Almost everything I know about Modesty Blaise comes from this exceedingly fun but obviously flawed flicker. Made at the height of the high-camp spy craze of the 1960's this offbeat little outing gives us a Modesty who is impossibly astute and more concerned with fashion than felons. Both Monica Vitti in the titular role and Terence Stamp in the role of her partner "Willie" look fabulous, two gorgeous people filmed at the apex of their appearance.
But endless costume changes and illogical humor cannot spare this movie. It fails because it doesn't make much sense and it fails to engage the viewer on even the most fundamental level in regard to its narrative. We learn early on that the happenings don't matter. We are here at this movie just to watch images splash across our eyes and if we can glean some hint of a plot from stitching those images together then bully for us. But the movie seems determined not to help.
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But if you give up on such things as suspense and intrigue, two elements of this kind of spy tale that usually are requisite then you can still have a good time with this movie. It's a lark, like the myriad Beatles movies of the era, it's not supposed to make sense really, but is merely movie parts which beguile us as they dash or saunter across the screen.
I said I don't know much if anything about Modesty Blaise other than this movie, and I suspect for fans of Modesty Blaise, that means I don't know much of anything at all.
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