Barbarella

Barbarella

Genre: Science Fiction, Space Opera, Sex Comedy, Adventure

Director: Roger Vadim

Year: 1968

In the far future, a highly sexual woman is tasked with finding and stopping the evil Durand-Durand. Along the way she encounters various unusual people.

Who seduces an angel? Who strips in space? Who conveys love by hand? Who gives up the pill? Who takes sex to outer space? Who's the girl of the 21st century? Who nearly dies of pleasure? Barbarella, that's who!

This French/Italian production sees one of America's great actresses Jane Fonda play a secret agent in this campy blend of science fiction, adventure & tongue in cheek comedy. The film begins with a wonderful baroque style title sequence with Barbarella floating around, as she removes her clothes any potential nudity is covered up by the on-screen credits. This backed with a Tom Jones-esque theme tune set the tone perfectly for the picture you are about to see. 

The film is a colourful experience, with really impressive large sets created at the Dino De Laurentiis Cinematografica Studios in Rome. They have an almost cartoonish vibe, very similar to those also recorded at the studio that same year for Mario Bava's Danger: Diabolik. In-fact, both films are very similar with their aesthetic & comic-book feel, though the humour in Barbarella is much more obvious in its delivery.

Both films must of been a huge influence on Mike Hodges's Flash Gordon which would be made some 12 years later & also the Austin Powers series owes a lot to the tone, look & unpredictability of Barbarella.

As the film progresses Barbarella gets herself into all kinds of trouble as she meets a series of unusual characters, it's like Clash Of The Titans... in space! In one scene she's abducted by children, tied up and attacked by some really freakish looking dolls with sharp teeth which wouldn't look out of place in a horror movie. Throughout the picture the characters remain hammy and incredibly camp keeping the flick light hearted & fun. It's a film where the entire cast completely understood the material & the tone that picture was striving for & with the entire film hanging on the character of Barbarella you have to give an enormous amount of credit to Jane Fonda for making it all look so effortless.

The second half of the picture becomes slightly more action orientated & whilst the knowing nod towards humour is always present the films running time of an hour and forty five begins to grate a little. I'd compare it to eating your favourite junk food, its always great for a while but eventually it'll become tiresome if you eat too much of it so it really is a "too much of a good thing" scenario with this picture. Fifteen minutes shredded from its running time would of really of helped this film hit the sweet spot for me.

Despite these faults, Barbarella remains an iconic piece of cinema. With its outrageous costumes (Fonda has a costume change approximately every five minutes), outlandish set designs, over the top performances & groovy soundtrack it remains a charming piece of cinema, which whilst it may not be the most stimulating film mentally, visually it'll knock you out.

Rating: ★★★

Jane Fonda, makes love in her own unique way.