Barbarella

Wednesday 9 June at 7.30pm

Roger Vadim│France│1968│98 mins│R16

Space-traveller Barbarella (Jane Fonda) sets out to stop evil scientist Durand Durand, the creator of a super weapon that could destroy humanity, in this ultra-kitsch and campy sci-fi cult classic based on a French comic book.

“The plot, such as it is, casts Fonda as a space adventurer from an idyllic future Earth in which war has been so thoroughly banished that people barely know what it is – Barbarella fetchingly furrows her brow at the very thought. Yet somehow Durand-Durand has constructed a superweapon, a Positronic Ray, and absconded with it to the Tau Ceti region. It’s up to Barbarella, decked out in a series of revealing and sparkly mod outfits, to find Durand-Durand and bring him back to peace, love and all around grooviness. ‘Something must be done!’ Barbarella declares as she stands nude before her viewscreen connecting her to the president of Earth. ‘Yes,’ he replies with heartfelt meaningfulness. ‘And you are the girl who must do it.’” – Noah Berlatsky, The Guardian

“From the opening scenes where Barbarella is floating undressing from her space suit during craftily placed title sequences, you know you’re in for something out of this world. (…) As would be expected for a film in the sixties, this is sheer psychedelica with multi-colored set pieces, odd special effects, and creatures and costumes that are just surreal.” – Felix Vasquez, Cinema Crazed