Culture

Directed by Roger Vadim. Starring: Jane Fonda, John Phillip Law, Anita Pallenberg, Milo O’Shea

When a film is set in 40,000 AD you know it’s going to be a treat, especially when it was made in the Sixties. With more outlandish costumes than Lady Gaga, the movie has all the fashion you could want in a film.
 

The movie is pretty standard of Sixties sci-fi. Lots of bright and colourful and ridiculous costume and sets. The plot is fairly basic; Barbarella is called on by the President of Earth to retrieve an Earth scientist who has disappeared on planet Tau Ceti. He’s building a positronic ray capable of starting a war. Given that war or any type of fighting between people hasn’t occurred for millennia, this is a pretty big deal.
 

So off goes Barbarella in her fur-lined spaceship to Tau Ceti to find the scientist Durand Durand (who the Eighties super group Duran Duran named themselves after). Along the way she meets a man with a very hairy chest who introduces her to the ways of classic sex, a blind angel and many more weird creatures who inhabit the planet.

 
Like I say, plot wise Barbarella doesn’t have much going for it. I think the strength of the film lies in the weird and wonderful sets, and visually it keeps one entertained. There are certainly some funny moments, especially with Barbarella’s sarcastic asides and some of the crazy shit the other characters come up with.
 

If you enjoy a Sixties futuristic vibe then you will find enough in this movie to keep you going. Watch out for the excessive machine which, when played, gives the person inside increasing amounts of pleasure…sexy pleasure.