Barb Wire (1995)

(Second Viewing, In French, On Cable TV, June 2019) I don’t know if it classifies as an old shame or a still-canny move, but I remember watching Casablanca on VHS in 1995 and then immediately going to the movie theatre to watch its sort-of-remake Barb Wire. This is a film that doesn’t waste a moment after its obligatory exposition to show us Pamela Anderson in a striptease routine. But wait! She’s not just the lead attraction, she’s also the owner of the club (and also bounty hunter, because accounting is boring), stepping in the Humphrey Bogart role. The insistence on Canadian freedom (and Canadian dollars as the real currency) is endearing—although, let’s face it, in all scenarios where the United States has gone crazy enough that people seek refuge in Canada, it’s not likely that it will respect national frontiers. Still, one wonders if the French-Canadian element is why Plastic Bertrand plays in the club. The Casablanca comparisons only go so far—this remains a fairly dumb action movie, with lame quips (“Don’t call me baby”) and one succession of dull action sequences after another. In retrospect, the mid-nineties jejune pretentiousness of a run-down world with everyone sneering at each other in tougher-than-thou fashion gets tiresome more quickly than you’d think—one really longs for the black-and-white atmosphere of the real wartime Casablanca after a while. This being said, the portrait of Nazi-inspired American hard-liners is good for a few contemporary chills that weren’t necessarily there in 1995. (Do note that watching a dubbed version of the film unusually makes it a better one, as the woman dubbing Anderson is a far better actress who can paper over her vocal deficiencies.)  The action sequences are all dull nonsense overedited to cover up the low budget and lack of directorial vigour. Let’s really not read too much into female empowerment of a film chiefly using Anderson as a pin-up, but do notice that there are far more female characters on the side of the rebellion and, unless I missed anything, none on the oppressor’s side … suggesting a deeper feminist intention to Barb Wire than one would be willing to believe.