Reviews & Columns |
Reviews DVD TV on DVD Blu-ray 4K UHD International DVDs In Theaters Reviews by Studio Video Games Features Collector Series DVDs Easter Egg Database Interviews DVD Talk Radio Feature Articles Columns Anime Talk DVD Savant Horror DVDs The M.O.D. Squad Art House HD Talk Silent DVD
|
DVD Talk Forum |
|
Resources |
DVD Price Search Customer Service #'s RCE Info Links |
Columns
|
|
Viva Maria!
Directed in 1965 by French director Louis Malle (he of My Dinner With Andre and Black Moon fame to name only a few), Viva Maria! is fluffy, sexy fun shot with plenty of colorful style. An exercise in style over substance? Perhaps, but it's tough not to have a good time with this satirical film that takes on everything from religion to politics to sex with varying degrees of effectiveness.
The film is set in the early 1900s and introduces us to a beautiful young woman named Maria (Brigitte Bardot) whose father was an Irish explosives expert with strong ties to her homeland's anarchist movement. When he died while doing his thing in Central America, she winds up meeting another woman named Maria (Jeanne Moreau), a former dancer who worked with another woman as a two person dancehall act. Her partner recent committed suicide over a romance gone astray, and she too is basically alone in this world and in need of someone else to work with. Bardot's Maria fits the bill nicely but it isn't until her skirt accidently tears during a performance one night that they strike gold by just going with it and stripping down to their birthday suits.
Not surprisingly in the least, this creates quite a stir with the men in the community and before you know it, their new strip act is a raging success. Things are going great until Moreau's Maria falls fast and hard for a man named Flores (George Hamilton). He's in deep with the Mexican revolution on at the time and soon enough the two Maria's become involved by their association with him. Things get complicated when it comes time to launch an armed revolt against the crooked men in charge and the two buxom beauties are using everything they've got to fight the power.
This one isn't nearly as deep as it might sound given the political leanings behind the core storyline but that doesn't mean it isn't a whole lot of fun. Our two female leads make their way through all of this with an interesting mix of knowing wisdom and buffoonish charm. They're able to manipulate men in ways that their revolutionary peers are not but their inexperience in the ways of war can lead to some interesting scenarios. Both Bardot and Moreau are both stunning here, they fill out their various outfits in impressive ways and those in charge of the costume design work seen in the film obviously played to the ladies' physical strengths. The pair share a good chemistry and the fun they seem to be having in the story translates effectively to their performances and then in turn to our enjoyment of the film. Hamilton is charming here as well as he drags the two women into a man's world of war and subterfuge. Really though, the ladies steal the show.
As far as the production values go, the movie is very nicely shot and features some excellent location photography. There's a lot of bright, bold and brash color splashed around nearly constantly and the use of music in the film is bouncy and, for lack of a cornier term, almost effervescent. It's as attractive a film as you'd hope to see and it moves at a good pace too. Not all of the humor works all of the time, some of the slapstick bits are just a little too goofy for their own good, but even when it's not a laugh out loud moment the film is genuinely zany enough that it's fun to watch. There could have been more to this than surface level laughs and comedy, and maybe in one way it's a shame that there isn't, but as it stands Viva Maria! is just a really entertaining and wholeheartedly bizarre comedy that works well as light entertainment.
The Blu-ray:
Viva Maria! looks pretty spiffy on Blu-ray from Kino framed at 2.35.1 widescreen in an AVC encoded 1080p high definition transfer. This is quite a colorful film what with all of the sets and costumes used throughout and those colors come through quite wonderfully on this Blu-ray release. Detail is considerably stronger than what you'd get from a DVD, close up shots in particular really show off the textures in the costumes and strong facial detail. Black levels are good if just short of reference quality and aside from some minor white specks that pop up here and there, the image is pretty clean. No obvious noise reduction has been applied here, the picture's grain seems to be untinkered with, and there are no obvious compression artifacts or edge enhancement problems to complain about.
Sound:The only audio option on the disc is the original French language track offered up in DTS-HD 2.0 Mono with removable subtitles provided in English only. The score sounds quite lush here, there's nice depth to it that you wouldn't get out of a lossy track. Dialogue is clean and well balanced and the track is free of any hiss or distortion. At times it is limited in range and some of the more boisterous scenes might have been fun with a surround mix but you can't fault Kino for including a nice quality version of the original mono on this disc. This seems accurate and a nice representation of what the movie should sound like.
Extras:Extras are pretty slim here, limited to a theatrical trailer for the feature, static menus and chapter selection.
Final Thoughts:Viva Maria! is a lot of good, sexy fun. Obviously the main reason most will be drawn to the film is the presence of Bardot and Jeanne Moreau but the story is pretty amusing and the production values quite good. Kino's Blu-ray is light one extras but it does look and sound quite nice. Maybe not an essential purchase but good entertainment that comes recommended to fans of either leading lady.
Ian lives in NYC with his wife where he writes for DVD Talk, runs Rock! Shock! Pop!. He likes NYC a lot, even if it is expensive and loud.
|
Popular Reviews |
Sponsored Links |
|
Sponsored Links |
|
Release List | Reviews | Shop | Newsletter | Forum | DVD Giveaways | Blu-Ray | Advertise |
Copyright 2024 DVDTalk.com All Rights Reserved. Legal Info, Privacy Policy, Terms of Use,
Manage Preferences,
Your Privacy Choices
|