Barbarella

viewed August 6, 2000 on VHS  Full Details

What can I say -- this movie was an enormous load of fun.  Jane Fonda as an inquisitive, earnest woman on an outer space voyage of sexual discovery, shagging her way to orgasmic peace throughout the universe.  But it's more than spaced-out soft porn -- this film captures a vision of the 60s, of free love and love for fantasy better than most any film you'll see of the era.  The space sets capture the style of the 60s brilliantly, from the fur-lined interior of Barbarella's space capsule to the lava lamped and ottoman-littered dwelling of the Black Queen.  It is a landmark not only of a new era in cinema sex, but also cultural kitsch.

Fonda displays a brilliant comic talent, turning bimbo-ness into an artform.  She is the ingenuous, inquisitive American: through the eyes of French director Roger Vadim, American Woman is robust, insatiable, clumsy and indomitable. Fonda, with her dad's cowboy speech inflections and arsenal of wide-eyed expressions, plays the part perfectly.  Plus she's half-naked for most of the movie.  I'll take this over Austin Powers anyday.  

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