Seen today at a considerable distance from the fashionable leftism of the 1960s, Louis Malle's 1965 comedy about revolution plays like a magical-realist fairy-tale farce, featuring visual gags that owe more to Chaplin and Keaton than Che and Fidel. Viva Maria! benefits from the pairing of sexy and charming leads Jeanne Moreau and Brigitte Bardot, who play daughters—both named Maria—of bomb-throwing fathers: Maria I (Bardot) is the offspring of an English anarchist, and Maria II (Moreau) hails from an Irish revolutionary (her non-Hibernian looks explained by a French mother). They come together in 1907 as showgirls in a multinational caravan circus touring the mythical South American country of Saint Miguel, where “Maria y Maria” becomes a sensation after they improvise/invent the striptease. Maria I, normally jaded when it comes to romance, falls for handsome political martyr Flores (Hollywood star George Hamilton), supporting his uprising against the local despot, and Maria II joins in, along with the other circus folk. Remastered for DVD and its Blu-ray debut, this is recommended. (C. Cassady)
Viva Maria!
Kino Lorber, 119 min., in French w/English subtitles, not rated, DVD: $19.95, Blu-ray: $29.95 Volume 30, Issue 2
Viva Maria!
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