Barbarella (1968)

Director:

Roger Vadim

Writers:

Jean-Claude Forest (comic "Barbarella") and
Claude Brulé (collaborating writer) ...
(more)

Release Date:

10 October 1968 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Comedy | Fantasy | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

Who seduces an angel? Who strips in space? Who conveys love by hand? Who gives up the pill? Who takes sex to outer space? Who's the girl of the 21st century? Who nearly dies of pleasure?

Plot:

In the far future, a highly sexual woman is tasked with finding and stopping the evil Durand-Durand. Along the way she encounters various unusual people.

Plot Keywords:

Evil | Queen | Scientist | Planet | Mission

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Jane Fonda	...	Barbarella
John Phillip Law	...	Pygar
Anita Pallenberg	...	The Great Tyrant
Milo O'Shea	...	Concierge / Durand-Durand
Marcel Marceau	...	Professor Ping
Claude Dauphin	...	President of Earth
Véronique Vendell	...	Captain Moon (as Veronique Vendell)
Giancarlo Cobelli
Serge Marquand	...	Captain Sun
Nino Musco
Franco Gulà
Catherine Chevallier	...	Stomoxys
Marie Therese Chevallier	...	Glossina
Umberto Di Grazia
David Hemmings	...	Dildano
Ugo Tognazzi	...	Mark Hand
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Vita Borg	...	La magicienne
Chantal Cachin	...	La révolutionnaire
Fabienne Fabre	...	La femme arbre
Sergio Ferrero	...	Messager de la reine noire
Corinne Fontaine
Judith Matah
Susan Moren	...	Esclave de la reine
Robert Rietty	...	Professor Ping (voice)
Carla Rousso
Jean Saudray
Romolo Valli
Honey Autumn	...	Bald Handmaiden at Sogovian Court (uncredited)
Loriana Bartella	...	(uncredited)
Marina Bartella	...	(uncredited)
Diane Bond	...	(uncredited)
Carla Cassola	...	(uncredited)
Tania de Paolis	...	(uncredited)
Sadre Girodani	...	(uncredited)
Gara Granda	...	Girl (uncredited)
Joan Greenwood	...	The Great Tyrant (voice) (uncredited)
Beatrice Lanscat	...	(uncredited)
Katiuska Lanvin	...	(uncredited)
Janet McLeod	...	Girl in Sogo (uncredited)
Gabriella Morganti	...	(uncredited)
María Teresa Orsini	...	Suicide Girl (uncredited)
Talitha Pol	...	Pipe-Smoking Girl (uncredited)
Fred Robsahm	...	Dildano's Assistant (uncredited)
Antonio Sabato	...	Jean-Paul (uncredited)
Kitty Swan	...	Girl in Sogo (uncredited)
Silvana Venturelli	...	(uncredited)
Barbara Winer	...	(uncredited)

Directed by
Roger Vadim

Writing credits
Jean-Claude Forest		comic "Barbarella" (as Jean Claude Forest) and
Claude Brulé		collaborating writer (as Claude Brule)
Terry Southern		(screenplay) and
Roger Vadim		(screenplay)
Vittorio Bonicelli		writer and
Clement Biddle Wood		writer and
Brian Degas		writer and
Tudor Gates		writer and
Jean-Claude Forest		(as Jean Claude Forest)

Produced by
Dino De Laurentiis	....	producer

Original Music by
Charles Fox

Cinematography by
Claude Renoir

Film Editing by
Victoria Mercanton

Production Design by
Mario Garbuglia

Costume Design by
Jacques Fonteray
Paco Rabanne		(as Paco Rabane)

Production Management
Guy Luongo	....	production supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Alberto Cardone	....	second unit director
Carlo Lastricati	....	first assistant director

Art Department
Umberto Campagna	....	assistant art director
Jean-Claude Forest	....	artistic consultant (as Jean Claude Forest)

Sound Department
David Hildyard	....	sound engineer

Special Effects by
Gérard Cogan	....	special animation effects (as Gerard Cogan)
Augie Lohman	....	special effects supervisor (as August Lohman)
Thierry Vincens-Fargo	....	special animation effects

Visual Effects by
Charles Staffell	....	optical effects

Camera and Electrical Department
Wladimir Ivanov	....	camera operator: second unit (as Vladimir Ivanov)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Gloria Musetta	....	wardrobe supervisor (as Gloria Mussetta)

