A 60s Europudding comic look at prostitution through the ages. It's the sort of movie that makes you apprehensive thinking about it then when you watch your heart sinks because you realise your worst fears are to be realised. But after a slow start this was okay.
The first two segments are weak. Part 1 is set in prehistoric times with Michele Mercier as a cave girl who discovers make up. Part 2 is in ancient Rome with Elsa Martinelli and a Roman Emperor visits a brothel. Lazy jokes, not particularly well done.
Part 3 gets better- its the French Revolution and a young man pretends to be wanting to watch his uncle executed so he can sleep with Jeanne Moreau. The fact Moreau is in it helps this a lot.
Part 4 is set in the 1890s and is lots of fun, with Raquel Welch in good form as a stripper who cons a man into marrying her. It's one of Welch's best performances - she's splendid looking as always in some lingerie but is genuinely high spirited as the clever girl.
Part 5 has plenty of energy from Nadia Gray and France Anglade as prostitutes who operate out of the car and wind up running an operation from an ambulance. The possibilities in this premise feel undercooked (it could hold a feature eg Night Shift) but the actresses really go for it.
Part 6 was done by none other than Jean Luc Godard and is set in the future. Anna Karina appears along with one time Mr Brigitte Bardot, Jacques Charrier. This is the best segment, imaginative and bold, a fascinating companion piece to Alphaville. Incidentally, it's the one segment with nudity.
So all in all this wasn't a bad movie, certainly not as much as I feared going in.
No comments:
Post a Comment