I have rather a soft spot for this obscure slice of art house drama, having grown up on a diet of cult films and world cinema. Based on the stage play by Oscar Wilde, the plot follows the biblical tale of King Herod and Salome. As this tale has been told numerous times, the director tried to put a new spin on it by going the route of High Camp Drama. The plot follows King Herod in his declining years- impotent in every sense of the word, he is a burnt out ruler, desperately trying to keep power in his kingdom and find a way to regain his potency. His palace is a cesspool of decadence, ruled by a perverse queen. Salome is brought by a rival army to overthrow Herod. Extraordinary stark production designs, in black and silver, convey a cold, industrial atmosphere, along with a wonderful synth sound track by Bruno Carioti. The costume design in the same color scheme is part science fiction (think Dune, or Lexx) and part WW II. Once you can suspend your disbelief about jeeps and nazi uniforms in a biblical story, it all comes together in a grand epic along the lines of a glamorous Baz Luhrman musical! Viewers are entertained by handsome muscular ballet dancers and plenty of euro crumpet in various stages of undress. Casting is crucial in this kind of theatrical production, and there are outstanding performances from Italian actor Tomas Milian, (whom most people probably know only from a string of spaghetti westerns and carrabinierri films) and the British actors Pamela Salem and Tim Woodward, both theatre stalwards. Newcomer Jo Champa played the infamous Salome and rewards the viewer with a spicy dance of the seven veils of course. Produced by the Golan / Globus partnership, who made many best selling costume dramas in the 1980's, this particular offering did not do so well for them. I suspect the kind of audience that likes biblical tales would have been put off by the film's artsiness and copious amounts of nudity. The distributors tried to con the casual movie buyer/renter with a lurid cover of a cartoonish amazonian beauty! This film is only available on video but try to track it down if you like a bit of glam.
