Film Review
Intended as a colourful adaptation of Jean-Claude Forest's comic books of the 1960s,
Barbarella
has since acquired a reputation as very possibly the most gloriously over-the-top
science fiction film in cinema history. The mere fact that the film never lets up
for a moment but continues to take itself seriously right up until the closing credits
- seemingly oblivious to its artistic and technical inadequacies - gives it a certain
intoxicating charm.
It is certainly easy to find fault with the film, which accounts for why it often ends
up highly placed in lists of the worst films ever made. The script contains some
of the most laughably wooden dialogue and ill-judged attempts at humour since language
was invented; the special effects are so bad (even by 1960s standards) that they end up
provoking more laughter than the script; the acting varies from the mediocre to the abysmal
- with its star Jane Fonda showing as much dramatic range as a Barbie doll.
If the word “kitsch” could only be applied to one film, that film would assuredly be
Barbarella
.
Yet, in spite of all its faults,
Barbarella still manages to entertain and, by
accident or design, is a wonderful spoof of the whole science-ficttion genre. For
those who can see past the clumsy editing, dire special effects, silly double entendres
and pretentious schoolboy dialogue, there is a real feast of unforgettable images and
side-splitting comedy.
Milo O'Shea makes a deliciously camp villain, who is only just out-staged by the seductively
svelte Anita Pallenberg (who is dubbed by velvety tones of Joan Greenwood).
French mime artist Marcel Marceau also makes one of his few film appearances.
In a role which she obviously feels uncomfortable in and would regret for the rest of
her career, Jane Fonda plays the dumb blonde space agent Barbarella with the wide-eyed
innocence of - well, a naive young actress who would regret playing the part for the rest
of her career.
Barbarella was directed Roger Vadim, one of the most controversial and high-profile
French film directors of the late 1950s, early 1960s - although this had more to do with
his very public liaisons with star name actresses (including Brigitte Bardot, Jane Fonda
and Catherine Deneuve) than his cinema work. Vadim's films such as
Et
Dieu... créa la femme (1956) and
Le
Repos du guerrier (1962) broke new ground in their daring depiction of free love
and sexually liberated women, putting him in the vanguard of the French New Wave.
Barbarella marked a radical (and some would say unfortunate) departure for Vadim
into the sphere of science-fiction and comic book fantasy. Although
Barbarella
is undoubtedly
one of his best-known films, it is is also his most flawed and
atypical.
© James Travers 2002
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Next Roger Vadim film:
Histoires extraordinaires (1968)
Film Synopsis
In the 41st century, space agent Barbarella is sent on a vital mission by the President
of the Earth Republic to locate the missing scientist Duran Duran, creator of the deadly
Positronic Ray. In the Tau Ceti star system, Barbarella's ship crashes on an alien
world where she encounters vicious children with killer dolls. Resuming her mission,
she meets the outcasts of the evil City of Sogo, who include a blind angel Pygar and helpful
scientist Professor Ping. Realising that Duran Duran is likely to be in the City,
Barbarella asks Pygar to take her there. Not long after her arrival, she is
captured by the Great Tyrant and sentenced to death…
© James Travers
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.