Viva

I saw this movie this morning and I haven't been able to stop thinking about it all day. It was like watching a film made by Radley Metzger, Russ Meyer, and George Kuchar all rolled into one. It's a hilarious homage to the sixties/early seventies sexploitation pictures and Playboy philosophy, and despite the copious nudity and many references to sex, it's strangely one of the most innocent films I've seen in a long time. The performances, costumes and script as well as Ms. Biller's use of sets and color are mind-boggling and transform the movie into a camp masterpiece. Why did this go direct to video and not play the theater circuit? It would be perfect for midnight movie showings. I'm curious how she found funding for this film in this day and age and am eagerly looking forward to her next one. This movie is amazing!

Whomever called this satire a masterpiece of erotic cinema has got to be on some pretty hard drugs. Viva is very much a comedy with the kind of weird, stupid humor that can be hit or miss. Movies like Jim Hosking's An Evening with Beverly Luff Linn (2018) and Anna Biller's other feature film The Love Witch (2016) accomplished this with considerably superior skill, and are two of my favorite comedies.

Unfortunately Viva is to The Love Witch what The Greasy Strangler (2016) is to Beverly Luff Linn. The stupid is piled on so heavily that at times it's just boring or annoying. What saves Viva though are the expert stylistic settings and brilliant colors, along with dry inside jokes that will mainly be appreciated by Italian giallo and/or Hammer studio fans.

Anna Biller is a feminist film maker and I would go as far as to say Viva is also too subtle with feminist themes. As a director she improved considerably on both comic writing and clear messaging while maintaining her trademark neo-70s visual aesthetics with her later 2016 masterpiece.

I don't remember the 1970s being this bad. As I began to watch this, I thought "why?" Wooden or ham acting, twee soundtrack, garish clothing... and then, realising it's a parody, I began to embrace it. Leaving her mundane life of cooking and making cocktails for her husband, Barbi becomes Viva. In the style of Russ Meyer, her adventures include bad sex, nudism, drugs and a lesbian dalliance but always men are pursuing her. It's not a serious work and I admire Anna Biller's dedication to her art, having written, directed and starred in her oeuvre, plus baring all her charms for the camera, quite nicely too. I particularly liked the line of wigs worn by all and sundry, most looking as of made from polyester and looking through the credits I spotted "extra hair" which might explain how some of the cast were sporting what might have been merkins as these days everyone seems to want to look prepubescent and shaves their genital areas. If you like 70s style racy films, it's for you.

Never before has a modern film so perfectly succeeded in capturing the look, style and feel of the 70's Sexploitation classics. Anna Biller's "Viva" is an explosion of color, humor and schlock done to the nines, besting attempts made by far bigger-budgeted flicks like "Austin Powers" and "Grindhouse" in truly recreating a bygone era. It's a true skin-comedy epic that delivers everything the gorgeous promotional art promises, and will no doubt become a cult classic among those with a true affinity for well-done homage. I watched this with some friends and there were times when we had to actually stop the DVD because we were laughing so hard! The prostitution and nudist camp scenes are simply unbelievable. Highly recommended.

If you are going to watch only one Anna Biller film, then I'd unreservedly recommend that instead of this. (Quite apart from anything else, Samantha Robinson is a proper and impressive actress - sadly something mainly absent here.)

Viva does however have its own kitsch charm - but if you are going to parody bad acting then it helps to look like it's deliberate. Here, the dialogue is mostly awful and delivered poorly, although there are some inventive moments such as the animation sequence, and the plot does sort-of hang together.

If you're an AB completist then you'll have seen this already, but even if not it's worth a look to see how she developed her style.