The Cult of Coca: The Films of Armando Bó and Isabel Sarli
2 films in this collection
The Argentine Film Festival presents:
The Cult of Coca: The Films of Armando Bó and Isabel Sarli
Often called Argentina’s answer to Marilyn Monroe, Isabel “Coca” Sarli went from a Miss Argentina beauty queen, and Miss Universe finalist, to become the country’s most seductive screen siren.
Nicknamed “Coca” for her famously voluptuous, Coke bottle-shaped figure, the bombshell brunette became a defining sex symbol of 1960s and 70s Argentina through her scandalous collaboration with filmmaker Armando Bó, and made history as the first actress to perform a full nude scene in Argentine cinema.
John Waters later paid tribute to her influence:
“Isabel, you inspired us all to a life of cheap exhibitionism, exaggerated sexual desires and a love for all that is trash-ridden in cinema. We salute you, Isabel Sarli, a truly outstanding woman in film.”
But Sarli was more than mere erotic object. Together, Armando Bó and Isabel Sarli became one of the most controversial and commercially successful partnerships in the history of Latin American cinema. The pair made 27 films together, combining melodrama, eroticism, social critique and spectacle in productions that were deliberately transgressive, challenging the moral climate of the time, and pushing the boundaries of cinematic freedom during periods of political repression.
Bó’s films were also revolutionary in the Argentine context because many openly centred female desire and the erotic body at a time when mainstream cinema remained highly conservative. While critics today often debate whether the films liberated or objectified women, Sarli defended the films as expressions of natural sexuality rather than pornography, and credited partner and director, Armando Bó, for empowering her as a collaborator and co-producer.
Presented together, Carne and Embrujada reveal two starkly contrasting dimensions of the collaboration between Armando Bó and Isabel Sarli.
The Cult of Coca: The Films of Armando Bó and Isabel Sarli
Often called Argentina’s answer to Marilyn Monroe, Isabel “Coca” Sarli went from a Miss Argentina beauty queen, and Miss Universe finalist, to become the country’s most seductive screen siren.
Nicknamed “Coca” for her famously voluptuous, Coke bottle-shaped figure, the bombshell brunette became a defining sex symbol of 1960s and 70s Argentina through her scandalous collaboration with filmmaker Armando Bó, and made history as the first actress to perform a full nude scene in Argentine cinema.
John Waters later paid tribute to her influence:
“Isabel, you inspired us all to a life of cheap exhibitionism, exaggerated sexual desires and a love for all that is trash-ridden in cinema. We salute you, Isabel Sarli, a truly outstanding woman in film.”
But Sarli was more than mere erotic object. Together, Armando Bó and Isabel Sarli became one of the most controversial and commercially successful partnerships in the history of Latin American cinema. The pair made 27 films together, combining melodrama, eroticism, social critique and spectacle in productions that were deliberately transgressive, challenging the moral climate of the time, and pushing the boundaries of cinematic freedom during periods of political repression.
Bó’s films were also revolutionary in the Argentine context because many openly centred female desire and the erotic body at a time when mainstream cinema remained highly conservative. While critics today often debate whether the films liberated or objectified women, Sarli defended the films as expressions of natural sexuality rather than pornography, and credited partner and director, Armando Bó, for empowering her as a collaborator and co-producer.
Presented together, Carne and Embrujada reveal two starkly contrasting dimensions of the collaboration between Armando Bó and Isabel Sarli.
ARGENTINE FILM FESTIVAL PRESENTS - CARNE
(1968, Argentina, Armando Bó)
90 mins18
ARGENTINE FILM FESTIVAL PRESENTS:
Set in and around a meatpacking plant, the film follows Delicia, played by Sarli, a sweet and humble girl who dreams of marrying her artist boyfriend (Victor Bó) and starting a family. But her dreams are shattered when she becomes the target of sexual violence and male obsession: a co-worker repeatedly rapes her then arranges for some of his friends to do the same. Rather than telling her boyfriend about the assaults, Delicia instead acts as if nothing has happened, fearing both consequences from the rapists, and an angry response from her fiancee, which could put his own life in danger.
Bó’s direction deliberately blurs the line between social critique and exploitation. The film sensationalises assault in a way that makes for an intensely uncomfortable viewing and underscored by the the slaughterhouse imagery, positions female flesh as another commodity to be consumed alongside the carcasses hanging in the factory. At the same time it presents a deeply pessimistic and portrait of machismo and industrial masculinity in Argentina during the 1960s.
Set in and around a meatpacking plant, the film follows Delicia, played by Sarli, a sweet and humble girl who dreams of marrying her artist boyfriend (Victor Bó) and starting a family. But her dreams are shattered when she becomes the target of sexual violence and male obsession: a co-worker repeatedly rapes her then arranges for some of his friends to do the same. Rather than telling her boyfriend about the assaults, Delicia instead acts as if nothing has happened, fearing both consequences from the rapists, and an angry response from her fiancee, which could put his own life in danger.
Bó’s direction deliberately blurs the line between social critique and exploitation. The film sensationalises assault in a way that makes for an intensely uncomfortable viewing and underscored by the the slaughterhouse imagery, positions female flesh as another commodity to be consumed alongside the carcasses hanging in the factory. At the same time it presents a deeply pessimistic and portrait of machismo and industrial masculinity in Argentina during the 1960s.
Upcoming Screenings
ARGENTINE FILM FESTIVAL PRESENTS - BEWITCHED aka EMBRUJADA
(1976, Argentina, Armando Bó)
80 mins18
ARGENTINE FILM FESTIVAL PRESENTS:
Set in in the remote subtropical regions of northern Argentina, Embrujada draws heavily on Guaraní folklore and rural jungle landscapes, Sarli play Ansisé, a young Indigenous woman obsessed with becoming a mother despite being trapped in a loveless marriage to an impotent husband. The story revolves around the legend of the Pombero, a mythical forest spirit from local Paraguayan and Argentine folklore. Increasingly desperate to conceive, Ansisé will go to extreme lengths to get what she wants, turning to prostitution and occult rituals, only to finally come face to face with the sinister supernatural force of el Pombero.
Blending Argentine folk horror with themes of seduction, fantasy, and myth, Embrujada transforms the erotic body into a symbol of mystical feminine power, while the men drawn into its orbit meet increasingly violent ends.
Set in in the remote subtropical regions of northern Argentina, Embrujada draws heavily on Guaraní folklore and rural jungle landscapes, Sarli play Ansisé, a young Indigenous woman obsessed with becoming a mother despite being trapped in a loveless marriage to an impotent husband. The story revolves around the legend of the Pombero, a mythical forest spirit from local Paraguayan and Argentine folklore. Increasingly desperate to conceive, Ansisé will go to extreme lengths to get what she wants, turning to prostitution and occult rituals, only to finally come face to face with the sinister supernatural force of el Pombero.
Blending Argentine folk horror with themes of seduction, fantasy, and myth, Embrujada transforms the erotic body into a symbol of mystical feminine power, while the men drawn into its orbit meet increasingly violent ends.