Barbarella (1968)
8/10
"My name isn't Pretty-Pretty…It's Barbarella."
26 December 2013
Oh those Europeans, they are so Naughty. This French/Italian Production is a Post-Hays-Code Production that went with that New Found Artistic Freedom and never looked back. It looks Fantastic. No amount of Imagination or Color was spared and the Movie just Vibrates with Fun and Frolic.

Jane Fonda became an International Icon with Her Role as a Sexy Aviatrix from Future Earth where War has been Eradicated and the Official Greeting from the Shapely Astronaut to the President of the Republic of Earth is, arm extended...palm out..."Love".

There is much to Love in this Psychedelic Picture and every Scene had an Artistic Aesthetic that is Founded in Mind Altering Drugs and Lava Lamps. The Costumes are so Bizarre that description Fails on just about any Level. There is Action and Violence, done with a Wink but there still remains a distinctive Bite.

There are Flying Winged Angels that don't make Love, they ARE Love and have no memory. There is an Underground Revolutionary Group that Exists in a Secret Lair, with Secret Passages, Secret Radios, Secret Keys, Secret Codes, and most of all Secrets.

It is just one Mind-Mesmerizing Scene after another and it is so Playfully Artistic that it cannot be anything but Gaudi, Trashy, and Tantalizing. The Movie is Funny and Sexy. A Cult Item to be sure. But that just means that most don't see what's at Play here and are Unfairly Harsh, but there are others who are just Laid-Back enough to just let the Film Massage their Senses with its Innocent and Curious Romp.
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