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Viva is trash cinema at its best.

I’m not going to lie. I loved Viva. It’s campy, bizarre and unexpected. BUT, it is not for everyone and there will far more detractors than fans. When I saw it at the AFI Dallas Film Festival, I recommended it to my friends but never thought I would see it again. Fortunately Cult Epics picked up the rights and released in it a great package.
It’s 1972 Los Angeles and the sexual revolution is in full swing. Barbie (Anna Biller) is a lonely housewife whose husband, Rick (Chad England) leaves on a business/ski trip. Convinced that she’s missing the sexual revolution, Barbie joins her neighbor, Sheila (Bridget Brno), in some racy photos. Racy photos appear to be a gateway action because soon she’s diving deep into the seedy underbelly of the city.

In order to keep her actions from her husband, Barbie changes her name to Viva and tries out various careers and sexual experiments.  Soon she’s a model, a gay hairdresser, call girl and discovers nudist camps, gay sex and orgies. The more she goes down the rabbit hole, the more morally ambiguous her exploits become until she feels she reaches bottom.

Writer/director/actress Anna Biller beautifully captures the authenticity of the early 70’s. Viva looks like an Italian schlock master crafted it. From vibrant dayglow colors, 70’s tiki lounge culture and tacky paintings, Viva nails the vibe it wants to recreate. Even the dialogue and social morays feel like a tongue in cheek seventies trash comedy. Biller leaves no area unexplored and completely embraces the conventions of the seventies skin flick comedies.

From Radley Metzger to Russ Meyer, Biller has studied the greats brings a wonderful sexy innocence to Barbie. Her restless naivety is endearing as she goes from one sexual encounter to another. With each experience, Biller strips away more of the innocence and Barbie develops into a woman in control of her sexuality. It’s rare to see this kind of dedication to a cult effort.

With these kind of releases, you should usually just feel lucky that you get the movie on DVD. Cult Epics is nice enough to put a behind the scenes featurette with a running commentary by Biller. The movie deserves a full commentary with the director but this works for now. Also included is a collection of nude shots and a trailer for the film.

Fans of John Waters will love Viva. Director Anna Biller nails the look, sound and feel of the seventies sex comedies. While it’s not for everyone, fans of camp cinema will love it. Viva is trash cinema at its best.

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