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09/13/02

Frank's film tip: "XXX's" Asia Argento does the writing-directing-acting bit in the tawdry but tepid melodrama "Scarlet Diva". And just what is this particular "Scarlet's" letter you ask? Why it's A...for anemic!

The suddenly ubiquitous brunette bombshell Asia Argento is destined to ring in the minds of movie audiences this summer with her cinematic sensuality plastered all over the big screen. Currently, moviegoers are enjoying her as the fetching villainous vixen in the rambunctious action-packed spy spoof "XXX". However, the erotic-looking actress is doing double duty by simultaneously appearing in the titillating misguided melodrama "Scarlet Diva". The curvaceous performer, a daughter of celebrity cult horror director Dario Argento, acts as the writer-director-star of this exaggerated and self-indulgent vehicle involving the self-destruction of a tawdry tart looking for love and acceptance.

Although Argento is the perfect sassy seductress to invigorate this meandering, excitable flesh-flashing fable, her filmmaking credo doesn't do justice in presenting this tortured nymphet as a redemptive soul. For some moviegoers, "Scarlet Diva" may work as an addictive guilty pleasure in showcasing a slutty protagonist lost in her own self-destructive vices, but the material never overcomes its questionable satirical ambivalence. This "Scarlet's" letter is A--as in aimless, arduous, and arbitrary. Argento shot this self-serving project on digital video that gives this narrative a crisp intimacy, especially in the way the film wants to highlight the steamy sexual encounters with glossy enthusiasm. "Scarlet Diva" tries to spin a web of amoral sensibilities but the film is too incoherently sensationalistic and randomly pseudo-dramatic for its own good.

This film's hard-luck heroine is Anna Battista (Argento), an unfulfilled actress who seemingly has it all?good looks, notoriety from adoring fans, the freedom to come and go as she pleases, materialistic gains, etc. And yet with all this in mind, the audience is supposed to be sympathetic with her cliched' position as a misunderstood movie star who lacks that one important asset that her fame cannot provide?the concept of legitimate appreciation. And so Anna becomes an emotionless poster girl for the scrutinizing price of celebrity by indulging in a downward spiral of desperate behavior. Because this wayward woman has no self-control or sense of self-respect, she engages in blatant misadventures that convincingly reinforce her insecurities. Anna, through impulses that we suspect are unexplainable to the lusty lass, dons the role of an exhibitionist by "exposing" her soulless feelings through numerous trysts that seem both liberating and loathsome.

As the driving force behind this recklessly soul-searching kitsch-driven soap opera, Argento seizes the opportunity by playing her alter ego Anna Battista as a desirable zealous zombie sowing her seedy oats in exchange for starved affection. There's a trashy element displayed in "Scarlet Diva" that's strangely and irresistibly playful. But Argento doesn't treat this uneven debacle as the spry and wickedly naughty showcase it could have been. Instead, she opts to go the conventional route in parlaying this tragic tramp as a victim of her own debauched circumstances. This, of course, changes the thematic scope for a film that was better suited as a campy sex-oriented session more so than as a serious-minded rampaging romp of redemption. One can understand Argento's need to accentuate the voyeuristic vibe of her pet project. Still, when we see Anna caught up in the excitable antics ranging from forced lesbianism to escaping the clutches of an unscrupulous horny movie producer, "Scarlet Diva" becomes one exploration in danger of wearing out its convoluted welcome.

As a deviant dish, Argento will most certainly cause temperatures to rise in some of her ardent followers, particularly hormonal males who know a delicious-looking spark plug when they see one. She sizzles with hypnotic haughtiness--there's no denying that tidbit--but one wishes that her debut moviemaking undertaking matched that same sentiment.

Frank rates this film: stars