Barbarella (1968)

User Rating:

5.6/10   

Director:

Roger Vadim

Writers:

Jean-Claude Forest (comic "Barbarella") and
Claude Brulé (collaborating writer) ...
(more)

Release Date:

10 October 1968 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Sci-Fi | Fantasy

Tagline:

Who seduces an angel? Who strips in space? Who conveys love by hand? Who gives up the pill? Who takes sex to outer space? Who's the girl of the 21st century? Who nearly dies of pleasure?

Plot:

In the far future, a highly sexual woman is tasked with finding and stopping the evil Durand-Durand. Along the way she encounters various unusual people.

Plot Keywords:

Evil | Planet | City | Sex | Machine

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Jane Fonda	...	Barbarella
John Phillip Law	...	Pygar
Anita Pallenberg	...	The Great Tyrant
Milo O'Shea	...	Concierge / Durand-Durand
Marcel Marceau	...	Professor Ping
Claude Dauphin	...	President of Earth
Véronique Vendell	...	Captain Moon (as Veronique Vendell)
Giancarlo Cobelli
Serge Marquand	...	Captain Sun
Nino Musco
Franco Gulà
Catherine Chevallier	...	Stomoxys
Marie Therese Chevallier	...	Glossina
Umberto Di Grazia
David Hemmings	...	Dildano
Ugo Tognazzi	...	Mark Hand
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Honey Autumn	...	Bald handmaiden at Sogovian court (uncredited)
Loriana Bartella	...	(uncredited)
Marina Bartella	...	(uncredited)
Diane Bond	...	(uncredited)
Carla Cassola	...	(uncredited)
Tania de Paolis	...	(uncredited)
Sadre Girodani	...	(uncredited)
Gara Granda	...	Girl (uncredited)
Joan Greenwood	...	The Great Tyrant (voice) (uncredited)
Beatrice Lanscat	...	(uncredited)
Katiuska Lanvin	...	(uncredited)
Janet McLeod	...	Girl in Sogo (uncredited)
Gabriella Morganti	...	(uncredited)
María Teresa Orsini	...	Suicide Girl (uncredited)
Talitha Pol	...	Pipe-smoking girl (uncredited)
Fred Robsahm	...	Dildanos assistant (uncredited)
Antonio Sabato	...	Jean-Paul (uncredited)
Kitty Swan	...	Girl in Sogo (uncredited)
Silvana Venturelli	...	(uncredited)
Barbara Winer	...	(uncredited)

Directed by
Roger Vadim

Writing credits
Jean-Claude Forest		comic "Barbarella" (as Jean Claude Forest) and
Claude Brulé		collaborating writer (as Claude Brule)
Terry Southern		(screenplay) and
Roger Vadim		(screenplay)
Vittorio Bonicelli		(writer) and
Clement Biddle Wood		(writer) and
Brian Degas		(writer) and
Tudor Gates		(writer) and
Jean-Claude Forest		(writer) (as Jean Claude Forest)

Produced by
Dino De Laurentiis	....	producer

Original Music by
Michel Magne
James Campbell		(uncredited)

Cinematography by
Claude Renoir

Film Editing by
Victoria Mercanton

Production Design by
Mario Garbuglia

Costume Design by
Jacques Fonteray
Paco Rabanne		(as Paco Rabane)

Production Management
Guy Luongo	....	production supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Alberto Cardone	....	second unit director
Carlo Lastricati	....	first assistant director

Art Department
Umberto Campagna	....	assistant art director
Jean-Claude Forest	....	artistic consultant (as Jean Claude Forest)

Sound Department
David Hildyard	....	sound engineer

Special Effects by
Gérard Cogan	....	special animation effects (as Gerard Cogan)
Augie Lohman	....	special effects supervisor (as August Lohman)
Thierry Vincens-Fargo	....	special animation effects

Visual Effects by
Charles Staffell	....	optical effects

Camera and Electrical Department
Wladimir Ivanov	....	camera operator: second unit (as Vladimir Ivanov)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Gloria Musetta	....	wardrobe supervisor (as Gloria Mussetta)

