Scarlet Diva (2002)

The debut film effort from celebrity horror director Dario Argento's daughter, Asia Argento, SCARLET DIVA is a rambunctious, egocentric vanity project shot on digital video. The sassy and erotic Argento conjures a meandering and brashly compelling world of violence, sex, drugs, and rock and roll, with herself at the center playing an alter ego, Anna Battista. Following Battista, a celebrated and debauched actress, through her breakneck adventures, the crisply photographed film evokes the fast cut style of music videos. As the wildly inventive plot veers towards the fantastical, Argento shines as the hard living Battista who withstands myriad sexual liaisons, pesky adoration from fans and award ceremonies, lecherous producers and the heartbreak of being abandoned by a drug addicted rock star whose baby she is carrying. The futuristic urban soap opera inventively melds satire, melodrama, and fantasy film to create a highly personal and visionary narrative that reflects the disintegrating boundaries of media and morals heralded by the arrival of the 21st Century.