There is barely an out and-out gag — and certainly none that’s funny — in the whole two hours of deliberately bad acting.
Comment
05/17/09
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Viva (2008)
53
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:38
Fresh:20
Rotten:18
Average Rating:5.5/10
Consensus: Though it's lengthy and doesn't always walk the line between schlock and kitschy homage successfully, Viva's lovely visuals and knowing humor are undeniable.
Theatrical Release:May 2, 2008 Limited
Synopsis: VIVA is about a bored housewife in 1972 who gets sucked into the sexual revolution. Abandoned by her husband, Barbi is dragged into trouble by her girlfriend, who spouts women's lib as she gets... [More]
Starring: Anna Biller, Jared Sanford, Bridget Brno, Chad England
Director: Anna Biller
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Reviews for Viva
Viva lasts a staggering two hours (the audience does the staggering) and it doesn't merely end up an embarrassing bore, it gets there within a couple of minutes of the opening.
05/17/09
The plywood acting’s pretty funny, as is the coy sex; what amazes is the beautifully lurid, near-fetishistic set design. At two hours, it’s an in-joke over-indulged, and it’s so camp the camera’s practically winking, but minor cultdom beckons.
05/15/09
At an epic two hours the stilted dialogue and eye-scorchingly oversaturated film stock threaten to test the patience. But as a self-conscious exercise in kitsch graverobbing, ‘Viva’ succeeds.
05/15/09
Great retro design, but as comic satire this isn't so much soft-focus as out of focus.
05/15/09
It’s the sort of attention to detail that would be admirable in a short film. But in a film that plays out at two hours it’s unendurable. Paying ironic homage to bad cinema doesn’t suddenly make it good.
05/15/09
Where her film lets itself down, though, is it's simply not funny; you assume that a certain kind of hipster audience may be tickled by all this, but the laughs will be as forced as those that bray out of the screen at all too regular intervals.
05/15/09
At two hours it's basically an extended sketch stretched to feature lengh and by the end the vibrancy of the never-seen-in-nature colours are reaching migraine-inducing proportions.
05/15/09
For all its garish aesthetics, sly feminism and wall-to-wall nudity, writer/director Anne Biller’s camp-com is almost too much of a good thing, outstaying its welcome at a paint-drying two hours.
05/15/09
Bums and bosoms are in abundance, although there's not enough plot to go around, meaning you'll feel every minute of that two-hour running time.
05/15/09
The film is the cinematic equivalent of greeting cards which poke fun at beehive-haired wives getting slippers for their pipe-smoking husbands, with a rude word inserted in a speech bubble. Not funny.
05/15/09
The acting is as subtly, drolly bad as it needs to be. The hairpieces and cheesy background muzak compete for the honour of perfect finishing touch. At two hours Viva is a mite too long. But summer is here: give genius its leash.
05/15/09
This is an arch, knowing exercise in cinematic parody where every line of dialogue seems to come with inverted commas. Stretched over two hours it becomes unbearable.
05/15/09
Anna Biller's pastiche of '70s sexploitation flicks finds its G-spot somewhere between misogyny and feminism. It's a transgressive joy - if somewhat overlong.
05/15/09
Enjoyably trashy pastiche of 1970s sexploitation movies – the colourful production design, terrible acting and cheesy dialogue are all impeccable, but it's at least 30 minutes too long and isn't as funny as it should have been.
05/14/09
Viva is, without a doubt, the work of an artist, as Anna Biller has crafted a painstakingly brilliant replica of a '70s sexploitation film, with all the pros and cons in place.
04/03/09
Trimming a quarter of the running time would have better enabled the vibrant vita of Biller’s vision to amuse audiences.
10/18/08
You can't create camp on purpose.
10/18/08
Top CriticThe movie isn’t comfortable or wholly successful.
10/18/08
Top CriticIf you love the '70s, and especially if you're a fan of sexploitation comedies like The Happy Hooker or today's me-generation throwbacks like CBS's Swingtown, then you absolutely cannot miss seeing Viva.
06/28/08
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