Essential Cinema - 37

Vixen!

ACTORS:
Erica Gavin (Vixen Palmer)
Garth Pillsbury (Tom Palmer)
Harrison Page (Niles Brook)
Jon Evans (Judd)
Vincene Wallace (Janet King)
Robert Aiken (David King)
Michael Donovan O'Donnell (O'Bannion)

DIRECTOR
Russ Meyer

SCREENPLAY
Russ Meyer
Anthony-James Ryan

CINEMATOGRAPHER
Russ Meyer




SYNOPSIS:
The escapades of an insatiable wife living in the backwoods of Canada.





CONCEPT IN RELATION TO THE VIEWER
The sexual revolution and the concept of hedonism. Pushing the limits of what is acceptable to show.





PROS AND CONS
I have always been a big fan of Russ Meyer. Along with Federico Fellini, I consider him a true innovator in film. Many write him off as a sexploatation film maker of the "B" movie genre. I beg to differ, he was a true pioneer and a maverick and his films have stood the test of time.





What always captivated me about Meyer's work was how he got so much out of a film by doing the basics and doing them well. His films are low budget and look it, but they captivate you regardless. The dialog is crisp and quick, the editing is sharp and the story moves along quickly. This film is only an hour long but you wouldn't know it when it is all over.





Meyer financed most of his own movies, used the same troop of actors, did his own cinematography and writing along with most of the editing. He ran the whole show and answered to no one. What you see on the screen is his vision and no one elses. You have to admire an artist that can create such a large body of work under those terms.





This was Meyer's first 'big' film that got wide release. It was also the first mass distributed film to be given an "X" rating, which is laughable by today's standards. There are no explicit sex scenes or graphic nudity in this film. But there is a lot of implied sexuality and topless women. What made the film controversial in its day was its portrayal of wanton sexuality and taboo subjects such as incest and lesbian relationships.





The plot is rather simple. Vixen likes to fool around and does so with wild abandon. Thrown into this mix are subjects of infidelity, racism, patriotism, honesty and morals. You don't really like Vixen in this film. She is beautiful to look at, but she is a bitch to almost everyone and only appears to seek self gratification and cares for no one but herself.


This film can be downloaded for viewing by clicking the album cover below. The film is in Quicktime M4V format (iPod) and requires Quicktime Pro to view.





This film is a part of my LaserDisc Collection which can be viewed here.

Clicking on the "Essential Cinema" title will take you to the Internet Movie Database entry for this film.

Clicking here will take you to a listing of all the "Essential Cinema" reviews in my Blog.