Although initially separated by more than 50 years, one living in the 1960s and the other in the present day, the two protagonists of the film converge and even swap roles. Thus, the innocent Ellie becomes more and more Sandie as the film unfolds. Both initially share an ambition to become artists in London, one in the world of fashion, the other as a singer. But events will not unfold as they had originally planned. Thus, Sandie ends up offering her sexual services in a London nightclub, which uses the trope of the dreamer woman facing a hostile reality in which dreams take a back seat to the need to survive.

The Egyptomania reference in this film is extremely subtle, but significant. In the club where Sandie works to encourage potential sexual clients, different exotic and sensual shows are offered. The one we are interested in does not even appear in the scene, although we know about it because we hear the presentation of a dancer's performance in a room next to the one where the main action takes place. It is an exotic dance by one of the girls in the club, called Cleopatra.

Prostitution, exoticism, and sensuality are aspects that have been linked to the Ptolemaic queen Cleopatra VII since Antiquity, as we know from the testimonies of classical authors such as Propertius or Dio Cassius, and which continued over the centuries, decisively influencing the portrayal of the Ptolemaic queen in contemporary popular culture. This is also evidenced by the regular presence of Cleopatra as a protagonist in many pornographic films inspired by ancient Egypt.

Author: Abraham I. Fernández Pichel