Mod Movie Monday: Barbarella, 1968

mod-movie-mondaysI’ve decided to start something new here at the Tiki Bar. MOD MOVIE MONDAY is where all you hipsters can get hip to some crazy, far-out flicks from the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s. Some you’ll know well, some you’ll never have heard of. I’ll post a new one every Monday, or every-other Monday, or at least when I remember to…and will have them all under the keywords “Mod Movie Mondays” so as time goes by you can just search that and get the whole list! Now, they won’t always be “Mod”, some might be “groovy” or just “cool”, but I needed a name for it and this is what stuck. So, without further ado…

Mod Movie Monday for November 30, 2009:

Barbarella (Queen of the Galaxy) 1968barbarella-on-rug

I started with the most mod movie I could think of, the classic psychedelic space fantasy starring the beautiful Jane Fonda. The story is based on the comic book heroin who lives on a planet of peace and love, where war is non-existent. But not everything is rosy in this future world…the brilliant scientist Durand-Durand (yes, that’s where the band got their name) has gone missing, and this kat possesses the knowledge to create a great weapon, one that threatens the peaceful gig that Barbarella’s future Earth enjoys. She is chosen to find the scientist, destroy the machine, and bring him back to Earth. Along the way she discovers a lot of groovy things (especially about sex) that she didn’t know existed, and shows plenty of skin while doing it.

If you haven’t seen this flick, check it out. I give it a 10 on the Mod scale, for a plethora of reasons, including:

Barbarella
Barbarella

• Grooviest opening sequence ever, with Barbarella floating in zero gravity while stripping her space suit off. Not only is she a honey, her spaceship has shag carpeting. The titles arrange themselves to carefully hide most of her nakedness, an idea that Mike Meyers used in his Austin Powers movies. The title song is sooooo ’60s that 3 minutes into the film you’ll think you’ve gone back in time. The song is performed by the Bob Crew Generation, the same hipsters that gave us the quintessential version of “Music to Watch Girls By”.

barbarella-poster• Barbarella’s Space Ship looks like a vintage card shoe.

• Very ’60s looking sets, including obviously hand-painted backdrops, vividly colored oil & water mixes as special effects, and far out costumes.

• Woman-eating dolls and attack parakeets.

• Barbarella’s on-board computer looks like a wall of post-it notes.barbarella-sleep-chamber

• An angel, ray guns, hollow leather men, creepy twins, Essence of Man, sex pills, fantasy dream chamber and the Excessive Machine.

• Groovy music throughout

• Great lines like, “I’ve got to get rid of this tail”.

barbarella-dollsNow remember kids, this movie was intentionally campy. There’s more cheese on this set than there is in Switzerland, but that’s the charm of it. It’s funny, silly, sexy and kool. I think a lot of people today just wouldn’t “get it”, but if you’re reading Tiki Lounge Talk, you definitely will. There was talk about a remake coming out, originally conceptualized with Rose McGowen in the lead with Robert Rodriguez directing. No offense to Rose, I think she’s a doll, but I don’t see her as the innocent girl-next-door type, and I think Rodriguez would have made it much too edgy and rough. And bloody. And he’d  probably throw in a couple of vampires. Apparently the studio thought so too, and the project’s on hold. Anyway it goes, if they do a remake it will never live up (or down) to the standards of the original: a krazy-art-and-drugs-inspired project that was born out of the psychedelic ’60s.

What to drink while digging this flick:
There’s actually a drink called the Barbarella: 2 oz. Sambuca, 1 oz. Cointreau, shake and pour over the rocks in an old fashioned glass. If that’s not your taste, I’d suggest a CC & Ginger on the rocks.

Combine all the ingredients in a shaker filled with ice, shake and strain into an old fashioned glass.

(Details & Trivia on IMDB Here)

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4 Replies to “Mod Movie Monday: Barbarella, 1968

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  2. barbarella is such an awesome movie! hollywood needs to stop remaking classics and butchering them! its a phsychadelic, nice little time capsule of the 60s and if they remade it it just wouldnt be the same.

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