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NEW Beyond The Valley Of The Dolls (DVD)

5 star:		(27)
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3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

This is my first film by this director. I'm hesitant to guess what ignited my interest in the films of renowned sleaze master and independent film guru Russ Meyer. The film opens with a title card explaining that it is not, in any way, related to the work of Jacqueline Susann, the literary trashmeistress who wrote the novel upon which the 1967 Mark Robson film "Valley of the Dolls" was based.

Meet 'The Kelly Affair' - three rock rockin' song birds led by Kelly on vocals, (Dolly Reed) with Casey on rhythm guitar, (Cynthia Myers) and Pet (Marcia McBroom) on drums. Reduced to playing Senior Proms, the three girls and their Manager/Kelly's lover, Harris, (David Gurlan) decide to leave for Hollywood in search of fame. Once in town, Kelly contacts her estranged Aunt Suzan (Phyllis Davis) who works as fashion magazine editor for a place to crash with she and her band-mates. Then, after diner with Kelly, Suzan decides to give her a portion of the inheritance that Suzan received from their family. Not bad for a first day in Tinsletown. Soon, Kelly and crew are swinging at the pad of legendary Hollywood record producer Ronnie "Z-Man" Barzel (played by John LaZar - in one of the best roles in the film). Ronnie hears Kelly's music and turns them into an overnight sensation, recording their songs and renaming them "The Carrie Nations." Their albums skyrocket to the top of the charts, but not without the viscous cost of fame. Loves are lost and hearts are broken. The pure-at-heart turns to hedonistic compulsions, while money and drugs consume their very beings. Throw in some kinky sex, nice' rock numbers, garish melodrama, rapid-fire dialog, Meyer's signature camera and editing style and you've got one of the most daring movies ever produced by Hollywood.

A film so far ahead of it's time, no wonder it bewildered the very studio that produced it. It's always great to stick this movie on people who don't know what to expect: "Do I laugh at what I think is supposed to be funny?" "Is this funny?" "Is this serious?" "No way could they have thought this was supposed to be serious." "Is it?" "I'm confused." "I'm entertained - but am I supposed to be?" "Did Roger Ebert really write this?" The answer is `yes' to most of these questions. But no, this film was never meant to be serious. It was a parody before parodies were sheik. A comedy so far removed from what people were used to, even the actors didn't know it.

As screenwriter Roger Ebert can confirm, every single frame in this film is exactly the way the director wanted it. Every joke, edit, camera angle and music cue was meticulously placed by the filmmaker - and in spite of the film's age - it still remains a fresh feast for the ears and eyes. Particularly the eyes. The films of Russ Meyer certainly isn't for everyone, but if you appreciate the kind of cinema that is so bad it's great then his entire catalogue of trash is undoubtedly for you.

No use reviewing the film because everyone has already done that. Needless to say it's great and extremely well written. This is a far more polished piece of work than Meyer's other well-known films (i.e. not as "trashy").

Well, earlier today (September 27th, 2004) on "Ebert & Roper At The Movies", Roger Ebert spoke about the death of his friend Russ Meyer...

Ebert revealed that he has recorded a commentary for the film and it seems Criterion will be releasing it on DVD sometime next year (2005).

Skip the VHS and wait for the pot-o-gold with a commentary by the actual writer! This truly will be my happening and it freaks me out, man!

Worst thing that can happen to an already-bad movie is that it becomes dated, and alas, that's what became of "BVD". So we get wooden acting and a howlingly bad script right alongside "square", "groovy", and bad color reproduction. They tried to work a rock band somewhere into this movie, but it all seems to have gotten lost in the mess of flamboyant scenery-chewing and several women with bubble hair missing their cues.

The "racy" stuff this film is famous for has not endured the march of time, and even the creepy part at the end (...)is of little shock value in our modern world brimming with "transgenders".

Lastly, the tacked-on moralizing sequence at the end of the flick effectively nullifies everything that occurs in the movie up to that point, sort of a "don't try this at home" band-aid for a Hollywood too cowardly to take a "chance" on this release.

"Beyond The Valley of the Dolls" is a movie that was made over 30 years ago but is still enjoyable to watch today. I truly admire this film, Roger Eberts writing and the direction of Russ Meyer just make this film unique and amazing. At some points the film can be so dramatic and at other times so light hearted. The film also set some trends, like the African American woman at Z Mans party with the gold rhinestone eye shadow decoration, everyone thought Alicia Keys was doing something new when she wore rhinestones on her eyelids to the Grammy's and then all these rappers talking about Bentley's the one woman in the movie was talking about how a Rolls is better than a Bently.

This movie is awesome for so many reasons. For one its 2004 and we will never see a movie on the big screen that takes so many risks. How many movies are there where the White and African American characters have true friendships and both characters have developed story lines? It was the 60's and Ebert and Meyers weren't afraid to bring taboos like sexual orientation, well let me not be a spoiler.

The women were so beautiful, Casey, Pet and Kelly. They had bodacious bodies and big hair and perfect make-up. They lived life so carefree. The underlying storyline about the money was never really resolved but so much was going on in that flick.

