“It couldn’t keep up with you!” the villain exclaims. But she proves too much woman for it, and the machine itself overloads instead.
Paramount Picturesīarbarella is consistently funny, thanks in part to Fonda’s deadpan delivery of lines like “A good many dramatic situations begin with screaming” and “This is really much too poetic a way to die,” uttered when Barbarella is trapped in a chamber full of colorful birds attempting to peck her to death.ĭavid Hemmings shows up late in the movie as a rebel commander wearing tiny shorts (named, of course, Dildano), and his fussing around with his malfunctioning electronic equipment is a masterpiece of slapstick.īarbarella’s big showdown with the ultimate villain involves him trapping her in a machine meant to kill her by overloading her with sexual pleasure. Watching Barbarella feels like taking an acid trip without actually taking any acid. But between them, they came up with some sublimely absurd dialogue. There are eight credited screenwriters on Barbarella (including the original comic book creator Forest and renowned satirist Terry Southern), which may account for the incoherent plotting. Vadim may have been primarily interested in how gorgeous Fonda looked (and she does look gorgeous), but she also gives a fantastic performance with just the right balance of sensual and ridiculous. Barbarella’s world is completely convincing in part because it’s so artificial no matter how much danger Barbarella is in, she can be counted on to change into a new fabulous outfit every couple of scenes. Vadim constantly bombards viewers with bizarre, garish set designs, and costumes that are both patently fake-looking and gloriously immersive. But the pleasures of watching Barbarella don’t come from its sophisticated sci-fi story or intricate world-building. The plot of Barbarella is almost impressionistic, and her mission to find Durand takes many detours, only to culminate in a bizarre anticlimax. Pygar and Ping then help Barbarella enter the sinister city of Sogo, where Durand is possibly being held hostage by the Great Tyrant (Anita Pallenberg).īarbarella cures Pygar of his inability to fly by making love to him in what appears to be his nest. “Interesting therapy,” comments the mechanic and resistance leader Professor Ping (legendary mime Marcel Marceau). When she meets the almost childlike blind angel called Pygar (John Phillip Law), she cures him of his inability to fly by making love to him in what appears to be his nest. Barbarella discovers that she loves making love, and so she keeps doing it. She’s not coerced or manipulated, and her attitude toward sex is a sort of breezy openness that fits both the era’s free-love mentality and Vadim’s more prurient erotica sensibilities. Sex on Earth has evolved to encompass simply taking a pill and matching something called “psychocardiograms,” but the Catchman wants to do it the old-fashioned way so Barbarella happily obliges. Paramount Picturesīarbarella offers him anything he wants as repayment for saving her life, and he requests that she have sex with him. She’s rescued from the children’s clutches by a burly outdoorsman known as the Catchman (Ugo Tognazzi).īarbarella meets the almost childlike blind angel called Pygar. “But I haven’t skied in ages!” Barbarella objects reasonably. She’s first kidnapped by a band of creepy children, who whisk her away to their headquarters across an icy landscape via giant skis tied to a stingray-like creature. To protect herself from the potentially savage inhabitants of her destination, Barbarella is sent vintage weapons from the Museum of Conflict (the only place on Earth where such items can be found).Īfter crash-landing on the planet where Durand is hiding, Barbarella goes on an expansive journey in the manner of Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz, only with a lot more sex. “Why would anyone want to invent a weapon?” Barbarella asks in her charming combination of naivete and intellectual curiosity. He assigns her to travel to the Tau Ceti system and locate a scientist named Durand Durand, who has disappeared with a dangerous weapon he created. Right after she strips off her spacesuit, Barbarella receives an urgent call from the President of Earth, which she of course answers in the nude. Barbarella receives an urgent call from the President of Earth, which she of course answers in the nude.