Scarlet Diva

Asia Argento triple-hyphenates (director-writer-actress) her first full length drama. The film is considered to be semiautobiographical in nature but deals with the fictional Anna Batiste is the `loneliest girl in the world' who is the top actress in Italy and posed to be unleashed upon the stage of world cinema but takes herself down a path that leads get involved in many bad life altering situations. She is ultimately used up and spit out by sleazy Hollywood producers, rock stars, druggies, photographers and a sordid list of leeches that leave her alone, pregnant and running mad through the streets of Paris.

I'm very impressed with the energy that Argento injects into the film. She clearly borrows from some of the well-known directors she has worked with in the past (including her father Dario) but it all works in her favor. A rich color scheme is used throughout the film that sometimes gives an ethereal feel that is sometimes jarring . The script matches the direction, a little disjointed but it works for the characters spiral into agony. Her acting and the cast around her is very good, her believable portrait of the character throughout the peaks and valleys of her life.

Unfairly blasted by critics this film should be seen with an open mind. True I was already a fan of Asia Argento before I saw the film but you don't have to be in order to like or respect the film.

Scarlet Diva (2000)

** (out of 4)

Anna Battista (Asia Argento) is an Italian actress whose dream it is to direct but she runs into one wall after another on her self destructive path filled with sex and drugs.

SCARLET DIVA not only stars Argento but she also wrote and directed the picture, which most will see as a movie about herself. Through various interviews and even the commentary track it's hard to follow what in the movie is based on her of if any of it really is. As far as the film goes, in all honesty there's really nothing great or bad about it and it's pretty much an average film.

I think the best thing about the picture was Argento the actress as she certainly gives it her all. There are all sorts of drama here from rape scenes to bizarre drug trips and even some heavy drama. Argento does a good job in the acting department and she certainly helps keep the movie going along. The supporting players are all nice as well including Daria Nicolodi who plays the mother.

The biggest issue I have with the film is that it seems Argento is wanting to say a lot but nothing really comes out of the film. I'm sure there was some sort of deep or personal meaning that Argento wanted to get out but whatever it is remains pretty still. I'm sure people could watch this and draw their own conclusions but I found the film to be somewhat of a mess in the story department.

The film features quite a bit of sex, nudity and drugs but it's really not shocking or too daring. If you're a fan of Argento you'll certainly want to watch it for her but there's nothing overly special here.

Cult actress Asia Argento, daughter of Italian horror legend Dario Argento and his former leading lady Daria Nicolodi, almost uses 'Scarlet Diva' as therapy. She is the first to admit that she has a lot of demons to battle, and this semi-autobiographical digital video movie about a successful Italian actress (and "the loneliest girl in the world") trying to find happiness, or at least some relief, through sex, drugs and some disastrous relationships, was obviously cathartic for her to make. Unfortunately it is a very uneven and at times unbelievable film and is almost impossible to get involved with. Anna/Asia's pain and despair isn't hidden but the script is so shallow and the acting so unconvincing that it becomes little more than a freak show. Personally I found Argento's commentary on the DVD much more interesting than the movie itself. In it she spells out just how much of the movie is based on real situations in her life, and explains what has been changed or slightly fictionalized. Hearing her talk honestly about how much this movie means to her, and how for example, getting her own mother (Nicolodi) to play her fictional mother altered their relationship for the better, was more effective than watching the actual movie. It also makes you feel bad for slamming this, but what can you do? It just isn't very good. Argento also talks about how she felt betrayed by her friend Vincent Gallo ('Buffalo 66'), who agreed to play the rock star Kirk Vaines character, but then blew it by asking for too much money. If you look closely you will see Asia stand on a picture of his face in one scene. She also discusses how working with Abel Ferrara on the troubled 'New Rose Hotel' inspired her to direct, and how Ferrara and her father Dario Argento (who gets a production credit) were the only two people to encourage her with this project. I just hope that if she directs again the results are a lot more interesting than this amateurish effort. I say avoid this movie unless you are a complete Asia Argento nut. Otherwise if you must watch it, make sure you listen to the commentary and watch the interview segment, as you will get a lot more out of them than 'Scarlet Diva' itself.

Basically, Scarlet Diva, at least in my view, is Asia Argento exorcising some personal demons, most likely from her past and maybe some of her friends. It's the story about a druggy actress and her struggle for normacy/sanity in an insane world. It is a very personal film filled with episodes from Argento's past, at least you get that impression. It's a good film and is not the shockfest that it has been portrayed as. Worth a see.

Boy, so much s--t was talked about this film, and I just want to thank you all for dropping my expectations so low that I was able to thoroughly enjoy Scarlet Diva. If you're sitting down to watch this film, one hopes that a certain context is assumed, and an interest has been established, such that terms like "self-indulgent" and "bad acting" do not even enter into the vocabulary. The film pulls you along with heavy visual style, holding its own sexy trash pulse while at the same time prostrating itself at the altar of the director/star's horror-god father Dario Argento, but in a good way. For example, the latter's trademark use of colored lighting is employed liberally, and to appropriate effect. Rapper Schoolly D and NY shock performer/painter Joe Coleman both make great respective turns, as a drug dealer and sleazy producer. Like the work of her auteur Dad, and writer Mother Daria Nicolodi (who appears as "The Mom" in the film), Asia Argento's Scarlet Diva is a horror film, and you will feel horrified at certain scenes. But it's a "horror of life" film, and it's assumed that much of it is semi-autobiographical. Would you pay to see it if it were Drew Barrymore's sleazoid child star/artist family upbringing? Dare to give 90 minutes up to the Scarlet Diva.