Thunder Among the Leaves
Thunder Among the Leaves () is a 1958 Argentine drama film directed by Armando Bó, starring himself, Isabel Sarli, Ernesto Báez and Andrés Laszlo. The screenplay by Paraguayan writer Augusto Roa Bastos was based on his short story . Set in Paraguay, the story is about a strike at a sawmill. The first film to feature full frontal nudity in Latin American cinema, "Thunder Among the Leaves" scandalized audiences and became a major box office success on the continent. It rocketed Sarli to stardom and is now considered a cult classic. Synopsis. The arrival of the boss's  young wife unearths laborer tensions accumulated after many years of deprivation and maltreatment. The story is a social drama about the exploitation of man. Production. Sarli's inclusion in the film was inspired by Brigitte Bardot's role in "And God Created Woman". "Thunder Among the Leaves" was filmed with the same camera used in Leopoldo Torres Ríos' "Pelota de trapo" in 1948 and Leopoldo Torre Nilsson's "Días de odio" in 1954. During principal photography, Bó convinced Sarli to get naked in a scene in which she bathed in a lake though he had told her earlier that she  would wear a flesh-colored bodystocking. Although Bó told Sarli they would shoot from afar, the camera lens had magnification. Reception. Critic Gustavo J. Castagna felt that the aesthetic of "Thunder Among the Leaves" was reminiscent of the social commentary films by Hugo del Carril and Mario Soffici. Critic Sergio Wolf described Bó's films during this time as serial and each followed the generic pattern described by Arnold Hauser: the exaggerated and sharp, the harsh and exotic. Wolf said that "Thunder Among the Leaves" exhibits this pattern when Julio, who has nothing to lose, lets his passion boil over  and rapes Flavia. The film was a highly controversial box-office success. Argentine newspaper "La Nación" wrote in 1969 that the film left an extraordinary international mark and was one of Argentina's biggest blockbusters over recent years. In November 1958, "The News and Courier" reported that "a saucy Latin lass has smashed South American box office records with the most daring dunking since Hedy Lamarr disrobed to fame in "Ecstasy"." The movie's premiere in Montevideo, Uruguay, broke box office records, and Sarli's bath scene "rocked some Latin American capitals". In April 1959 Brian Bell of the "Pittsburgh  Post-Gazette" wrote, "There was nothing particularly exciting about the movie except Miss Sarli, in a birthday suit swimming scene. It was a box office smash in South America." However, Sarli was panned by fellow filmmakers for the nude scene. Cultural impact. The film featured Isabel Sarli in her first starring role and made her a sex symbol. It also marked the beginning of her partnership with Armando Bó. The partnership spanned almost three decades and made numerous sexploitation films. Now considered a classic, the bath scene was the first one to feature full frontal nudity in Argentine cinema, and  in all of Latin America. "The News and Courier" wrote "the opening in Buenos Aires was hailed as the start of a new era for Argentina's movie industry" after the end of Juan Perón's service as president and his propaganda techniques. "Thunder Among the Leaves" was the star vehicle for Sarli and made her and Bó internationally renowned. The nude scene, particularly, is said to have "[sparked] her star phenomena". The scandal caused by it attracted the international press and Sarli soon appeared in publications such as "Time" and "Life". The film made her popular and at the  premiere of her second film with Bó, "Sabaleros" (1959), a crowd of young fans mobbed her as she got to the cinema, ripped her dress and broke through a police cordon, which caused Sarli to faint twice. The "Star-Banner" reported "Buenos Aires moviegoers could not remember a more surprising and delirious reception for an Argentine movie actress."