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Thunder Among the Leaves

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Wikipedia article


{{Infobox film

| name = Thunder Among the Leaves

| image = Eltruenoentrelashojas.jpg

| image_size =

| caption = Theatrical release poster

| director = Armando B

| producer = Nicolas B

| writer = Augusto Roa Bastos

| based_on =

| starring =

| music =

| cinematography = Enrique Walfisch

| editing = Roselino Caterbetti

| distributor = Films AM

| released = July 1958 (first screening)
October 1958 (national release)

| runtime = 99 minutes

| country = Argentina
Paraguay

| language = Spanish
Guaran

| budget =

| gross =

}}

'Thunder Among the Leaves' is a 1958 Argentine drama film directed by Armando B, starring himself, Isabel Sarli, Ernesto Bez and Andrs Laszlo. The screenplay by Paraguayan writer Augusto Roa Bastos was based on his short story . Set in Paraguay, the story is about a strike at a sawmill.

The first film to feature full frontal nudity in Latin American cinema, 'Thunder Among the Leaves' scandalized audiences and became a major box office success on the continent. It rocketed Sarli to stardom and is now considered a cult classic.

Synopsis



The arrival of the boss's young wife unearths laborer tensions accumulated after many years of deprivation and maltreatment. The story is a social drama about the exploitation of man.

Cast



*Armando B as Julio Guilln

*Isabel Sarli as Flavia Forkel

*Andrs Laszlo as Max Forkel

*Ernesto Bez as Capanga

*Flix Ribero

*Luis Leguisamn

*Eladio Martnez

*Leandro S. Cacavelos

*Roque Centurin Miranda

*Anbal Romero

*Matas Ferreira Daz

*Javier Franco

*Alejo Vargas

*Nieves Esquivel

*Tab

*Adolfo Cuellar

*Luis Guastalla

*Kika Da Silva

*Manuel E. B. Argello

*Guillermo Ketterer

*Rafael Rojas Doria

*Amador Garca

*Csar Alvarez Blanco

Production



Sarli's inclusion in the film was inspired by Brigitte Bardot's role in 'And God Created Woman'. 'Thunder Among the Leaves' was filmed with the same camera used in Leopoldo Torres Ros' 'Pelota de trapo' in 1948 and Leopoldo Torre Nilsson's 'Das de odio' in 1954.

During principal photography, B convinced Sarli to get naked in a scene in which she bathed in a lake though he had told her earlier that she would wear a flesh-colored bodystocking. Although B told Sarli they would shoot from afar, the camera lens had magnification.

Reception



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Critic Gustavo J. Castagna felt that the aesthetic of 'Thunder Among the Leaves' was reminiscent of the social commentary films by Hugo del Carril and Mario Soffici. Critic Sergio Wolf described B's films during this time as serial and each followed the generic pattern described by Arnold Hauser: the exaggerated and sharp, the harsh and exotic. Wolf said that 'Thunder Among the Leaves' exhibits this pattern when Julio, who has nothing to lose, lets his passion boil over and rapes Flavia.

The film was a highly controversial box-office success. Argentine newspaper 'La Nacin' wrote in 1969 that the film left an extraordinary international mark and was one of Argentina's biggest blockbusters over recent years. In November 1958, 'The News and Courier' reported that "a saucy Latin lass has smashed South American box office records with the most daring dunking since Hedy Lamarr disrobed to fame in 'Ecstasy'." The movie's premiere in Montevideo, Uruguay, broke box office records, and Sarli's bath scene "rocked some Latin American capitals". In April 1959 Brian Bell of the 'Pittsburgh Post-Gazette' wrote, "There was nothing particularly exciting about the movie except Miss Sarli, in a birthday suit swimming scene. It was a box office smash in South America." However, Sarli was panned by fellow filmmakers for the nude scene.

Cultural impact



The film featured Isabel Sarli in her first starring role and made her a sex symbol. It also marked the beginning of her partnership with Armando B. The partnership spanned almost three decades and made numerous sexploitation films. Now considered a classic, the bath scene was the first one to feature full frontal nudity in Argentine cinema, and in all of Latin America. 'The News and Courier' wrote "the opening in Buenos Aires was hailed as the start of a new era for Argentina's movie industry" after the end of Juan Pern's service as president and his propaganda techniques. 'Thunder Among the Leaves' was the star vehicle for Sarli and made her and B internationally renowned. The nude scene, particularly, is said to have "[sparked] her star phenomena". The scandal caused by it attracted the international press and Sarli soon appeared in publications such as 'Time' and 'Life'. The film made her popular and at the premiere of her second film with B, 'Sabaleros' (1959), a crowd of young fans mobbed her as she got to the cinema, ripped her dress and broke through a police cordon, which caused Sarli to faint twice. The 'Star-Banner' reported "Buenos Aires moviegoers could not remember a more surprising and delirious reception for an Argentine movie actress."

See also



*1958 in film

*List of Argentine films of 1958

*Nudity in film

References




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