Fata/Morgana

"Fata Morgana" is a great Werner Herzog film I saw over 30 years ago, but I was pleasantly surprised to recently discover an even better film, Vicente Aranda's "Fata/Morgana", a terrific comic-strip fantasy from the '60s.

This was when Joseph Losey made the nutty "Modesty Blaise", and later films like "Death Lays an Egg", "Danger: Diabolik", "Deadly Sweet" and "Barbarella" typified the mainly failed attempts to do psychedelic/Swinging Sixties live action comic strips. Aranda beat them all to the punch and deserves some retrospective credit.

In a very convoluted and intentionally in-jokey sci-fi storyline, Teresa Gimpera plays the beautiful Gim, involved in all manner of intrigue with spies, hit men, revolutionary conspirators and just crazy characters wearing goofy disguises. The plot has elements of Philip K. Dick, notably his 1956 short story "Minority Report", as our hero races the clock to save Gim from her predicted murder.

Film's pop art visual style remains intriguing after 45 years of obscurity, and the supporting cast, notably a severely styled but sexy villainess Mariane Benet, is very effective. Overall it doesn't make a whole lot of sense, and is strewn with too many non sequiturs, but I enjoyed it.

Aranda is a pioneer filmmaker who has many, many top-notch works to his credit, ranging from THE EXQUISITE CADAVER with Gimpera & Capucine, plus FANNY STRAWHAIR with Fanny Cottencon, to the classic LOVERS starring Victoria Abril. He stepped over the line with the Abril tour de force (in poor taste) AVENTIS, but I can't think of a better (Bigas Luna who imitates him included) Spanish sex film director.