish |
The Girl with the Golden Panties (Spanish: La Muchacha de las Bragas de Oro) is a 1980 Spanish Film directed by Vicente Aranda. It stars Victoria Abril and Lautaro Murúa. The film was based upon a novel by Catalonian author Juan Marsé. La Muchacha de las Bragas de Oro explores the changing nature of a former fascist, a reflection of Spain facing its past during Franco’s regime. The film exhibits a sexual frankness which was off-limits in Spanish films made before 1975.
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Luis Forest, an aging Falangist writer, has retired to Sitges to devote himself to review his past, write his memoirs and ruminate over his failed marriage. He feels guilty because of his political past and lives in virtual isolation in his large house accompanied only by his dog and Tesla, the housekeeper.
His isolation is suddenly interrupted by the unexpected visit of his niece, Mariana. Young and wildly carefree, Mariana has arrived with the excuse to interview her uncle about the biographical book he's writing. The reportage would appear in the magazine where she works with her aunt, Sole, Luis’ estranged wife. Mariana has not seen her uncle in many years and is happy in his company. She has arrived with a mysterious silent photographer, a male friend of foreign origin, Elmyr. They shake up Luis' staid world. Mariana and Elmyr have a close relationship; they argue frequently, smoke some drugs together, and it is evident that they are lovers. Elmyr paints golden panties on Mariana’s body.
Mariana’s mother calls Luis to warn him if her daughter is in the company of Elmyr, whom she describes as an drug addict with suicidal tendencies. She also tells Luis that Sole has died unexpectedly. There is not need for him to worry about funeral arrangement since Sole has already been buried and their four children do not want to see him.
Flashbacks, tell the story of Luis Forest when he was young. He was smitten with Mari, Mariana's mother, and her sister, Sole. He was first courting Mari, but one dark night by the piano, he made love to Sole thinking that it was her sister. That eventually led him to marry Sole. Their marriage was not happy, in spite of Sole’s efforts, and she ended up leaving her husband years ago. The other sister, Mariana’s mother, in a time in which she was drinking a lot, had a one-night stand with Luis. However, shortly after, she married, José Maria Tey, Luis’ close friend.
The past that Luis is preserving in his memoirs is more fiction than truth. He is rewriting the facts, inventing many and softening many more. His book of memoir is full of lies that his niece soon discovers when she offers him to type the manuscript. Slowly, Mariana's taunting and teasing breaks down Luis’ intellectual barriers and, as that happens, she becomes more interested in him.
Elmyr is not really a man but a female friend of fragile psychology and suicidal tendencies. Mariana and Elmyr have male lovers who they bring to the house. One night, while Mariana is out in the town, Luis expels Elmyr from the house. Mariana is initially very upset but she calms down kowing that Elmyr is safe in Ibiza.
Alone with her uncle, Mariana begins a game of seduction until Luis succumbs. When Mariana’s mother (the writer’s sister-in-law) comes to visit, worried about what he can say about her in his memoirs, it is revealed that Mariana is in fact his daughter. Luis feels guilty of the incestuous relationship they have had and tries to commit suicide.
Director Vicente Aranda had hoped to make a film about the Spanish Civil War, but due to expense this project would have to wait until when he finally filmed it as Libertarias. [1] Instead Aranda turned to the new novel by Catalonian author Juan Marsé, just out and a controversial winner of the 1979 Premio Planeta ( the Spanish Booker Prize). [2]
La Muchacha de las Bragas de Oro was to be made cheaply in just a few interiors settings. Aranda upped the budget with money from Venezuelan producers and added exterior locations to the script, thereby allowing the film to function in terms of calculated chiaroscuro that alternates light and shadow as an illustration of the truth and lies of the protagonist. [3]
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