Veronique Vendell Movies

A quote from Bertolt Brecht ends this bitter and angry war film by Sam Peckinpah: "Do not rejoice in his defeat, you men. For though the world has stood up and stopped the bastard, the bitch that bore him is in heat again." Peckinpah's intense and belligerently non-commercial work, (based on the book by Willi Heinrich), is a World War II tale told from the German perspective, following a platoon of German soldiers in the Russia of 1943, when the German Wehrmacht forces had been decimated and the Germans were retreating along the Russian front. James Coburn is Steiner, a German corporal and recipient of the Iron Cross who feels that he owes his loyalty to his family and fellow soldiers and not to Hitler and the German war machine. But when a new commander, Captain Stransky (Maximillian Schell), takes over the platoon, Steiner and Stransky come into immediate conflict. Stransky is a career soldier, the complete opposite of Steiner, and a man who pledges himself heart and soul to Hitler and the war. But he envies Steiner for having been awarded an Iron Cross and deeply desires one himself. The problem is Stransky is a complete coward and recognizes that the only way he can be awarded an Iron Cross would be to get the bitter Steiner on his side. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

A voluptuous outer space agent travels to another galaxy in search of a missing inventor in this science fiction send-up. Barbarella (Jane Fonda), an interstellar representative of the united Earth government in the 41st century, is dispatched to locate scientist Durand Durand, whose positronic ray, if not recovered, could signal the end of humanity. Outfitted in an array of stunning Star Trek/Bond girl outfits and cruising around in a plush, psychedelic spaceship, Barbarella travels to the Tau Seti system and promptly crash-lands. She then spends the rest of the film discovering the joys of interstellar sex with a keeper of feral children (Ugo Tognazzi), a blind, beatific angel (John Phillip Law), and an inept revolutionary named Dildano (David Hemmings). Slowly but surely, she also finds her way to Durand Durand by moving from one exotic, Wizard of Oz-style locale to another. Along the way, she meets the kindly Professor Ping (a surprisingly verbal Marcel Marceau), a Eurotrash dominatrix named the Great Tyrant (Rolling Stones gal pal Anita Pallenberg), and the Concierge (Milo O'Shea), a strangely familiar lackey of the Great Tyrant who tries to destroy Barbarella with his great big organ of love. Jean-Claude Forest, who created the character Barbarella in 1962 for V-Magazine, served as visual advisor on the adaptation. The film's missing scientist character famously inspired the band name of '80s pop stars Duran Duran (who altered the spelling slightly). Almost two decades later, the film also inspired electronic act Matmos, which was named after the aqueous personification of evil unleashed by the Concierge at the movie's climax. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide

This erotic horror film is set in a dark medieval castle where the lusty Queen of France deflowers virgins, drains the life from them, hacks them up and tosses them in a huge tower. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Martin (Robert Hirsch) is a member of a comedy troupe who is captured by American soldiers when he is in costume as a German officer in this World War II comedy. He escapes and joins the Free French Army only to be captured by the Nazis while he is wearing a general's uniform. The British use him as an undercover agent to capture the Germans. Martin then is recruited in a plot to kill Hitler and is acclaimed as a hero by the resistance movement. His bravery earns him an audition with the coveted Comedie-Francaise troupe in this offbeat feature. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

Adriana (Stefania Sandrelli) is a young woman from the country who gets caught up in the tempestuous temptations of the big city in this somber moral drama. She has a series of affairs that are just for fun, but she becomes depressed when she desperately looks for a more meaningful relationship. The only men she finds sympathy with are a battered boxer (Mario Adorf) and a publicity agent (Nino Manfredi). Ugo Tognazzi has a brief part as a washed-up actor. Adriana's dreams are crushed to the point that she considers suicide her only alternative. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

In this action film, an American detective is hired by an aging millionaire to investigate the murder of his valet. The detective journeys to South Africa and discovers that the murder is linked to Nazi POWs who never went back to Germany. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide