Rent In the Eye of the Hurricane (1971)

It is hard to sympathise with this gang - spoilers. - In the Eye of the Hurricane review by NP

Married Ruth and Miguel separate after Ruth finds a new man, Paul, whom she flaunts in front of her soon-to-be ex with not a care in the world. Thus she embarks on her fling, with which Director José María Forqué is far more interested in than we are. The pairing is smugness personified, and gorgeous looking as they may be, Analía Gadé and Jean Sorel, don’t invest the characters with anything much more than self-satisfaction.

Although it is difficult to sympathise with Ruth even when mysterious ‘accidents’ start occurring, there’s no doubt that Paul is a first rate twit whom you wouldn’t wish on anyone. Yet, when they inevitably make-up once more and we are treated to more overlong, ‘tasteful’ scenes of lovemaking – mere sex is too commonplace for these two – we realise they are as bad as each other.

When Miguel (Tony Kendall) turns up once more, Paul’s reverie appears to become fractured and, although things never really take off, events become slightly more interesting. Are Miguel and Paul plotting to kill Ruth? She gets the distinct impression they are.

Putting to one side the saturation scenes of the pairing, and some very unconvincing day-for-night shots, this is a very good looking film, quite aside from the gleaming blandness of the leads. The locations and landscapes, not to mention the buildings and décor, are breath-taking. Aside from that, however, we’re left primarily with three smug twits (or five if you include the more peripheral Rossana Yanni’s Danielle and Roland, played by Mauricio Bonuglia).

There are some interesting twists toward the end, when the audience is continually wrong-footed, but this rewarding pay-off doesn’t quite justify the tediousness that fills much of the running time .