Music Department
Bob Crewe	....	music supervisor
Charles Fox	....	conductor
The Glitterhouse	....	music performers: songs
Michel Magne	....	conductor (uncredited)

Other crew
Maurice Binder	....	title designer
Suzanne Durrenberger	....	continuity (as Suzanne Durramberger)
Lucilla Mussini	....	production assistant (uncredited)
Chuck Painter	....	unit publicist (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Dino de Laurentiis Cinematografica
• Marianne Productions

Distributors

• Paramount Pictures (1968) (USA) (theatrical) (dubbed)
• Fotomat (Drive-Thru Movies) Video (1979) (USA) (VHS) (pan/scan)
• Fusion Video (199?) (USA) (VHS) (pan/scan)
• CIC-Taft Home Video (199?) (Australia) (VHS) (pan/scan)
• Paramount Home Video (199?) (USA) (VHS) (pan/scan)
• Argentina Video Home (????) (Argentina) (VHS)

Other Companies

• Atlas Copco  compressed air for special effects
• Ditta Maggi  wigs
• Le Terrain Vague  best seller "Barbarella" published by
• Rocchetti  wigs
• Sartoria Farani S.t.L.  costume house
• The Bob Crewe Generation Orchestra  music performed by

Also Known As:

Barbarella (USA)
Barbarella: Queen of the Galaxy (USA) (promotional title)

Runtime:

98 min

Country:

France | Italy

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

New Zealand:R16 | Argentina:13 | Singapore:NC-16 | Australia:M | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) | Canada:G (Quebec) (cut US version) | Canada:PG (Manitoba/Ontario) | Finland:K-16 | France:-16 | Norway:15 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 (video rating) (1986) | UK:X (original rating) | USA:Approved | USA:PG (re-rating) (1977) (cut) | West Germany:16 | Iceland:L

Filming Locations:

Dino De Laurentiis Cinematografica Studios, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Company:

Dino de Laurentiis Cinematografica

Trivia:

The scenes during the opening credits where Barbarella seems to float around her spaceship were filmed by having Jane Fonda lie on a huge piece of plexiglas with a picture of the spaceship underneath her. It was then filmed from above, creating the illusion that she is in zero gravity. (If you look carefully, you can see the reflection in the glass as she removes her gloves.)

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: Although Pygar claims that the Great Tyrant put out his eyes, they are in fact clearly visible; he wore a blindfold over them in the original comic.

Quotes:

The Great Tyrant: Tell me, my fancy, fuzzy freak: What do you think of, when you make love to Barbarella?
Pygar: *Make* love? I do not understand.
The Great Tyrant: Don't be coy with me, you are in no position. If only you had one eye in your head you could see what a delight I am, my face, my body, all my parts are a delight. An exquisite delight.
Pygar: What is it you want?
The Great Tyrant: I shall share my delights with you. You shall make love to me.
Pygar: An angel doesn't *make* love. An angel *is* love.
The Great Tyrant: Then you're a dead duck. - Guards! To the Mathmos with this winged fruitcake.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Demonlover (2002)

Soundtrack:

An Angel is Love

Pure Candy

If you're looking for a quality science fantasy experience, you will probably be disappointed in BARBARELLA, which tells a typical story of an intergallactic astronaught who is sent on a mission to save a brilliant scientist from the clutches of an evil force that threatens to destroy the universe.

On her quest she finds daunting foes, unexpected comrades and twists and turns like any good superhero story should have. The only problem is that her world is made up of Christmas lights, cellophane and balsa wood, and it's all held together with scotch tape.

However what some might consider schlock entertainment, I saw it as pure camp all the way, with some hysterical situations and outrageous costumes draped over not-so-difficult-to-look-at actors (especially our babe-o-naught Ms. Fonda), and to top off the cake we have an icing of infectious music by comedic composer Charles Fox (9 to 5, Foul Play) and singer/songwriter Bob Crewe.

This is pure candy all the way so don't expect any nutrition here, but if you let it happen instead of looking for more, you may find yourself inspired to watch it again and again, when you don't feel like using any brain cells in this dimension.