Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

This tale, based on a best-selling book by Spanish novelist Valerie Tasso, centers on a woman who, since her first sexual encounter, has had a strong desire to explore the heightened sense of arousal and euphoria she experiences each time she has sex. Her appetite is almost unquenchable, her lovers many and varied. She lives by the credo her grandmother (Geraldine Chaplin) instilled in her, not to deny herself the pleasures of life, whatever they be. When she thinks she's finally found true love and all that comes with the Cinderella complex, the dream dissolves, becoming a dark nightmare as she discovers the man of her dreams is insanely jealous, petty, paranoid, violent and abusive. So much for attempting to live out a 'normal' life, she then returns to the barrage of sexual escapades of an insatiable appetite by taking a job at a high class brothel. The movie is anything but sleazy or exploitive, contrary to what I've written, and there are no moral judgments handed down in a holy high court of decency, no punishments enforced for living this lifestyle, no answers served up, no justifications or repercussions, etc., etc. It's not about 'good' or 'bad' people or decisions, we're more concerned here with the drama of the internal conflict as an evolutionary mechanism than the erotic aspects of the story, though they are frequent and prolific throughout the film. Nudity flows like water from a spigot, but it's handled expertly, artistically and erotically. The underlining idea here is the double-standard that the word and concept of "nymphomania" is mans creation, utilized when a woman has sexual appetites similar or in excess to his own. (Another way to look at it is "It ain't easy being pretty, it ain't pretty being easy", but I'm being facetious). This notion frightens most men more than they'd care to admit. The main character, excellently portrayed by Belen Fabra, carries the entire film on her shoulders, trapped by her need to experiment and lose herself in an unflinching quest for fulfillment, without guilt, conscience or remorse, determined to live her life without denial or regret. She's a triple-threat to our religious-based society, and the world's better off because of it. A well-crafted slice of exploitive arthouse drama that's worthy of watching.