Home | Movies By Year | Movies from 1967
Peppermint Frapp
Buy Peppermint Frapp now from AmazonFirst, read the Wikipedia article. Then, scroll down to see what other TopShelfReviews readers thought about the movie. And once you've experienced the movie, tell everyone what you thought about it.
Wikipedia article
'Peppermint Frapp' is a 1967 Spanish psychological thriller directed by Carlos Saura, starring Geraldine Chaplin and Jos Luis Lpez Vzquez. The story centers on a man who becomes obsessed with the wife of an old friend, believing her to be a mysterious drummer that he once fell in love with at a festival. He pursues her only to be rebuffed multiple times.
Plot
A pair of hands meticulously crops images from a fashion magazine for a personal scrapbook. The hands belong to an unassuming and conservative physician named Julin. He runs a radiology clinic from his personal residence, assisted by a shy, mild mannered nurse named Ana.
One afternoon, Julin is invited to the house of the mother of his friend Pablo, where a reunion of the two childhood pals has been arranged. Pablo is a charismatic and sophisticated adventurer who has recently returned from Africa with the unexpected news that he has married a beautiful and carefree young woman named Elena. Pablo hands Julin a drink, his favorite cocktail, peppermint frappe, as the group awaits the entrance of Elena, who is upstairs dressing. The sight of the captivating Elena visibly stuns Julin, as Elena reminds him of a mysterious woman he had seen beating drums during the famous Holy Week ritual in the village of Calanda. She insists that she has never seen him before, nor has she ever been to Calanda. Despite her rebukes, Julin finds himself immediately drawn to Elena's cosmopolitan demeanor.
During the days following their first encounter, Julin becomes increasingly infatuated with Pablos bride and finds pretext to spend time with her. While Pablo is busy, Julin takes Elena sightseeing Cuenca. Despite her indifference to his attentions, Julins obsession with Elena does not diminish. Frustrated by his inability to win Elena's affection, Julin turns his attention to his laboratory assistant, Ana, who has secretly pined for Julin. A sexual liaison between the two is soon established. Julin manipulates Ana, coercing her to dress and groom herself like Elena does.
While involved with Ana, Julin continues to pursue the elusive Elena, but she resists his advances with open derision. Julin invites Pablo and Elena to his cottage on the countryside to spend the weekend. He takes them on a tour of the grounds of the abandoned spa where he and Pablo used to play as children.
After a practical joke by Pablo and Elena, aimed at humiliating Julin, Julin begins to plan an elaborate revenge against the couple. Picking up Elenas curiosity about his relationship with Ana, Julin invites Elena and Pablo to join him and Ana in his country house.
Before Pablo and Elena arrive, Julin places what appears to be poison in a decanter containing peppermint frappe. When Pablo and Elena arrive, Julin tells them that Ana will be a little late and offers them the beverage. After a few sips, the couple begins to ridicule Julin once again. When they succumb to the poison, Julin carries their bodies to their car which he causes to roll off a cliff, giving the appearance that the couple had died in an automobile accident. Returning to his country house, Julin finds Ana now dressed as the woman of Calanda. The film ends as the two embrace.
Cast
*Geraldine Chaplin Elena/ Ana/ Woman of Calanda
*Jos Luis Lpez Vzquez – Julin
*Alfredo Mayo – Pablo
*Ana Maria Custodio – Pablos mother
*Emiliano Redondo – Arturo
*Fernando Snchez Polack – patient
Reception
The film was Saura's first significant commercial success.[http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/peppermint_frappe/ Peppermint Frappe - Movie Reviews, Trailers, Pictures - Rotten Tomatoes] 'Peppermint Frapp' won the Silver Bear for Best Director award at the 18th Berlin International Film Festival. It was listed to compete at the 1968 Cannes Film Festival, which was cancelled due to the events of May 1968 in France.
Analysis
Being a direct hommage to Vertigo, Peppermint Frapp uses Julin's obsession with the Hitchcockian blonde woman to illustrate Spain's suppressed fascination with the "foreign" West as well as repressed desires under the nationalist and isolationist regime of Francisco Franco. Furthermore the film is an examination of repression and obsession during Franco's era in Spain. Additionally, the character of Julin's nurse, also played by Chaplin, serves as an interesting example of how a passive feminine character can come to control a more assertive chauvinist by manipulating his desires. In 'Peppermint Frapp', a single actress and a handful of motifs create a chain of associations whose stylistic sophistication belies the seeming simplicity of the films linear plotline.[http://tell.fll.purdue.edu/RLA-Archive/1998/spanish-html/Willem,%20Linda.htm Narrating The National Identity: Myth, Power, And Dissidence] Saura intended for the film to be an homage to his mentor, director Luis Buuel, who was from Calanda.
DVD release
' Peppermint Frapp ' is available in Region 2 DVD in Spanish without English subtitles. There is no Region 1 DVD available.
References
Buy Peppermint Frapp now from Amazon
<-- Return to movies from 1967