Dame Un Poco De Amooor…! (1968)

Film review #724

Director: José Maria Forqué

SYNOPSIS: The lead singer of the band Los Bravos is kidnapped by an evil mastermind, who seeks a formula for a potion to control the world. The band try to rescue their singer, along with the daughter of the professor who invented the formula, who believes that he is a superhero.

THOUGHTS/ANALYSIS: Dame un Poco de Amooor…! (Bring a Little Loving) is a 1968 film starring the Spanish rock band Los Bravos. In the same vein as films starring 60s bands such as The Beatles (Help!) and the Munkees (Head), this film serves primarily as a vessel for the bands songs and to extend these bands popularity across all media. Mike, the leader of the band, is kidnapped by the evil master mind Chou-Fang, who wants to take over the world using a secret formula for mind control developed by a retired scientist. Sao-Ling, the daughter of the scientist, helps Mike escape, believing him to be a superhero who can help her Father. It’s rather basic and silly stuff, and it’s never taken too seriously: like I say, it’s just a bit of fun to promote the band and make them seem like heroes in a way. As you might expect, the plot is interrupted every few minutes with a performance from the band of one of their songs, and while I’m not familiar with their music, I have to say they’re all catchy, fun songs that fit the times. There’s even a mix of Spanish and English songs. Just one look at the film makes it plain to see it revels in the 1960’s aesthetic of pop art and comic book style, as you would expect, and the whole design and choreography of the film is very nicely done, complete with sets that have a good amount of creativity and expression baked into them.

As mentioned, the story is very silly and never really gets to be taken too seriously: it’s just riffing on b-movie sci-fi plots about scientists and their formulas. The main issue with this film is that there’s a lot of stereotypical portrayals of Southeast Asian culture and people, and the common practice of the time of making people “look” SE-Asian with makeup. Perhaps explains why you won’t see this film around much these days. It’s a product of it’s time for better and worse, and is full of fun and catchy songs to keep things entertaining and to appeal to it’s audience.