[Viva Maria!] has B.B. in her best form since And God Created Woman, and brilliantly matched by Jeanne Moreau. They are backed by a rollicking, comic adventure opus impeccably brought off by director Louis Malle.

Parts of it are so badly miscalculated, so lacking in timing and rhythm and point, that you hate yourself even for sitting there. But when it’s good, it’s really lovely.

One of Louis Malle's strangest, most eccentric films, this satire of political revolutions is visually spectacular, pairing France's two most popular stars: Brigitte Bardot and Jeanne Moreau.

Suggests David Lean on a steady diet of chiclets