In 1968, cinema history was graced by the birth of an indubitable Sci-Fi classic, Kubrick's 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY, a visionary ground-breaker, while on the other end of genre's gamut, we also witnessed this French-Italian sexploitation adaptation of the racy French Sci-Fi comic strip. BARBARELLA, a French-Italian co-production, directed by Frenchman Roger Vadim and starring his then-wife Jane Fonda as the titular heroine, presented in an unspecified future, it is as outlandishly lavish of its setting, as goofily puerile of its bare-bones story. The opening gambit introduces Barbarella, an earth astronaut, strips herself from her space suit inside under the zero-gravity environment, against Seurat's famous pointillistic painting, a pastiche of high art and low pleasure to pander to audience's sensorium rams home immediately. Barbarella is sent to a galaxy far far away to look for an earthling named Durand Durand, an inventor of a deadly weapon which the President of Earth (Dauphin) thinks might fall into wrong hands. Her adventure consists of a nexus of chance encounters with various characters on the 16th planet of Tau Ceti, as a hapless and somewhat dimwit, but perennially spirited damsel-in-distress, saving from the assault of creepy dolls with razor-sharp teeth controlled by evil kids by the hirsute Catchman Mark Hand (Tognazzi), she consents to Mark's love-making proposal, not the pill- inducing high-tech consummation, but the old-fashioned way, which turns out to be quite toothsome, please, suspend your disbelief! Further on, she meets a blind angel Pygar (Law) who has lost the will to fly, Professor Ping (French mime icon, Marcel Marceau), an outcast living in a slipshod labyrinth, the leader of the resistance Dildano (Hemmings), the Great Tyrant and Black Queen of Sogo (Pallenberg), and her devilish concierge (O'Shea), Barbarella uses sex as a means to express her gratitude, Mark aside, she cannot keep her hands off the Adonis-like Pygar and through sex, she endows him the renewed strength of flying, and with Dildano, their coiffure-remodeling palm sex is so otherworldly steamy that it stuns an awkward bystander. The only savior she doesn't reciprocate in putting out is the one-eyed wench, the Great Tyrant in disguise, although lesbianism is explicitly hinted (the Tyrant keeps referring her as "Pretty Pretty") to tease out the male gaze. In the main, sex is Barbarella's strongest suit, in a crashingly bawdy episode, her unquenchable sexual drive can even render the infamous orgasm killing machine overload, in a way, sex becomes her lethal weapon eventually, which prefigures a forthcoming era of sex liberation. Mario Garbuglia's production design is as outré as one can imagine, along with Fonda's wardrobe showcase, while the film's rough-hewn special effect inevitably looks like a child's play, but together they confer a retro, varicolored splendor to today's spectators in the face of the props' overtly tacky tangibility. The plot is the film's underbelly, a rushed ending is atrociously wheeled out, but Fonda, in her most gratuitously sexed-up endeavor, delivers an open-faced seriousness and immediacy, she really cares to find out Durand Durand! However barmy it seems, at any rate, BARBARELLA doesn't shortchange its source material, a low-brow cartoon wallows in its high kitschy style with admirable candor, aka, the spirit of space camp!

People who are into James Bond Films will appreciate the tag line "Oh Jane!". In this case it also describes what is most important with regard to Barbarella. Jane Fonda. But while Jane has aged magnificently over the years, one can't say the same about Barbarella. Sadly, this is one of those movies, which were exciting then and when you watch it you can still see why that was the case, but nowadays it just isn't that exciting anymore. The visuals are clearly identified as staged, the oversexualization of Fonda seems forced and the story itself is pretty dull. Of course, one can image how this movie played at the time of its initial release. The guys who were in love with Fonda. The stoners and a little bit of counter culture. It has this B-Movie vibe, that would definitely come to life in the right, drugged up circumstances. But that wasn't the case when I watched. it Sober and interested in movie history I wanted to cover this gap. Finishing the movie I was satisfied with doing that, mildly entertained and of course thinking: Oh Jane!

Now that I've finally seen it I'm kind of embarrassed to admit it. This film along with "One Million Years B.C" with Raquel Welch were a couple of the more highly publicized films of the mid-Sixties, neither one relying on much of a story to showcase it's lead actress. Watching today, I now know what I missed by not dropping acid during my college years. For myself, the only redeeming factor in checking out this flick was in directing me to learn how the British new wave band Duran Duran came up with it's name. I looked it up so you can to. Otherwise, the picture is more or less an hour and a half of soft porn interrupted by not much else. I did get a kick out of the scene when Barbarella got overwhelmed by all those parakeets and finches, a subliminal way that Jane Fonda's then husband and director Roger Vadim teased the male audience who might have wondered how she'd handle all those little peckers.

One simply cannot comment on any of the following phenomena until they have first screened this tissue soft, searing fever dream of a romping film: Hollywood science fiction, Roger Vadim, Marcel Marceau, the American reply to Brigitte Bardot, Return of the Jedi, George Lucas, the Austin Powers franchise, the Rolling Stones, or any ranking of all-time female American actors on a scale of hotness. Speaking of hotness, you cannot look away from Jane Fonda as she plays the lead role of Barbarella. I'm sorry to discuss the looks of Ms. Fonda, a two-time Oscar-winner and a Hollywood icon, in such cro- magnon terms. But look for yourself; one simply cannot look away from her in this role. Sexual magnetism of the highest strength. Separation is not possible. And because Ms. Fonda is such a powerful actor, her ability to gamely deliver the lines written for a 41st century space adventure protagonist whilst flying a starship lined in shag carpet, and sleeping on Reynolds Wrap beds, and being dragged by a stingray unicorn- powered sled, and facing off with the haute and hot likes of Anita Pallenberg, all while being exquisitely costumed in high late 1960's go-go inspired fashions, results in a display of all out megawatt starpower that would incinerate Darth Vader before he could even get his lightsaber up. I won't share details of the film's plot. The movie is crazy, silly, and cajoling, in the best possible way. Once you see it, you can't imagine the history of the American film industry without its 98 minutes of run time, you won't wan't to live in a parallel reality where the film never existed. And look, I'm not alone in understanding the fact that Barbarella was the first blistering postmodern commentary on the pop-influenced excesses of American gender roles and sexuality. Duran Duran named themselves after one of this film's characters. All manner of directors stole ideas from this film, wholesale. Barbarella is a minor pop cultural miracle. Think of it as an art film, and one that both stands up over time and remains more interesting than anything Matthew Barney has ever made. See Jane conquer all. Notes:1. Not for watching with those under the age of 18. There is creative nudity.2. This film would be fairly easy to remake or update/reimagine. The producers just have to go all out, betting the house on the most extruded sets, costumes, and soundtracks that contemporary aesthetics will hold together. What about Sofia Vergara or Reese Witherspoon as Barbarella?