Music Department
Bob Crewe	....	music supervisor
Charles Fox	....	conductor
Charles Fox	....	lyrics by
The Glitterhouse	....	music performers: songs
David Gilmour	....	musician: guitar (uncredited)

Other crew
Maurice Binder	....	title designer
Suzanne Durrenberger	....	continuity (as Suzanne Durramberger)
Lucilla Mussini	....	production assistant (uncredited)
Chuck Painter	....	unit publicist (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Dino de Laurentiis Cinematografica
• Marianne Productions

Distributors

• Paramount Pictures (1968) (USA) (theatrical) (dubbed)
• Fotomat (Drive-Thru Movies) Video (1979) (USA) (VHS) (pan/scan)
• Paramount Home Video (1980) (USA) (VHS) (pan/scan)
• Argentina Video Home (19??) (Argentina) (VHS)
• CIC-Taft Home Video (199?) (Australia) (VHS) (pan/scan)
• Fusion Video (199?) (USA) (VHS) (pan/scan)
• Paramount Home Video (1999) (USA) (DVD)
• Paramount Home Video (2012) (USA) (DVD) (Blu-Ray)

Special Effects

• Atlas Copco (compressed air for special effects)

Other Companies

• Ditta Maggi  wigs
• Le Terrain Vague  best seller "Barbarella" published by
• Rocchetti  wigs
• Sartoria Farani S.t.L.  costume house
• The Bob Crewe Generation Orchestra  music performed by

Also Known As:

"Barbarella: Queen of the Galaxy" - USA (promotional title)

Runtime:

98 min

Country:

France | Italy

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Australia:M | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) | Canada:G (Quebec) (cut US version) | Canada:PG (Manitoba/Ontario) | Finland:K-16 | France:-16 | Norway:15 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 (video rating) (1986) | UK:X (original rating) | USA:Approved (Suggested for Mature Audiences) | USA:PG (Approved No. 21677) | West Germany:16 | Iceland:L | New Zealand:R16 | Argentina:13 | Singapore:NC-16 | Norway:16 (1969) | Brazil:14 | Italy:VM14 | USA:TV-MA (TV rating)

Filming Locations:

Dino De Laurentiis Cinematografica Studios, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Company:

Dino de Laurentiis Cinematografica

Trivia:

The names "Stomoxys" and "Glossina", the Great Tyrant's nieces, are actually the names of flies. Stomoxys calcitrans is the stable fly, and glossina is the African (or tsetse) fly.

Goofs:

Continuity: After Barbarella faints from being attacked by the "tooth dolls," several wounds on her legs and arms are visible. When she gets into the iceboat immediately after being rescued, the wounds have disappeared.

Quotes:

[first lines]
videophone:Stand by for a message from Dianthus, President of Earth and Rotating Premier of the Sun System.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Demonlover (2002)

Soundtrack:

An Angel is Love

'Camp: so outrageously artificial, affected, inappropriate, or out-of-date as to be considered amusing.'

'Barbarella: Queen of the Galaxy' is the epitome of 'camp.' The year was 1968, I was in my first year of graduate school, about to get married. I knew of 'Barbarella' but I had never seen it, until today. I think waiting 36 years has actually made the experience better. This is not by any definition a good movie. Jane Fonda, a very bright actress, plays Barbarella suitably as an 'innocent' sent on a mission to a distant galaxy to find the Earthling scientist Durand Durand and bring him back, along with his invention. The story itself is secondary, the charm of the movie resides in all the sexual situations that innocent Barbarella finds herself in. A perfect vehicle for the wild 1960s. The package blurb says 'she acts like a female James Bond.' Hardly. More like a female Austin Powers, and some of the characters would have fit better in a Monty Python movie.

The DVD is fine for an old movie, although blemishes are quite evident. What puzzles me is the 'PG' rating listed on the package and the disk. The opening scene, of Barbarella getting out of her space suit in the weightlessness of her spacecraft, clearly shows her breasts, and her nude butt. Very nice breasts and butt, at that, nonetheless inconsistent with a 'PG' rating. Plus many other scenes in the movie show groups of men and women in alluring positions, again with some obvious female nudity. So anyone who plans to view this movie with those under 18 should be aware of this. For an adult audience, it should not be an issue at all.

May 2013 update: It is now on Netflix streaming movies, with a rating of "R", and comes across very well.