Shagadelic, Baby

Viva

I have to start out this review by saying that Anna Biller is my kind of gal. She stars as the titular Viva in a movie which is smarter than a box of Astrophysicists. Not only does she star in the movie, however, she was also its director, producer, writer, editor and production designer. Smart, sexy women like Biller are what the movie industry need more of.

Her movie is basically a parody of sexploitation films that were made in the seventies and often shown on channels like Cinemax in the eighties. The film has bad acting, heinous seventies fashion, bad dialogue, bad editing, unclear character motivation and a great deal of titillation. All of this is intentional, of course and quite funny. As you watch the plot unfold you can’t help get caught up in their wildly improbable misadventures.

The central plot is that two housewives, Viva and her friend Sheila played by Bridget Brno, decide to shuck their mundane lives and enter the thrilling world of the sexual revolution. They do this by becoming prostitutes. After they choose this path they become involved in orgies, date rape, regular rape, musical theatre and lesbianism among other things. The acting style is very surface oriented as if the actors are all canvases advertising only what is painted on them.

If you are old enough to have read playboy from the seventies or to have watched older softcore naughty movies then viva will definitely resonate with you. If you are into irony and want to see a bunch of naked people who are almost entirely detached from reality then this will grab you as well.

You should rent this movie if

1. You enjoy comedies about naked people.
2. You like movies that parody other movies.
3. You like ironic humor

You should buy this movie if

1. You are an ironic hipster
2. You own any Austin Powers movie
3. You have ever seen the film Superchick. And if you haven’t you need to.

If you are interested in buying this DVD here is a link to Amazon where you can get it at a reasonable price: