CECILIA (1983) ** ½

The titles say Cecilia is “Jesus Franco’s Film”, but there’s also a card earlier that reads “Directed by Olivier Mathot”.  It definitely has all the pointless zooms (including one into the crotch of a cherub statue) and rampant nudity Franco is known for.  Mathot (who also appears in a supporting role) also helped Franco direct Diamonds of Kilimanjaro, so I guess it’s legit.  I’m not sure how much Mathot brought to the table, but Cecilia is a decent enough Franco/Mathot outing.  

Cecilia (Muriel Montosse) is a bored, wealthy woman who gets her kicks from stripping in the back of her limo and letting her chauffeur watch in the rear-view mirror while droning organ music plays on the soundtrack.  He gets tired of her endless teasing, so he picks up his brothers (who were fired by Cecilia for spying on her while undressing) for an unscheduled gangbang.  When she returns home, Cecilia confides to her husband (Antonio Mayans) about the attack.  He’s at first appalled by her casualness in enjoying the encounter, but she assures him, she’s more than happy to allow him to go off on his own sexual misadventures.  Eventually, all their promiscuousness threatens to pull them apart.

The opening sequence immediately gets your attention.  As with Diary of a Nymphomaniac, the rest of the movie has a hard time keeping up that level of excellence.  In fact, it’s all sort of a formless mishmash of half-assed flashbacks and sex scenes.  Some are good, like when Cecilia catches her husband making love to a woman and eventually joins in.  Others never really work up any rhythm or intensity.

Still, there’s enough Franco weirdness here to make it memorable.  There’s an orgy scene where a swami (who has eyeballs painted on his eyelids) sits crisscross-applesauce and meditates while getting a blowjob from Lina Romay.  We learn after the fact they’re a mother-son act (!) which adds to the overall oddness of the scene.  

Montosse’s willingness to parade around naked is appreciated.  Whether she’s getting into gangbangs, wandering around nude, or riding naked horseback on the beach, she’s quite a sight to behold.  Romay is equally fun to watch, although her role is rather small.

Cecilia is overlong to a fault.  It gets particularly rambling and unfocused in the third act.  The music often sounds like it came out of a skating rink, which does the sex scenes no favors.  Regardless, folks frenzying for a Franco fix will find fleeting fun from it.  

AKA:  Diary of a Desperate Housewife.  AKA:  Sexual Aberrations of a Housewife.