Sarli, Right Number

Isabel Sarli was a 60s/70s sexbomb who starred in several scandalous softcore movies in Argentina that were massively popular in Latin America despite the views of the Church and of various dictatorships. Known as 'Coca' for her Coca-Cola bottle silhouette, Sarli starred in a series of sleazy potboilers directed by her husband Roger Vadim Armando Bo, and they look to be Russ Meyer-esque in their wanton celebration of sin and pulchritude...with such titles as Carne and Fuego, how could they not be?



When I was down in Buenos Aires this Christmas, I was hoping to be able to pick up a yellowed Isabel Sarli one-sheet to bring home, but the available posters weren't quite sleazy enough.





Last summer the Film Society of Lincoln Center ran a mini-tribute to the films of Isabel, including a recent documentary on her life called Carne Sobre Carne (Flesh on Flesh). Here's an excerpt from a tribute video to Sarli and Bo from the man himself, John Waters, confirming her secret influence.



You know what would be good? A second Isabel Sarli retrospective in the English-speaking world!

Trailer for Carne Sobre Carne!