Modesty Blaise (Monica Vitti) is the world's biggest and most beautiful secret agent in this crazy colorful spoof of all spoof s of the spy genre. Presented as basically a female imitation James Bond, she brings with her all the trappings--ludicrous international espionage plot, ridiculous gadget tools and weapons--then pumps the comic volume up to the MAX! Talk about madcap, this is what they meant when they invented the word Fast-paced, sometimes impressively clever, sometimes classically corny, bouncing back and forth between the limits of the sophisticated and the crass, taking equal delight in both.
Modesty's cohorts and also her competitors orbit like planets round her golden Sun, appearing and disappearing to return again and again, depending upon the ellipses of their particular orbits: the fay Gabriel (Dirk Bogarde), whose upper crusty exterior conceals the slimiest of underbellies, Rosella Falk as his ultra-sadistic mother (but in a fun way), Modesty's randy comrade-cum-lover Terence Stamp, Clive Revill as her adoptive father, an Arab Sheikh whose oil the Brits are after, and a host of other demi-luminaries in this game they call Spy
As for cinematography, it's a mod mod MOD world, constantly infused with the designs and colours of mid-60's pop art, and grabbed a BAFTA nomination for it. Uncredited Costumer Beatrice Dawson's amazing and amusing creations are the grooviest, straight off Carnaby Street in Swingin' London. John Dankworth's fun, quirky score is the perfect accompaniment. Director Joseph Losey was nominated for a Palme d;Or. Though her accent is a bit pronounced, Miss Vitti's skills as a consummate seductress and comedienne are on full view throughout, and really carry the picture.
And she SINGS. Clearly NOT a singer, her love duet with Stamp (not a singer either!), intrepidly sung while the bombs burst all around them, surrounded by an onslaught of Arab hordes on horseback, they're the sherry-soaked sponge fingers on this MEGA-trifle of an English dainty
Get ready for a Super Way-Out Far Out Plastic Fantastic Mind-Bending TRIP! .
Modesty's cohorts and also her competitors orbit like planets round her golden Sun, appearing and disappearing to return again and again, depending upon the ellipses of their particular orbits: the fay Gabriel (Dirk Bogarde), whose upper crusty exterior conceals the slimiest of underbellies, Rosella Falk as his ultra-sadistic mother (but in a fun way), Modesty's randy comrade-cum-lover Terence Stamp, Clive Revill as her adoptive father, an Arab Sheikh whose oil the Brits are after, and a host of other demi-luminaries in this game they call Spy
As for cinematography, it's a mod mod MOD world, constantly infused with the designs and colours of mid-60's pop art, and grabbed a BAFTA nomination for it. Uncredited Costumer Beatrice Dawson's amazing and amusing creations are the grooviest, straight off Carnaby Street in Swingin' London. John Dankworth's fun, quirky score is the perfect accompaniment. Director Joseph Losey was nominated for a Palme d;Or. Though her accent is a bit pronounced, Miss Vitti's skills as a consummate seductress and comedienne are on full view throughout, and really carry the picture.
And she SINGS. Clearly NOT a singer, her love duet with Stamp (not a singer either!), intrepidly sung while the bombs burst all around them, surrounded by an onslaught of Arab hordes on horseback, they're the sherry-soaked sponge fingers on this MEGA-trifle of an English dainty
Get ready for a Super Way-Out Far Out Plastic Fantastic Mind-Bending TRIP! .