Two vaudeville performers touring South America get involved in a revolution. It's somewhat similar to Woody Allen's Bananas. These two women are played by the impossibly gorgeous Brigette Bardot and the eternally pensive Jeane Moreau. The film is an action comedy, or at least that's what it's going for. But Louis Malle is definitely not up to it. He's actually one of my favorite directors of all time, but he has little idea what he's doing making this film. It must have been the most expensive French film at the time. Malle's previous film, The Fire Within, was a study on suicide and had about, I don't know, ten characters at the most. Viva Maria! has a billion extras and a ton of speaking parts. It also has elaborate action sequences. The whole picture comes off sloppy. The comedy is especially poor. Almost nothing hits, nearly everything misses. The jokes are very poorly timed. I think I laughed at one of them.
Viva Maria! is worth watching though as a curio. Except for the comic moments, Malle's direction isn't bad. And Bardot and Moreau are always fun to watch. If for nothing else, watch it for the many strip teases they do near the beginning of the film. There are also a couple of very bizarre but wonderful scenes, like the almost Persona-esque "Lady in White" scene, where Moreau and Bardot (with a little magical help from the editing machine) dazzle, dizzy, and confound a Mexican baron. The color cinematography is also quite beautiful. It's worth a watch if you have nothing better to watch. 6/10.
Viva Maria! is worth watching though as a curio. Except for the comic moments, Malle's direction isn't bad. And Bardot and Moreau are always fun to watch. If for nothing else, watch it for the many strip teases they do near the beginning of the film. There are also a couple of very bizarre but wonderful scenes, like the almost Persona-esque "Lady in White" scene, where Moreau and Bardot (with a little magical help from the editing machine) dazzle, dizzy, and confound a Mexican baron. The color cinematography is also quite beautiful. It's worth a watch if you have nothing better to watch. 6/10.