Facing Barbarella: Models of Masculinity between reality and science-fiction in the Sixties

I explore the sci-fi cult film, Barbarella (Roger Vadim, 1968) in which, the actor Ugo Tognazzi plays a secondary role. Focusing on this largely overlooked work in Tognazzi's prolific oeuvre, I explain that Barbarella is also a work that film critics have not warmly embraced. I contend, however, that we can today approach Barbarella afresh in two different, but related, ways. On the one hand, Barbarella is a film that testifies to Tognazzi's international popularity. On the other hand, Barbarella sheds light on the representation of both feminine and masculine figures in a period of significant cultural change in Italy.