This might be considered strange behaviour but he was her husband at the time so that makes it all perfectly acceptable. This is the shot he was going for I imagine....
...which makes you wonder if he was there all the time, just below frame, gently breathing the aroma of secondary croissant up her helmet in order to inspire the dreamy faraway look he was after. What a star.
Steve
I just watched this again recently (sooo bad but...) and I think I understand what was going on here. That helmet was a "hero effect" prop--when we first see it the entire dome is solid silver/grey. The grey slowly recedes from top to bottom to reveal Jane Fonda (we don't know if it's man/woman/space-seal hybrid when we first see the bulky suit). It's a nifty effect but you can see that there are actually two domes with a space between them for an opaque liquid "visor." They fill it, it's grey, they drain it the visor lowers and it's clear. Kind of ingenious. Vadim was probably inspecting or fiddling with the drainage/fillage mechanism. Or maybe he just enjoys the aroma of a woman's head beneath perspex. :P
ReplyDeleteLove this flick, Vadim assessed the sf genre's conventions, things like: electronic music, sophisticated miniature cinematography, speculative plots, then said no, what we need is a really hot chick disrobing from a spacesuit, now that's someone who understands priorities.
ReplyDeleteBy saying it was bad I didn't mean to imply that I don't like it...in fact I love it specicifically because it's bad--a special kind of nodding, winking, glorious bad! It's also got some seriously trippy production design. I love the labyrinth scene in particular--all those languid, sad-eyed dreamers slowly being imprisoned in the living rock of the labyrinth walls is a truly haunting series of images.
ReplyDeleteMight have to replan my evening to include a rewatch of Barbarella now that we've all reminded ourselves just how good it is.
ReplyDeleteHow does everyone else feel about Zardoz? That's another of my favourit Bad/mad/genius films that I watch at least once a year.
And I'm back after 94 minutes of DVD goodness. They don't make them like that any more which is a shame really because a series of Bararella films would have been pretty amazing.
ReplyDeleteYes...to quote Hairy Chest-Carpet Ice-Sled Man: "Sometimes the old ways are best." ;)
ReplyDeleteZardoz - I've only seen it the once, it was one of the x rated flicks I sneaked into as a kid, The sight of naked breasts was quite a jolt to my hormone laden youthful self probably why I recall it with a certain of fondness. Since then I've acquired a strong prejudice against orange in cinema and photography, maybe as a result of my youthful forays into forbidden cinema, who knows?
ReplyDeleteIt was the first film I recall not be able to relate the plot to my shorter, younger looking schoolmates, "What's it about?" they'd ask.
"Er not sure, but there are tits in it."
Sorry to hear about the orange thing...How do you feel about Rollerball?
ReplyDeleteRollerball? Top flic, I haven't seen it a while
ReplyDelete..very orange
ReplyDeleteYeah but it's Ektachrome orange, which is a sort of deep beige.
DeleteI keep hearing rumors that this film is going to get a remake and a real plot.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite Bad/mad/genius film that I watch once a year is DUNE (1984)
I'm almost embarrassed to admit it but I've never actually seen Zardoz. It certainly doesn't look very good from the trailer, but maybe I'm missing out? It's one of those I've always sorta kinda meant to watch but never seemed to find the time.
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ReplyDeleteBeen a while since I've watched Dune. Loved the books and liked the film for being a decent crack at the first story.. though I thought it seemed a bit dated last time I did catch it. Perhapse Peter Jackson would like to have a crack at the set.
ReplyDeleteAs for Zardoz well its a very particular beast which you'll either love or hate I imagine. It comes from a very 70's hippy vision of the future.
There have been at least 2 music videos inspired by this sequence,one from the beegees and the other might be kylie minogue,but I`m not sure,its one film I`d love to see remade,also we have it to thank for the naming of Duran Duran
ReplyDelete"it amuses the great tyrant to resent the expense of feeding orchids to slaves"
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1srfh_kylie-minogue-put-yourself-in-my-pl_music
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ZMA5SLy2aM
cheers Tim
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