It's a really great movie and it's funny because at the end, the very end they try to be moral and tie it all together and make a social statement. This is a wild and crazy trip of a movie and I catch something new everytime I watch it. As a writer and a one time aspiring film maker movies like this one make me want to go out and take risks.

Ignore the one-star reviewers,they were all born in the 80s.They simply are NOT qualified to critique this or any other film of the era.Please enjoy this delicious slice of early 70s americana.Screenplay courtesy of Roger Ebert.

Boring, stupid, laughable, dated and ridiculous.

Why would anyone want to relive the Silly Sixties?

And Roger Ebert is now a film critic? Give me a break!

I hereby award this disaster *minus* 5 stars.

Saw it on the Independent Film Channel & thought it was Mysoginist, & offensive. Too much graphic sex & naked females pollute the movie. There was 5 minutes worth of violence, and it looked fake. Cuss words & big breasts were the only plot/story. The only connection with "Valley of the Dolls" this movie has, is the title, and the copy-cat plot of three career girls trying to make it big. They do mention taking some "dolls" though, during the drug scenes.

Porno movie plotting. The movie first shows the "Carrie Nations" (what kind of a name is that?) at a high school, and performing. Then they go to California. The only way we find out that they have become famous, is by one character mentioning it. The movie was supposed to show how the 3 girls get messed up with the hollywood lifestyle, but it doesn't. In fact, throughout the whole movie the 3 girls seem to be having a good time. The end of the movie seemed like the writers just wrote it up in 5 seconds, just to end a movie.

This film has just about every element of the social situation of the late 1960's: free love, drugs, rock and roll, etc., but there are other elements easily missed, one of which is that drinking alcohol was considered "square" by the hippie generation. Another is the legal signifigance of this film -- it was arguably a criminal act in it's time. By the rules of the Supreme Court at the time of the film's release, a movie appealing to "prurient interest" had to demonstrate "redeeming social value" to avoid being considered pornography. Hence, the rediculous drawn out narrative at the end was needed to keep Russ Meyer and Roger Ebert (yes, the now famous film critic, who wrote the screenplay for this film!) out of prison. Kids today don't even realize how different it was back then. A great thing about this film is the brilliant camera work and lighting, which makes the scenes seem almost 3-dimensional. Sometimes you feel you can step right into the screen.

As mentioned practically every genre in film is expressed in this movie. Drama, comedy, love story, mystery, slasher-horror, psychological mind bender, and soft porn (straight, gay, bi, lesbian). In other words the greatest and cheesiest soap opera ever made. The plot? Well if its important it deals with a girl band, who become The Carrie Nations, moving to L.A. to try to ï¿make itï¿ following them as they get stepped on and abused along the way. The usual story of the manipulation of people, especially women, in Hollywood or the World in general by those who have already ï¿made itï¿ or think they have materially but not spiritually. The narrator sums it up at the end. ï¿There can be no beginning or ending that does not in some way touch another. For our actions affect the lives and destinies of the many.ï¿ This is just one example of the self-righteous cheesy, but truthful, moralizing in the film. There are outrageous parties and bizarre incidents which convey ideologies of the time, psychedelic imagery, chromatic sets, early mtv style editing, soap operatic clichés, drug-use, a sword wielding psudeo-Shakesperian spouting crazy, a bartending Nazi, a Liston/Tyson type boxer and a bloodbath. Itï¿s not the plot but how it unfolds that makes this a true original and unique film.

I agree with others below. This is a postmodern classic. A panoptic view of the world formation of new subjectivity in reality that occurred in the ï¿60ï¿s, of hybrid selves blurring mores and forming beyond the binary dualisms of a hegemonic and phallocratic culture. However, like the real Carrie Nation the film has a message of temperance and how the enjoyments in finding oneself through over indulgence in anything can lead to evil. The irony in the name of the group is interesting. Carrie Nation was pretty much a formidable self-empowered woman who carried an ax. Something none of these exploited women are. Donï¿t take all this too seriously. Spread this cheese on a cracker and enjoy. Just one question whereï¿s the DVD with Ebert and Meyerï¿s commentary?

This is a film with a unique visual vocabulary, and an incredible eye for detail. Its a wonderful montage of glossy surfaces - a tribute to the Pop Art of the late sixties and the culture that gave birth to the psychedelic era. Meyer captures the 60's zeitgeist, and feeds it back to the audience with consummate skill.

Meyer's genius lies in his sense of irony, and his ability to blend the boundary between medium and message - the narrative is articulated through the marketing idioms of the late 60.'s, this reaches a high point when sexual ecstasy is spliced with images of a Bentley automobile. It certainly add's a new dimension to the auto-erotic.

Eventually Meyer leads us into his High Castle, a transdimensional wonderland where German high camp and the psychedelic aesthetic fuse into a greater synthesis! Here we witness the birth of the new man, beyond good and evil. Can conventional reality/morality contain his Promethean fire?

Watch and learn...