Please note: This was screened in
In her first English-language role, Italian star Monica Vitti incarnates the British comic-strip heroine Modesty Blaise blending Barbarella-style allure with Bond -style espionage capers.
Joined by a cockney sidekick (Terence Stamp), Modesty sets out to thwart a diamond-theft scheme hatched by super-villain Gabrielle (Dirk Bogarde). But forget the plot, it’s the least important part - instead immerse yourself in the riot of colour, Monica Vitti’s outfits and the outrageous sets and props; will Dirk Bogarde really drink from that exaggeratedly sized wine glass?!
Modesty Blaise is not a film you would immediately identify with the exiled American director Joseph Losey (whose 1967 film Accident, more typical of his work at that time, is also screening at the festival), but he crafts a visually playful pop-art fantasy that puts the swing into the Swinging Sixties.
This event is part Other Ways of Seeing, an initiative supported by BFI awarding funds from National Lottery curated by George Cruse-Drew (UWE MA Curating student at Watershed)