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Lois Malle's madcap comedy finds Brigitte Bardot and Jeanne Moreau as revolutionary striptease artists. Intrigued?

Louis Malle meets Mel Brooks in this madcap revolutionary adventure that ignited a little revolution of its own on release. Bardot plays Maria, the daughter of an Irish terrorist, who takes refuge with a travelling troupe after an attack in Central America goes awry. She joins another Maria (Moureau) and the pair take to the stage – and after a decade of helping blow up the British, Bardot becomes an even bigger bombshell when a costume malfunction turns a chanson into an unexpected striptease. The duo are an instant hit, and while Bardot (literally) chalks up lovers on the wall of her caravan, Moureau has a fling with a dashing revolutionary. Before long, Maria et Maria are fully-fledged freedom fighters, spicing up the Mexican revolution with sight gags, showtunes and Gaelic/Gallic fraternité. Individually, Bardot and Moureau are more than a match for any modern action heroine; together, they are unstoppable. In 1965, their promiscuous terrorists scandalised America (sparking a Supreme Court ruling that helped establish the MPAA ratings system) and Malle’s anti-authoritarian anarchy still stirs today.

 

Milo Wakelin on 20th December 2008
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