It’s hard for me to picture a mainstream Hollywood actress in her early 30s who would do these scenes today. The 80s were quite an era and that Barkin lady was a treasure.
Here is my review of the movie. (COMPLETE spoilers.)
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Scoop’s notes
(Complete Spoilers)
I suppose the full Spanish name of this film should be Siesta de Suciedad.
Dirt nap.
Cuz’ that’s what it is about.
You see, it is yet another of those re-tellings of Ambrose Bierce’s “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge,” a famous story about a Southern civilian who was hanged by the Union Army during the Civil War. The noose snaps, he falls into the creek, escapes …
… to make a short story even shorter, it turns out that none of that happened. The entire story of his escape is simply a free association of the thoughts that go through a man’s mind as he is about to die. The story ends with his neck snapping because he is still in the noose.
Since Owl Creek is recognized as one of the great stories in the history of American literature, I suppose that just about everyone in the United States had to read this story in high school, along with The Outcasts of Poker Flat, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, The Devil and Daniel Webster, The Monkey’s Paw, and two or three of Poe’s most famous stories. Even if you have read nothing else in your life, you have probably read most or all of these classics, through the educational force-feeding process. Here is the complete Bierce story if you are one of the eleven people in the country who has never read it.
When the short story was originally written, the surprise ending probably packed a pretty good punch. When I was a kid, I was impressed by Rod Serling’s version on The Twilight Zone. It aired before I had to read the story for a sophomore English class, so I wasn’t expecting the ending, and it really worked for me. (Note that this was not a Twilight Zone original, but an award-winning French short film which had been adapted by the Twilight Zone people, adding Serling’s customary solemn pontifications at the start and finish.)
But that was half a century ago, and the ol’ “dying man’s last thoughts” gimmick has been worked and reworked so many times that it is now almost as hackneyed as “I woke up, and it was all a dream.” I guess the best version of it in recent years was Adrian Lyne’s “Jacob’s Ladder,” which succeeded because of Lyne’s masterful control of the film’s atmosphere, and because of the meticulous attention paid to nuances and details. It is one of the few “surprise ending” films that you can watch and re-watch, just to see all the clues planted into the story. When you watch it a second time, you will be kicking yourself for not realizing that you had never seen the hero’s post-Vietnam life at all. That era was never pictured as it really was, but rather as someone in the late 60s would have envisioned the future.
Oh, well. I’m straying too far from the topic, which is Siesta, yet another version of Owl Creek Bridge.
Ellen Barkin wakes up on a runway in Spain, covered with blood. She is wearing only a red dress, with no underwear. Her memory of the previous days is unclear. She is haunted by the nagging feeling that she has been involved in a murder.
As it turns out, she was right. Unfortunately for her, the murder was her own.
That’s the short version.
The longer version of the story is that she is some kind of female Evil Knievel, and is planning a stunt so daring that she may not survive. It seems to involve a free-fall into a volcano, so I can certainly understand her trepidation. Since the stunt may take her life, she decides to settle some accounts before she attempts it. She visits an ex-boyfriend in Spain to make peace with the love of her life. He’s sorta happy to see her, but his new wife is decidedly not.
In the course of Barkin’s adventures in Spain, many confusing and arty things happen. Poseurs pose. Eurotrashers act trashy. Spain’s only taxi driver is always everywhere when a ride is needed. (He doesn’t even need a road.) Everyone is far too mysterious, and all characters possess far too many eccentricities. Everyone skulks around, shifts his eyes beadily, and obfuscates. The film makes Mulholland Drive seem as simple and straightforward as The Sound of Music.
All the confusion is, of course, theoretically resolved when we find out that Barkin is already dead, and that we have therefore been watching the jumbled thoughts of her final moments – a hodge-podge of memories, fears, fantasies, and free associations.
Bah, humbug!
Ironically, she was the star of one of the hottest mainstream scenes in history with zero nudity. Her tryst with Quaid in The Big Easy was incredible. You just don’t actually see anything.
“It’s hard for me to picture a mainstream Hollywood actress in her early 30s who would do these scenes today.”
Emma Stone?
And she at least decided to do it in a movie that’s fun to watch.
I think there’s this one dude who summed up Siesta with:
“It is a poor movie, possessing that worst possible combination of incompetence and pretentiousness.”
Maybe Emma Stone, if the role was right.
Maybe Jennifer Lawrence, if the money was right.
I dunno, lotta people (not me) thought Kinds of Kindness & Poor Things were too weird – as an aficionado of weird shit with naked women, I’ve seen stills from Siesta before but never saw the actual film, did it ever get on DVD/streaming?
Available in dvd format on Amazon so apparently it was. This is one of those films that Hollywood probably tried to bury once they christened Barkin one of their major stars. They wouldn’t want this to come out so they would be of no help in distributing it.
Tuna’s caps are from a DVD. (I also have one somewhere in my stacks of old DVDs)
Um, I don’t think Jennifer Lawrence would accept a role like that, even if it was for good money. Emma Stone I think I would do, depending on the director involved, if it were a yorgos lanthimos or a director of the same caliber
How soon we forget.
Lawrence just did approximately as much nudity in what was essentially a 70s-style drive-in movie.
At least the Barkin movie was supposed to be art. It featured serious actors like Martin Sheen, Gabriel Byrne, Jodie Foster, and several other big names, with a soundtrack composed and played by Miles Davis. In a film filled with symbolism and ambitious technique, the filmmakers had Oscar hopes. It failed miserably, but the intentions were there. I could easily see Lawrence taking that role to join a comparable cast, sniffing out an Oscar and a big paycheck.
