Welcome to the full-flower expression of Anna Biller's guilty pleasure.

Inspired by the sexploitation flicks of the '70s, the lurid ad copy for her first feature-length “;Viva”; says it all.

“;She was a housewife seeking kicks, in a world of swingers, orgies, booze and sin that was the Sexual Revolution!”;

Over the course of two hours, the audience is transported to the scene that was 1972 Los Angeles. Our naive guide is Barbi, played by Biller, a young housewife who finds herself adrift in a world of bohemian, hedonistic excess after being abandoned by her wooden Ken-like hubby. So with her blonde neighbor friend, they become call girls out for a good time.

But behind the artifice of the time lovingly reproduced by Biller's costume and set design—all in vibrant color shot on 35mm film—there's a message underneath the superficial humor and kitsch.

“;My movie does explore women's sexuality within the parameters of men's perception of it,”; said Biller during an interview Monday afternoon with her co-producer and fellow cast member Jared Sanford in their Waikiki hotel's lobby bar. “;And by the end of the film, there's a quality of realness and intimacy to it. ... It's not all pastiche and irony.

“;Women's cinema rarely goes into fantasy to this level. I actually enjoy sexploitation movies because I like looking at beautiful women in compromising positions, plus the voyeuristic aspect of it. ... Mainstream movies still think of sexual females as taboo, so I find this to be a good genre in exploring the potential of women's sexual pleasure.”;

It's been an interesting journey for the Hawaii-born Biller and Sanford, who didn't even know each other until they met through a mutual friend when they were living in New York City at the time many years ago.

Sharing a love for old Hollywood Technicolor films dating back to the '50s, the two have worked on each other's short film projects over the past seven years. But now Sanford is wholly supportive of Anna Biller Productions, and looking back on the four years it took to get “;Viva”; made, it's been an unforgettable ride.

“;I remember going to work on set and it being an amazing experience,”; he said. “;Anna's film work has always been known for its eye for detail, and it really showed here, with her set, costume and makeup design. I felt I was actually there in some sort of an alternative reality.”;

Keeping true to the genre, the acting veered from being deliberately flat to completely over-the-top.

“;What helped is that we did a lot of rehearsals before we started filming,”; Biller said. “;The actors I've worked with say they like working on my set because it feels fun. And what I like about Jared is that he's a true professional and has a precise approach to his craft. He's not only a good mimic, but he can also internalize a character's motives as well. I'll cast him forever in my films.”;

Biller is the true film auteur, doing everything in her films short of adjusting the lights and operating the camera. She said working on the feature-length scope of “;Viva”; was “;the same as working on my short movies, but more exhausting.”;

She even put the same demands—maybe more so—on herself as an actor when it came to asking some of her cast to do scenes in the buff.

“;It felt like I was doing a performance art project, doing the nudity,”; she said. “;Although I tried to prepare myself as best I could, I remember going through a lot of trauma doing that first scene nude. I almost passed out from all the pressure. But later, when I watched those rushes, I could distance myself from it, and I had no problem doing them afterwards.”;

With Jon Moritsugu being the only other underground-independent filmmaker of note from Hawaii, Biller said she's not done badly for herself, considering she was once “;the little hapa girl from Kalihi Valley,”; albeit with a fine-art painter father and clothing-designer mother.

“;In fact, I would say my earlier experiences in Hawaii had a direct influence on this film, dealing with older, haole men trying to pick up young, local girls,”; she said.