Description

Dateline Los Angeles, 1972. Barbi Smith is a bored young housewife who fantasizes about being famous in the age of Playboy magazine and free love. Her neighbour Sheila has similar ambitions, and when both women are abandoned by their husbands, they don their shortest, sheerest dresses and set off on a daring adventure. “This is the 1970s,” says Sheila, “we’re liberated women now, we’re dressing for ourselves!” In no time, Barbi and Sheila are hired as call girls, changing their names to Viva and Candy, respectively. Candy quickly accumulates luxury items from wealthy patrons, but Viva has a hard time dealing with the nitty-gritty of her new job. Suddenly surrounded by hippies, nudists, artists, bohemians and bisexuals, Viva gets lost in a world of frivolity and excess, unsure where this lifestyle will lead her. Will curiosity kill the cat?

Shot in California over a period of years, Viva is a labour of love by its writer, director, producer and star Anna Biller (Barbi/Viva). With its saturated, psychedelic cinematography, set design and costumes, alongside schmaltzy music, stilted acting and soft-core sex, the film is a meticulous reproduction of late-’60s and early-’70s sexploitation, virtually indistinguishable from films of that period. While it may come as a surprise that a 21st-century woman is the auteur behind such a seemingly sexist movie, there’s a message buried not too far below the surface that’s as relevant today as it was a generation ago –- what is so liberating about “women’s lib” (or so powerful about “girl power”) if all it does is serve the sexual desires of men? It’s a feminist riddle, wrapped in camp, inside a sexy, stunning enigma.

—Lorraine Carpenter

"A meticulously designed re-imagining of "classy"-minded '70's-era soft porn... pops with parodic joy" - Robert Abele, L.A. TIMES

"Campy delights... A riot of gratuitous full-frontal nudity... Production design is a triumph... Drop-dead costumes... Cinematography heightens color to an eye-popping degree" -Dennis Harvey, VARIETY

Website

http://www.lifeofastar.com/viva.html

Credits

Director: Anna Biller
Screenplay: Anna Biller
Cast: Anna Biller Jared Sanford Bridget Brno Chad England
Producers: Anna Biller, Jared Sanford
Distributor: Anna Biller