At what point does a parody of a bad soap become good?
Russ Meyer's collaboration with Roger Ebert is a scathing attack on showbusiness. It mocks the acting, the style, the mise-en-scene and the plot of big box office soaps that 20th century fox were producing in the late 60's. Loosely based on "Valley of the dolls", "Beyond.." takes the form of its predecessor. An all girl band go on the road to stardom on a rags to riches type story. On their travels they come across many cliched characters including Ronnie 'Z-man' Barzell, the pyschotic hermaphrodite promoter who will kill if his advances towards another man are unaccepted.
Meyers incredible skill in filmmaking is perfectly amalgamated with Ebert's witty script. Lines such as "This is my happening and it freaks me out!" or "i'd like to strap you on sometime!" enable the film to rattle along at a lovely pace.
Today, it is difficult to see why the film sparked so much controversy when it was released. The violence is quite graphic but nothing like what we see and accept today. As for the sex well, it is mild in comparison to some of Meyer's other films.
The film is delivered in a straight way, it appears the actors are unaware that the lines they produce are in fact ironic. "BVD" is a enjoyable satire of both the music business and the movie business.
Russ Meyer's collaboration with Roger Ebert is a scathing attack on showbusiness. It mocks the acting, the style, the mise-en-scene and the plot of big box office soaps that 20th century fox were producing in the late 60's. Loosely based on "Valley of the dolls", "Beyond.." takes the form of its predecessor. An all girl band go on the road to stardom on a rags to riches type story. On their travels they come across many cliched characters including Ronnie 'Z-man' Barzell, the pyschotic hermaphrodite promoter who will kill if his advances towards another man are unaccepted.
Meyers incredible skill in filmmaking is perfectly amalgamated with Ebert's witty script. Lines such as "This is my happening and it freaks me out!" or "i'd like to strap you on sometime!" enable the film to rattle along at a lovely pace.
Today, it is difficult to see why the film sparked so much controversy when it was released. The violence is quite graphic but nothing like what we see and accept today. As for the sex well, it is mild in comparison to some of Meyer's other films.
The film is delivered in a straight way, it appears the actors are unaware that the lines they produce are in fact ironic. "BVD" is a enjoyable satire of both the music business and the movie business.