Barbarella (film)
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| Barbarella | |
|---|---|
 US poster for Barbarella |
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| Directed by | Roger Vadim |
| Produced by | Dino De Laurentiis |
| Written by | Vittori Bonicelli Claude Brulé Brian Degas Jean-Claude Forest Tudor Gates Terry Southern Clement B. Wood |
| Starring | Jane Fonda David Hemmings |
| Music by | Bob Crewe Charles Fox |
| Cinematography | Claude Renoir |
| Editing by | Victoria Mercanton |
| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures (USA) |
| Release date(s) |  October 10, 1968 October 18, 1968 |
| Running time | 98 min. |
| Country | France Italy |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $9,000,000 |
| All Movie Guide profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Barbarella, also known as Barbarella, Queen of the Galaxy is a 1968 erotic science fiction film, based on the French Barbarella comic book created by Jean-Claude Forest.
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[edit] Plot
The comic and film both feature Barbarella, a young woman who has numerous adventures, often involving sex, while journeying around the galaxy, c.A.D. 40,000.
In the film she is dispatched by the President of the Galaxy on a special mission to track down Durand Durand after he is thought to have taken knowledge of weapons to a potentially primitive and dangerous culture. Along the way she has erotic encounters with various sundry characters while fulfilling her mission.
[edit] Style
Barbarella is famous for a sequence in which the title character, played by Jane Fonda, undresses in zero gravity during (and inadequately concealed by) the opening credits.
Barbarella is one of the few science fiction erotica films that includes an erotic torture device.
The whole film is played in a very tongue-in-cheek manner—especially when it comes to the frequent (but non-explicit) sex scenes. To modern viewers, the film's special effects look cheaply-made and unconvincing, but they were ambitious by the standards of the day.
The film was simultaneously shot in French and English. In the French version, Fonda performs her own lines in French. In the English version, the character Pallenberg's lines are dubbed by Fenella Fielding, at least according to the region2 DVD booklet notes, although others have claimed that the voice actually belongs to Joan Greenwood. Marcel Marceau's lines are also dubbed into English.
De Laurentiis returned to camp science fiction (but with far less erotica) with 1980's Flash Gordon.
[edit] Primary cast
- Jane Fonda: Barbarella
- John Phillip Law: Pygar
- Anita Pallenberg: The Great Tyrant
- Milo O'Shea: Concierge/Durand Durand
- Marcel Marceau: Professor Ping
- Claude Dauphin: President of Earth
- David Hemmings: Dildano
[edit] Reception and cultural influence
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The film was both a box office and critical failure. "Variety" claimed that "Despite a certain amount of production dash and polish and a few silly-funny lines of dialog, Barbarella isn't very much of a film. Based on what has been called an adult comic strip [by Jean Claude Forest], the Dino De Laurentiis production is flawed with a cast that is not particularly adept at comedy, a flat script, and direction which can't get this beached whale afloat."[1] Another major critic at the time claimed the film was a "mix of poor special effects and the Marquis de Sade" However, it has gained a cult following since its re-release in 1977 on home video, and has had considerable influence on pop culture in the decades following its original release.
[edit] Music
One of the film's biggest realms of influence has been on the world of music.
[edit] 1980s
Duran Duran, one of the most influential British acts of the 1980s, took their name from Barbarella character Durand Durand.
As the 1980s girl group Fuzzbox could not get permission to use Thunderbirds for their song International Rescue they spoofed Barbarella with Adrian Edmondson playing the Durand Durand character.
[edit] 1990s
In 1992, Techno producers Sven Väth and Ralf Hildenbeutel recorded an album entitled The Art of Dance under the alias Barbarella. The singles from this album, a few of which were very popular among electronic music enthusiasts, took their inspiration from the film, and included titles such as The Future, The Spaceship, The Mission, and The Secret Chamber of Dreams, as well as 5 tracks that were named for some variation on the name Barbarella.
Another famous singer to use the iconography of Barbarella in a pop video was Kylie Minogue who recreated the infamous zero-gravity strip-tease in her award winning 1994 video for "Put Yourself in My Place"
The British band Jamiroquai also mentions a "baby Barbarella" in their hit 1996 song "Cosmic Girl."
In 1998, front man Scott Weiland of the bands Stone Temple Pilots and Velvet Revolver released a solo album entitled "12 Bar Blues." The hit song from that album which spawned a music video was titled "Barbarella." The lyrics of the song pay homage to several science fiction television shows and movies.
The band Matmos takes its name from the underground fluid creature in the film (as does the lava lamp manufacturer Mathmos).
[edit] Duran Duran
The band Duran Duran takes its name from Dr. Durand Durand (O'Shea), a mad scientist who appears in the film as one of the villains. O'Shea repaid the compliment by appearing (as an older version of Durand Durand) in Arena, the band's 1985 concert film. Some of the band's early appearances were at a nightclub called Barbarella's, in their home town of Birmingham, England. The band continued the homage to its roots with their 1997 US single, "Electric Barbarella" (released in the UK in 1998). The band has continually used sound clips from the film in their songs, most notably 1989's "Burning The Ground" and the remixes for 1990's "Violence Of Summer".
[edit] Prince
Rock-funk artist Prince also has a history of referencing and being inspired by the film Barbarella. His song Endorphin Machine from The Gold Experience album clearly relates to the sexual torture machine Durand Durand uses on Barbarella in the movie. There are even sketches of the Endorphin Machine showing it to be nearly identical to the device in the movie. His album O (-> contains between song segues presented and the adventures of a reporter (played by Kirstie Alley) trying to interview Prince. In one such segment his voice is distorted. He explains he is using a "tongue box", which is a device found in Barbarella. Also his band "The New Power Generation" contained for many years a keyboard player named "Tommy Barbarella", a name certainly approved if not chosen by Prince himself.
[edit] Other influences
While the film has had considerable influence on the music world, its influence certainly does not end there.
In the world of comics, the manga artists collectively known as Clamp parodied Barbarella in one chapter of their Miyuki-chan in Wonderland, the chapter titled TV no Kuni no Miyuki-chan (Miyuki-chan in TV Land) shows several of the characters (including some female versions) trying to seduce the main character. The manga contains heavy lesbian overtones.
There is even a European Long/Short Hedge Fund quoted on the Irish Stock Exchange that has the name Pygar Fund, inspired by the character of that name.
A company in the UK also sells lava lamps and oil projectors under the name Mathmos.
[edit] Special effects
The psychedelic "blob" patterns that form much of the special effects in the film are created using an oil wheel projector, a popular visual effects device also used in many other '60s movies, as well as in many anti-drug educational films.
[edit] Trivia
- Virna Lisi was cast in the title role in Barbarella, but she turned it down and returned to Italy.
- Star Jane Fonda was married to director Roger Vadim during the production and distribution of Barbarella.
- Talitha Pol, a fashion icon of the late 1960s, who was married to John Paul Getty, appeared in Barbarella in the uncredited role of a girl smoking a pipe.
- Drew Barrymore was recently reported under consideration for the lead in a rumored remake.
[edit] References
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
