The Corner Penthouse

Viva (2007) was recently released on Blu-ray by Kino Lorber. Read on to find out more about it...

[ SYNOPSIS ]

Abandoned by her perfect Ken-doll husband Rick (Chad England), bored 1970s housewife Barbi Smith (Anna Biller) is dragged into trouble by her girlfriend Sheila (Bridget Brno), who spouts women's lib as she gets Barbi to discard her bra and go out on the town. Barbi becomes a Red Riding Hood in a sea of wolves, and quickly learns a lot more than she wanted to about the different kinds of scenes going on in the wild 1970s, including nudist camps, the hippie scene, orgies, bisexuality, sadism, drugs, and bohemia.

Viva is a highly stylized film that draws on classic exploitation cinema and vintage Playboy magazines for its look and characters. Saturated to the hilt with vibrant color, and exquisitely detailed in its depiction of the period, Viva looks like a lost film from 1972, even down to the campy and self-assured performances, the big lighting, the plethora of negligees, and the delirious assortment of Salvation Army ashtrays, lamps, fabrics, and bric-a-brac. Whether you're looking for naked people dancing, alcoholic swingers, stylish sex scenes, a sea of polyester, Hammond organ jams, glitzy show numbers, white horses, blondes in the bathtub, gay hairdressers, or psychedelic animation, Viva has it all!

[ QUICK THOUGHTS ]

Lots of films have been bandied about as being a "bad movie", but I find that term to be misused most of the time. The "bad movies" of my childhood - Mac & Me (1988), The Garbage Pail Kids Movie (1987), and Troll 2 (1990) - are not great films, but they are all entertaining to me in their own ways, which are likely not the ways the filmmakers actually intended. They're the very definition of "so bad, it's good". Viva, on the other hand, is just plain bad. A true "bad movie" with zero redeeming values. It is TWO FULL HOURS of stilted dialog, wooden acting, extremely slow pacing, a barely-there story, and for a sexploitation film, there is very little nudity outside of scenes set at a nudist camp where you will see some UNcamera-friendly bodies. However, I'm not entirely sure if writer/director/star Anna Biller intentionally made a "bad movie" or not. She's clearly trying to do an homage or parody of 1970s sexploitation films, such as Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (1970), but I doubt that film, or any of the others in the genre, are such a chore to sit through.

The only positive thing I can say about the film is that it PERFECTLY nailed the look and feel of a cheap film from the 1970s. You'd be hard-pressed to realize that it was actually filmed in 2006/2007. The music is also spot on, though some of that is due to the use of actual recordings from the films Camille 2000 (1969), Be Sick... It's Free (Il Medico Della Mutua) (1968), More Than a Miracle (C'era Una Volta) (1967), and Fanny Hill (1964).

[ SPECIFICATIONS ]

The movie is presented in a 1.85:1 aspect ratio with a runtime of 2:00:49. Audio languages include English (DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0). Subtitle languages include English SDH and French.

[ SPECIAL FEATURES ]

Here is a list of the special features that are included on the disc.

• Audio Commentary by writer/director/star Anna Biller.
• Behind-The-Scenes Footage (8:02) - Narrated by Anna Biller.
• Trailer (2:18)

[ ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ]

No Digital Copy voucher or slipsleeve is included.

[ PURCHASE LINKS ]

Viva is available on Blu-ray.


This item has been provided by Kino Lorber for review on this site.