“I hope you like the jungle.”

In the Peruvian comedy Pantaleon y las Visitadoras, strait-laced Captain Pantaleon Pantoja (Salvador del Solar) is given the daunting mission of setting up a ‘visitor’s centre’ in the heart of the Peruvian jungle. According to Pantoja’s superiors, there are more than 8,000 lonely soldiers stationed in various camps throughout the jungle, and these men are molesting local women. When the public outcry becomes overwhelming, Peruvian military officials decide to establish the ‘visitor’s centre’ loaded with energetic, young prostitutes. The plan is that these women will visit the camps, and provide the lonely, desperate soldiers with a little R&R. As a result, it’s hoped that the soldiers’ attention will be distracted away from the unwelcoming local women, and back to the imported professional women who want a chance to earn some big money.

Captain Pantaleon Pantoja seems the perfect man for the job. He has no vices and is happily married. Pantaleon approaches the job as he would any military campaign–with maps, logistics, organization, pre-operation pep talks, and a complete strategy. He even subverts the carnal truth behind this delicate mission by renaming the essential components. This really has to be the funniest part of the film, but it soon lapses into predictable, silly and titillating comedy interspersed with occasional stripping and a few cheap laughs. Olga Arellano (Angie Cepeda) or “La Colombiano” provides the majority of film’s erotic tension. The film is based on a novel by Mario Vargas Llosa, and is in Spanish with English subtitles.

“Imagine you’re aiming at baby Jesus.”

In the Peruvian film, Don’t Tell Anyone Joaquin Camino (Santiago Magill) doesn’t exactly fit his father’s notions of masculinity, so his father drags the teenager off on a day trip designed to bring out his son’s inner brute. It’s a sad commentary that being a man is supposed to be about shooting, killing and brutalizing, but that’s exactly what Joaquin’s dad thinks. The trip is a disaster–Joaquin is paired off with a handyman’s Indian son, and while they’re supposed to be hunting, Joaquin’s advances towards the other man are rebuffed in horror. But all this escapes the notice of Joaquin’s father; they return to the city, and in his father’s eyes at least, Joaquin’s day somehow serves as a rite of passage into manhood.

Joaquin then goes to university where he meets fellow student Alejandra (Lucia Jimenez). While Joaquin’s religious, protective mother is delighted to see her son involved with a girl from a good family, the relationship is fraught with problems. He meets Gonzalo (Christian Meier), the fiance of Alejandra’s best friend, and they begin a secret relationship. Gonzalo argues that he loves his fiancee and intends to get married, and he seems to find it perfectly normal to live this double life with Joaquin on the side.

Joaquin tries to come to terms with Peruvian society’s attitude towards homosexuality. His male friends accept these secret relationships between males that are coupled with marriage to acceptable, desirable woman and also contrasted to violent, public homophobia. Joaquin, unable to juggle all these opposing moralities, finally leaves Peru and dives into Miami’s seamy side.

The film addresses many of the hypocrisies associated with Peruvian society’s attitude towards homosexuality, and also ties in this attitude with prevalent racist attitudes towards the Indian population. However, Joaquin is not a particularly sympathetic character, and ultimately the film’s conclusion seems ambiguous. From director Francisco J. Lombardi, the film Don’t Tell Anyone is in Spanish with English subtitles.

 “Like prostitution, journalism is learned on the streets.”

The Peruvian film, Tinta Roja follows the trials and tribulations of a journalism student, Alfonso (Giovanni Ciccia), when he is assigned as an intern to a tacky tabloid called Le Clamor. While Alfonso wants to cover shows, instead that assignment falls to his attractive competitor, Nadia (Lucia Jimenez), and Alfonso finds himself unwillingly assigned to cover police stories. The newspaper editor’s philosophy is that the stories should entertain–rather than teach–the reader, and so in order to succeed, Alfonso quickly learns to toss aside all sense of journalistic ethics and chase the latest police event, and this includes suicides, car accidents, rapes, etc.

Alfonso becomes the fourth man on the police story team. Van Gogh (Carlos Gassols) is the driver who continually quotes famous sayings in an attempt to bring a sense of philosophy to the random world of crime. Escalona (Fele Martinez) is the predatory photographer, but it’s the wily Faundez (Gianfranco Brero)–a man who has no sense of shame when it comes to getting a headline–who heads the team. Faundez’s motto is to get to the scene, take the grisliest photos possible, and then round up the nearest relative of the victim and exploit them while they’re emotionally vulnerable. While Alfonso is at first horrified by this sort of behaviour, he’s soon under the influence of his new mentor, Faundez, and he quickly finds himself chasing and embellishing the tawdriest stories with gusto.

Tinta Roja is a very lively, colourful film, with plenty of dark humour, and its strong characters practically leap off the screen. After a very entertaining beginning, the film sags a little in the middle, but manages to recoup by the conclusion. Tinta Roja is based on the novel by Alberto Fuguet, and is directed by Francisco J. Lombardi. In Spanish with English subtitles.

“It’s impossible to know what a woman truly hides.”,

In the Peruvian comedy film, Destiny Has No Favorites wealthy Ernesto (Javier Valdez) rents out the grounds of his splendid mansion to a television studio. He then announces to his wife Ana (Monica Steuer) that he’s going away on business leaving her to deal with the actors and actresses from the soap-opera that’s about to filmed outside. Ana, who’s peevish, spoilt and bored to tears, professes disgust at the “vulgarity” of the popular soap, Destiny, and her disdain becomes even greater when her two maids glue themselves to the windows watching the soap being filmed.

This soap is set in the Hotel Anything Goes and the plot concerns a wealthy wheelchair bound woman, Virtudes (Elena Romero) who’s married to a young unscrupulous hunk Alejandro (Bernie Paz). Glamorous star Maria (Angie Cepeda) competes for Alejandro’s attention. Like most soaps, the plot is full of cliches, bizarre plot twists, and general nastiness.

The director announces a new role–Alejandro’s ex-girlfriend, and Ana–who’s snooping around the set is mistaken for an actress and given the role. Flattered, and excited, Ana takes the part without revealing that she’s the wealthy woman who owns the mansion. She’s a natural for the role, and soon she’s manipulating her way around the set–upsetting everyone–except the director. Meanwhile another complication sets in when fate sends the director inside Ana’s home, and here he begins a tentative friendship with the mysterious and disguised lady-of-the-house. He’s soon consulting her about the soap, and she steers him away from the “conventional morality” of the plot. Ana’s life becomes increasingly more complicated as the lines between her ‘real’ life and her double life as the actress Ana Anguish blur.

The film directed by Alvaro Velarde almost works–some of the scenes between the actresses are quite funny–especially when the claws appear, and it’s very easy to accept that this rich, bored woman would thrive on the nastiness of a soap opera set. But there’s something missing. The film doesn’t go far enough with its comedy, and the characters should be unleashed. There’s nothing ‘wrong’ with the film, and it’s certainly a pleasant little diversion. But given the premise, the film could have been so much more. In Spanish with English subtitles.