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Unconscious (Inconscientes) DVD Review

by Kam Williams

Bawdy Sex Romp from Spain Arrives on DVD

It is Barcelona in 1913, a time when much of the world was inspired by Sigmund Freud to abandon Victorianism for much less repressed attitudes about sexuality. There, we find Alma (Leonor Watling), a thoroughly modern woman married to Dr. Leon Pardo (Alex Brendemuhl), an open-minded psychiatrist.

Pardo has just spent a summer in Vienna studying under the tutelage of his mentor, Dr. Freud. Alma has no shortage of physicians around her, including her father, Dr. Mira (Juanjo Puigcorbe'), and her brother-in-law, Salvador (Luis Tovar). But these two are relatively conservative compared to the more adventurous Leon, which explains why Salvador has never let on to his wife, Olivia (Nuria Prims), that he's secretly in love with her sister.

Everything changes the day that Leon abandons nine-months pregnant Alma, disappearing without explanation. The only clues she finds about her husband's possible whereabouts are contained in a manuscript about female sexuality he left behind which mentions the case histories of some patients suffering from bizarre psychological maladies.

Rather than sit home alone and wring her hands, Alma decides to enlist the assistance of Salvador to track down the women to see if they can help shed light on the mystery. And that relentless quest for some answers, however sordid and kinky, is the essence of Unconscious, a bawdy, Woody Allen-esque slapstick comedy, except in Spanish.

Each of the four patients Alma and Salvador encounter is kookier than the next. One is a silent movie porn star, another an institutionalized psychotic, the third is experiencing a full-blown sexual identity crisis, while the last has a disturbing skeleton in her family closet. Tackling an array of rather risqué subjects in a disarmingly sweet fashion, ranging from cross-dressing to sado-masochism to incest, Unconscious explores everything you always wanted to know about sex, and more.

Excellent (3.5 stars)
Rated R for drug use, female frontal nudity, and pervasive sexual content.
In Spanish with subtitles.
Running time: 109 minutes
Studio: Liberation Entertainment
DVD Extras: Interview with psychologist, Sigmund Freud web links, and a photo gallery.

judythpiazza@newsblaze.com