Benzina (2001)

Director:

Monica Stambrini

Writers:

Anne Riitta Ciccone (writer)
Monica Stambrini (writer)

Release Date:

31 May 2002 (Italy)

Genre:

Crime

Plot:

Fiery, dark-haired Stella, an intense auto mechanic, and nervous, blonde Eleonora (aka Lenni) are young and in love...

Plot Keywords:

Gas Station | Lesbian | Lesbian Scene | Lesbianism | Female Nudity

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

Maya Sansa	...	Stella
Regina Orioli	...	Lenni
Mariella Valentini	...	Madre di Eleonora
Luigi Maria Burruano	...	Padre Gabriele
Chiara Conti	...	Pippi
Marco Quaglia	...	Sandro
Pietro Ragusa	...	Filippo
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Osvaldo Livio Alzari	...	Cashier

Also Known As:

Gasoline (Canada: English title) (International: English title)

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Germany:16 | UK:15 | Netherlands:16

Company:

Digital Film

not so good

This was an Italian movie trying to be an American-style thriller. The blurb in the paper called it an Italian Thelma and Louise, but I wouldn't give it that much credit. It did hold my attention throughout--at no point did I want to get up and walk out of the theater, although quite a few other people did. There were a few non-plot related scenes the director handled nicely. She captured a mood--dark and gloomy. And the two lead actresses were quite good, and quite uniquely attractive. But overall, the film was weak.

I blame the writing. This was a screenplay that should have never gotten made into a movie. Just about everything related to the advancement of the plot was carried off awkwardly. Too many extreme coincidences, unbelievable situations, too many people behaving like no real human would ever behave.

In particular, there were these three wild, psychotic teenagers who appeared out of nowhere, and decided to chase and torment the two leads throughout the movie, with absolutely no motivation, and constantly reappearing at the very most improbable moments. The screenwriter relied almost totally on this for the movie's tension--just plain lazy and stupid writing. I mean, c'mon, the two lead characters were toting around a dead body for most of the movie. There are scads of more natural possibilities to build suspense around that. There's no need for crazed teenagers.

And also, unfortunately, there was no nudity in this movie, and just a couple of very brief and mostly clothed love scenes between the two women. I'm not saying that all movies, or even all lesbian movies, require sex and nudity, but since this was basically an exploitation film, it should have been a bit more exploitative, or else there's nothing much to recommend it.

I don't recommend it. 4.5/10 rounds up to a weak 5/10.