Lifesize (1974) Poster

(1974)

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6/10
Strange and offbeat film about a dentist who falls for a mannequin
ma-cortes22 April 2018
It deals with a middle age dentist called Michel Barrel : Piccoli , who lives with his wife Isabelle : Rada Rassimov , his mother : Valentine Tessier and his nurse Nicole : Julieta Serrano , until one day receives from Japan a particular gift : a mannequin. He bears a troubled marriage and Michel carries out some unfaith occassions . Later on , the mysogin falls in love for the attractive doll and then things go wrong.

This is a bitter flick in which Berlanga proves his passion for erotic stories . A tragedy-comedy about a mature man who has been unfaithful to his spouse and feels lonely and then falls for a mannequin, dealing with a sad and desperate critique on the human condition . A sour reflexion about loneliness , egoism , mysoginy , eroticism , impossible desires and human evil , as most of the secondary actors turn out to be hateful people . The real starring is the gorgeous doll , it was made by the known designer Alexandre Trauner , cost : 10.000 Francos , it was more expensive than hire Bardot , first French actress . Weird screenplay from Berlanga himself, the ordinary Rafael Azcona and Jean Claude Carriere , Buñuel's regular. It is a strange, rare script into the fruitful and long collaboration between Rafael Azcona and Berlanga. Michel Piccoli gives a good interpretation and the support cast formed by habitual Berlanga secondaries are really wasted , such as Agustin Gonzalez, Manuel Alexandre, Julieta Serrano, Amparo Soler Leal , Queta Claver and Luis Cigues.

This outlandish motion picture was professional but slowly realized by Luis Garcia Berlanga , and it results to be tiring and boring . Berlanga had a contract with the great producer Cesareo Gonzalez when he broke it , then Luis was hired by French producer Christian Ferry and Spanish Alfredo Matas to make this film that was a flop at the Spaniard boxoffice , and it was panned by reviewers, nowadays is better considered than the past .The movie was prohibited in Spain and heavily censored along with : Last tango in Paris and La Gran Bouffe also starred by Michel Piccoli. This Grandeur nature is far from other masterpieces made by the great director Berlanga as Calabuch , El verdugo , Novio a la vista , Esa pareja feliz, Los jueves milagro, Placido , Vivan los novios , Escopeta Nacional, Patrimonio nacional , Nacional III , among others, and the best : Bienvenido Mister Marshall , of course.
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5/10
Open wide
JohnSeal2 January 2016
Warning: Spoilers
Well, this is not at all what I was expecting. After being introduced to the films of Luis Garcia Berlanga via such '50s delights as Bienvenido Mr. Marshall (1951) and Calabuch (1956), I did NOT expect Grandeur Nature to tell the story of a randy dentist named Michel (Michel Piccoli, looking especially bushy-pated here) navigating his midlife crisis with the help of an inflatable sex doll, with whom he spends time at his dental surgery and in various hotels. He even introduces her to Mom (Valentine Tessier). Meanwhile, wife Isabelle (Rada Rassimov, sister of better known Ivan) seems to be aware that her man has a 'girlfriend' - though she's unaware of her rival's synthetic nature. Sex comedies were all the rage in European cinema of the '70s, but this is definitely a little stranger than most examples of the genre. I guess Berlanga had to change with the times, but I definitely prefer his early films.
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6/10
Drags on too long
EHrmns5 April 2021
Warning: Spoilers
A clever idea of a bored orthodentist getting himself a sex doll from Japan to satisfy his needs both emotionally and sexually. The first part of the movie is intruiging as the ideas are fleshed out and there are some funny scenes involving his mother and a fashion shop manager - it's the first time I see a manager dressed in a see-through blouse.

After the so-called wedding the film starts to lose focus and has nowhere to go and the final scenes at a kind Christmas party seem to belong to a different movie and are just boring. There's not much more to add to the original concept and the padding just becomes tiresome.

Nevertheless a novel idea with a typical Picolli role of the Seventies, the bored bourgeoisie man who seeks alternatives.
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10/10
Dark and Underrated Movie about Loneliness
montferrato5 June 2021
Warning: Spoilers
A secondary, misunderstood and understated movie by Great Master Luis Berlanga, with Michelle Piccoli in the leading role. The beautiful Ada Rassimov is Piccoli's wife, (she is the sister of the unfortunate Ivan Rassimov, the actor).

A succesful dentist, rich, sophisticated, from a high bourgeois background, is visibly tired of life. He is also tired of his marriage.

The movie deals in a subtle and original way with topics such as the impossibility of communication, loneliness, misogyny, jealousy, and the mechanisation of feelings. It also shows a strong anti-religious stance. The film is extremely corrosive against social institutions such as marriage, respectability, etc.

It also touches suffering and boredom.

The plot is at times surreal, in a very " Buñuel" style. The movie also deals with domination and BDSM fetishes.

The scene with the orgy of Spanish Immigrants, is of an unprecedented ferocity and is a direct attack on what is called " Deep Spain".

It is intentionally disgusting, and in my opinion, borrows a bit from " Viridiana", from Buñuel.

So, if you want to see a movie with a dentist who leaves his wife for a poliuretane sex doll imported from Japan, this is the one. The guy also introduces the doll to his mother and friends, and mimics a grotesque marriage with the mannequin, as well as recording himself with the sexy doll. The doll is abducted by a gang of very freakish spanish immigrants who dress the doll as a " Virgin Mary", and rape her in a mega-bizarre gang-bang scene. Strong Stuff. Very Dark Movie.
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