For collectors of esoteric Brazilian cinema, German co-productions, and erotic arthouse, this string of text represents a digital holy grail. But what is "Love Strange Love" (1982), and why does its existence on Ok.ru matter to film historians? First, we must correct a frequent misattribution. The film users are looking for is not an English-language romance. "Love Strange Love" is the direct English translation of the Brazilian Portuguese title Amor Estranho Amor . Directed by Walter Hugo Khouri—a master of existential and erotic thriller cinema in São Paulo—the film premiered in 1982 during the tail-end of Brazil’s military dictatorship.
In the vast, uncharted catacombs of the internet, few platforms preserve the obscure, the forgotten, and the "out of print" quite like Ok.ru (formerly Odnoklassniki). Originally a Russian social network for classmates, it has inadvertently become the world's largest rogue archive for cult cinema. Among the most cryptic search queries that surface on the platform is a fascinating trio of keywords: . love strange love -1982- ok ru
By: Archival Film Quarterly