Viva Maria!

Bardot and Moreau in irresistibly carefree mood as a pair of chorines who invent the striptease and become twin inspirations for a Latin American revolution, 1907 vintage. Like Zazie dans le Métro, this is Malle in his freewheeling guise, casually tossing out gags like so many fireworks, and shortly afterwards he embarked for India as a spiritual refresher course in countering the hollowness of commercial film-making. Viva Maria is certainly empty, but fun. A fair percentage of its gags may fall by the wayside (especially if you happen on the English dubbed version), but nothing can dim the pyrotechnics of Henri Decaë's camerawork, which has all the colour and charm of a carnival. And the songs Georges Delerue provides for the two stars in their act are delightful.