Are you referring to no hard feelings? It’s a great scene, yes, I agree. But it’s a totally different context, don’t you think? it was a comedy scene and she only did it full nudity frontal because of this comic context, and I’m sure of that. unlike emma stone, she was much braver and exposed herself much more in poor things and kind of kidness, it had been a long time since we had seen an actress of that caliber doing such explicit sex and nudity scenes at the same time in a two movies diferents
I think you’re making my point for me. Lawrence did major nudity for a silly, throw-away comedy. Ellen Barkin did major nudity for a film that was supposed to be an artistic achievement. It wasn’t, but she didn’t know that when she took the role, while Lawrence must have realized that No Hard Feelings was an insignificant film. Give the lady enough money, and she’s all in.
You’re certainly correct in that Emma Stone is much more comparable to Barkin, in that she thinks she is performing in artistic achievements. I would disagree, but not everyone is in my camp.
Video –
Nice. I was not even aware of this film. Thank you.
It’s so odd, because if you actually watch the movie you’ll say “But why did she do this…?”
Simple answer is that when she was making Siesta she was not a big name. She had been in some films, but the average movie-goer would have no clue who she was.
She had had major roles in two Oscar-nominated films (Tender Mercies even won some of the many Oscars it was nominated for.)
She hadn’t had lead roles, but she was definitely on the radar, which is how she was cast for The Big Easy.
… as you might with any number of performers who took highly sexualized roles in ambitious projects that turned out to stink. Helen Mirren in Caligula, e.g.
Siesta attracted plenty of big-name stars and had plenty of buzz. It turned out to be a stinker, but not from lack of ambition. She got a chance to play a lead in an ambitious movie where her name appeared above Martin Sheen and Jodie Foster in the credits. That was a big deal for an actress aspiring to rise from solid supporter to leading lady, so I’m sure she was willing to do whatever was necessary for the role.
Plus she landed a husband in the process.
Ah yes, now I understand your point better, I agree. But returning to the question of Emma Stone, to this day I still have difficulty believing that she accepted such explicit sex and nudity scenes in Poor Things and Kind of Kidness. even considering the thing I said earlier, I don’t remember the last time an actress of this caliber accepted such a sexually explicit role, I really can’t remember
you have more experience than most of us on this subject and more knowledge too, maybe you remember… I remember Margot Robbie in The Wolf of Wall Street, her nude scenes are very explicit in that film, but the The sex scenes themselves don’t come close to Emma Stone’s scenes in Poor Things and Kind of Kidness, in terms of being so explicit. Maybe we have to go back to the early 2000s or even the 90s to remember such a famous actress in such explicit scenes of sex and nudity at the same time.
Julie Christie in Don’t Look Now
Kerry Fox in Intimacy
Fionnula Flanagan in James Joyce’s Women
Veronica Cartwright in Inserts
I think Sharon Stone in Basic Instinct meets your definition
We could say Angelina Jolie in Original Sin, but maybe the nudity isn’t good enough to meet your stipulations. Same with Irene Jacob in Rio Sex Comedy.
Maybe Stefania Sandrelli in 1900 ??
Probably Victoria Abril in there somewhere ??
I think the following famous actresses did explicit nudity + excellent sex scenes BEFORE they were famous, but I’m doing that timeline from memory, and I could well be wrong
Arielle Dombasle in Fruits of Passion
Jane March in The Lovers
Daddario in True Detective
Paz Vega in Sex and Lucia
Eva Green in The Dreamers
Heather Graham in Boogie Nights.
Can any of you other guys join this conversation?
Yes, these are great examples. Sharon Stone in the classic Basic instinct too. But all these actresses weren’t yet that famous when they did these scenes, they weren’t mega celebrities yet… That’s what scares the most and is Emma Stone’s difference in these two films. This is so crazy
Julie Christie was a superstar, for sure, much more than Emma Stone is now. She had already won an Oscar and had been nominated for another. In addition she was the star of what is STILL the 9th-highest-grossing film of all time, adjusted for inflation. When it came out, it was second-highest, behind only Gone With The Wind.
To quote Grant McCracken:
Exactly. These are actresses who did these scenes before they were real stars. Julie Christie was a great memory of you, I even looked it up here… But that was in the 60s, so you have an idea, right? I would say that Sharon Stone and Angelina Jolie are the closest to this, even given their level of fame. Even though Sharon Stone became a star because of Basic Instinct, she wasn’t that big before the film. This feat by Emma Stone is really very impressive. I think it’s very difficult for him to repeat himself in the next 10 years, perhaps, I would say that her Sydney Sweeney or Ana de Armas would perhaps be the only ones who could do such explicit scenes after already being world stars, but time will tell.
Kristen Wiig and Alison Brie popped into my head.
There’s some dude who’s been having nude movie polls for over 25 years now. Its full of regular well known actors getting buck nekkid for the first time.
I would say that Barkin was not a well known actress when she made this movie. There was a lot of talk about her in The Big Easy which got a lot of marketing. Before that, I do not recall her being talked about. Siesta was filming before The Big Easy was released. At the time, I doubt she had any idea she would become a big name. Once she was a big name, I’m sure the agents in Hollywood would tell her to not do a movie like Siesta. After she became a well known actress, she continued to do sexy roles but they were always cut to only show a little nudity.
A “movie like Siesta”? Siesta had an A-list cast and a score composed and played by Miles Davis. It had tons of ambition, and was laden with style and symbolism. It even had some Oscar buzz –
and then people saw it
Sure the final product stunk, but not from lack of ambition.
Note that Gabriel Byrne also starring in that movie became her husband just after that movie was shot.
Since this film now has a blue ray release, any HQ caps? or are these old Tuna caps still thegold standard?
Good question. I don’t know. Have to hunt around.
Couldn’t find it. Not on Amazon.
Blu-ray.com says:
Siesta Blu-ray United States
1987 | 97 min | No Release Date
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