My first from this Spanish director noted for his erotic films and, while this element is certainly at the forefront of his preoccupations here, it is presented in a generally restrained and tasteful way.

The film's plot is an interesting, even original one: in 1912, a happily-married but poor French mine-worker wins a race and the once-in-a-lifetime prize he receives is to witness the historic launching of the ill-fated "Titanic". In the hotel where he stays for one night, he ends up sharing his room with a beautiful young girl who tells him that she will be working as a chambermaid on the ship. When he returns home - and especially after learning of the tragedy that befell the "Titanic" - he becomes obsessed with his memory of the girl and, to appease his curious and envious colleagues, he concocts stories of their various sexcapades in the hotel, on the docks and even aboard the ship itself! Of course, his devoted wife is not pleased when she learns about this (despite rumors that she had been unfaithful with her husband's boss in his absence!) but soon changes her mind when she realizes that the tall stories her husband tells in the local bar are turning a profit and have also made him something of a celebrity! In fact, they are subsequently visited by a traveling showman who specializes in tragic love stories revolving around historical calamities (such as the eruption of Vesuvius at the time of the Roman Empire) who proposes to take the couple under his wing, with the promise that the husband's monologues will eventually play in front of a wide audience in theatre houses across the country. And, as in every fable, it all comes true - except that one day the chambermaid, who is alive and well and not as pure as the husband professes, attends one of his performances...

The twist ending is delightful, taking the plot's aura of fantasy, romance and nostalgia as far as it can go. Indeed, the entire film was a pleasant surprise for me and I will surely be renting on DVD two of the director's more typical 'carnal comedies' - THE AGES OF LULU (1990) and JAMON, JAMON (1992) - somewhere down the line...