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LESBIAN LOVE ON THE RUN!

Jed Ryan | New York City | 10/18/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"GASOLINE (BENZINA): LESBIAN LOVE ON THE RUN

When a movie starts out with a shot of a dead blonde woman, seemingly
murdered and surrounded by what appears to be cocaine, you know you're in for a
wild ride. And in "Gasoline", your companions on this road trip are two young
lesbian lovers named Stella and Eleonora. "Oh, no! Not another movie about
a pair of killer lesbians!" you may be saying to yourself. But "Gasoline"
("Benzina"), the new lesbian-themed action flick imported from Italy, stands out
in that the action is seriously bolstered by the dynamics between the two
chicks. They're in love, and it's both tender and hot to watch at the same time.
These two gals on the run may both be a bit crazy, but they're certainly not
as delusional as the pair of sapphic lovers in "Heavenly Creatures" or as
deranged as the duo of murderous gals in "Baise Moi". Stella (Maya Sansa) is a
tomboyish brunette with a "don't-f*ck-with-me" kind of attitude. Eleonora is a
mousy, bespectacled blonde who seems fragile... and possibly a bit mentally
unbalanced. At a somewhat isolated gas station/coffee bar, Stella (who may
remind you of a butch Winona Ryder) does the car repairs, while Eleonora (or
"Lenni") tends the bar. Their quiet life is disrupted when Lenni's glamorous
mother (Mariella Valentini) pays a surprise visit. Mom is upset about her
daughter's living conditions, and she gets more upset when she peeks in the window
and sees the two girls engaged in a passionate kiss-- at one point confronting
Eleonora with, "You've quit school to become a lesbian gas station attendant?!"
Like in "Thelma & Louise", Stella and Eleonora inadvertently find themselves
in a bad situation. In "Gasoline", the bad situation is the accidental death
of Eleonora's mother. So... the two gal pals take off on a road trip that
doesn't, shall we say, go quite as smoothly as planned. Just what are they going to do with Mom's dead body? With 20 million lire in hand (the equivalent of
about 12,000 American dollars), the two lovers plan to dump the body and
escape to Tunisia. At this point, we the audience have just the barest minimum of
character development. But we learn more about the two young ladies towards
the the middle of the movie...

Will the girls have an easy ride? Well, two guesses won't be necessary.
Stella and Eleonora accidentally strike a motorcycle-riding priest with
their car, forcing them to reluctantly offer the middle-aged holy man a ride--
with the mother's dead body still in the trunk! As if that dose of Catholic
guilt weren't enough, Lenni is hearing her dead mama's voice in her head during
the whole trip-- and needless to say, it ain't a voice of approval. To make
matters worse, the two lovers are stalked by a trio of troublemakers-- two guys
and a girl-- who are seeking revenge for Stella scratching their car at the gas
station earlier in the movie. In between the volatile situations, the two
girls find some time to engage in some very hot lovemaking scenes. Whoa!
"Gasoline" cumulates into a finale which, quite literally, is no less than explosive.

"Gasoline", the directorial debut of Monica Stambrini, succeeds as both a
tense thriller as well as an unorthodox love story. It makes you think:
Italians may already have the upper hand when it comes to cooking, opera singing,
and making love. With "Gasoline", they may just show that they can blow us
away when it comes to making sexy action flicks as well. Buon lavoro! (In
Italian with English subtitles.)
�@"

Thelma and Louise do Italy!

Jed Ryan | 03/13/2004

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Two lovely young girls (a pretty blonde and her butchy brunette girlfriend) fall in love working together at a gas station/luncheonette, and then are forced to run away after they accidentally kill the mother of the pretty blonde. Along the way they have a run in with a couple of drunken guys and their equally blotto girlfriend, all of which leads to a fiery conclusion. There's lots of sub-titled dialogue in between, including the ghost of the pretty blonde girl's mother telling her what she should do. Also, some surprisingly sexy moments, including a hot make-out session in a public bathroom between the two young women. Interesting, but too action-oriented for an erotic flick and not enough action for an adventure flick."