Let me be up front in saying I don't speak or understand Norwegian, so my review is going to be based primarily on the parts of the film that are in English, and what I've been able to garner through text translations of the rest.
The premise of the film is that a Norwegian company called (Clinox) has a new line of condoms that should be very successful, but their red (associated with communism) color is a touchy subject in an election year. Enter a vivacious, sultry, and thoroughly amoral Hong Kong business woman named Lucy Ferner (Zienia Merton), who promises a revolutionary new method of cosmetics production that will make everyone rich. We quickly discover that this new method involves a machine that can make everything from cold cream to perfume to eyeliner. All from a very special ingredient...poo (feces).
If the premise sounds a little silly, it is. Cosmetics Revolution is not classic film-making by any stretch of the imagination. It's a low budget comedy with a good bit of softcore nudity thrown in ala 70's classic like Ursula Andress' The Sensuous Nurse and all those Swedish stewardess flicks you used to see late night on Showtime and Cinemax back in the early 1980s.
Still, the film has its moments, thanks to Merton. Zienia plays the part of Ferner with assurance and even a bit of swagger. Ferner is a metaphor for the excesses of consumerism and marketing. I laughed out loud at the scene where she presents her list of demands to the owner of Clinox in exchange for access to her new production method. Each demand is sillier and more outrageous than the last, but the superficialities of her charm and beauty sell the deal. You can make anything sound reasonable, if you dress it up in a pretty enough package.
Merton is at her best when playing Ferner as a seducing vamp. She brings a subversive humor to Ferner, as she adapts her look and her approach to each of her marks. It's really nicely done. As a childhood fan of SPACE 1999 (where Merton played the shy but compassionate Sandra Benes), it is quite a change up from what I was used to seeing. She ends up naked most of the time here, but it's not done in bad taste. Merton was a beautiful woman, and the scenes are played for laughs rather than raunch.
5.5/10. Wouldn't pay for a DVD of it, but worth watching if it's floating around on the net.
The premise of the film is that a Norwegian company called (Clinox) has a new line of condoms that should be very successful, but their red (associated with communism) color is a touchy subject in an election year. Enter a vivacious, sultry, and thoroughly amoral Hong Kong business woman named Lucy Ferner (Zienia Merton), who promises a revolutionary new method of cosmetics production that will make everyone rich. We quickly discover that this new method involves a machine that can make everything from cold cream to perfume to eyeliner. All from a very special ingredient...poo (feces).
If the premise sounds a little silly, it is. Cosmetics Revolution is not classic film-making by any stretch of the imagination. It's a low budget comedy with a good bit of softcore nudity thrown in ala 70's classic like Ursula Andress' The Sensuous Nurse and all those Swedish stewardess flicks you used to see late night on Showtime and Cinemax back in the early 1980s.
Still, the film has its moments, thanks to Merton. Zienia plays the part of Ferner with assurance and even a bit of swagger. Ferner is a metaphor for the excesses of consumerism and marketing. I laughed out loud at the scene where she presents her list of demands to the owner of Clinox in exchange for access to her new production method. Each demand is sillier and more outrageous than the last, but the superficialities of her charm and beauty sell the deal. You can make anything sound reasonable, if you dress it up in a pretty enough package.
Merton is at her best when playing Ferner as a seducing vamp. She brings a subversive humor to Ferner, as she adapts her look and her approach to each of her marks. It's really nicely done. As a childhood fan of SPACE 1999 (where Merton played the shy but compassionate Sandra Benes), it is quite a change up from what I was used to seeing. She ends up naked most of the time here, but it's not done in bad taste. Merton was a beautiful woman, and the scenes are played for laughs rather than raunch.
5.5/10. Wouldn't pay for a DVD of it, but worth watching if it's floating around on the net.
