Viva Maria! Reviews

A lively and zesty film that brought together two of France's sexiest and most talented actresses, Bardot and Moreau. Bardot is the daughter of an Irish anarchist killed during an upheaval in Central America, leaving the girl to carry on alone. She meets the circus troupe of which Moreau is a part, and the two become partners in a song-and-dance routine. During one such performance, Bardot accidentally loses her skirt, and the audience likes it so much they incorporate the stunt into their act. As the company travels across impoverished Latin America the two become more and more touched by the shameful treatment of the peasants until they eventually turn revolutionaries themselves. This occurs after a love affair between Moreau and Hamilton, a revolutionary leader who is later killed, leaving his lover and friend to continue with his work. The teaming of Moreau and Bardot was a stroke of genius: one quiet and subdued, the other ravishing and bursting with energy, but each able to bring to the film a unique style.