9 1/2 Weeks

Tags

1980's, 9 1/2 Weeks, Adrian Lyne, Drama, Erotic Drama, Kim Basinger, Mickey Rourke, Romance

Film Title

9 1/2 Weeks

Director

Adrian Lyne

Starring

• Kim Basinger as Elizabeth
• Mickey Rourke as John

It may have been savaged by critics upon release who saw it as nothing but a tawdry movie, but over time it is good to see that 9 1/2 Weeks has been reassessed and given a second chance. A film that touches on how addictive a union with someone can be and how it can push you over the edge, 9 1/2 Weeks masterfully casts a strange spell.

Elizabeth is an art gallery assistant who hasn’t been on a date or had a relationship since her divorce; a fact her friends seem to always remind her of. One day while out shopping, her eyes meet with suave Wall Street broker John and an immediate fire is lit. She sees him as mysterious and he slowly gains her trust, despite being a stranger, by whisking her off her feet with romantic gestures. From the start of the intense relationship, John’s preference to take charge when it comes to sex hints at the danger he’ll bring to Elizabeth, but she sees him as loving and exciting. As the union becomes bolder and the sexual games get more perverse, Elizabeth finds herself completely obsessed by John but wanting to escape his clutches. Something within her won’t let him go and as John begins to take charge of everything, she heads down a downward spiral due to John’s hypnotizing influence that threatens to engulf her if she doesn’t break free.

I have to give a lot of credit to Adrian Lyne for the way he shoots this movie and brings the strange nature of obsession to the screen. Capturing scenes in a soft focus glow and glossy finish, events seem sexy and erotic in the beginning before morphing into something unusual and uncomfortable. Lyne knows exactly how to bring erotic fire to proceedings, but as time goes by bring forth the disturbing nature of John’s dominance over Elizabeth. It must be said that while many of the scenes are graphic in terms of sexual content( for instance John using the contents of a fridge and feeding Elizabeth for satisfaction), everything takes on a different tone once John reveals his desire to be the one in control. You can feel a palpable danger growing within the film as Elizabeth becomes completely obsessed with the suave but menacing John and goes almost past the point of telling what is right and wrong, heading straight for disaster. I think critics at the time might have missed this sense of disturbing atmosphere by instead focusing on the sex scenes. Yes 9 1/2 Weeks has a lot of sex that at the start is sensual, but takes a darker turn as the relationship takes a different turn. Upon closer inspection, 9 1/2 Weeks paints a dark picture of brutal obsession and carnal desire that puts us in the shoes of Elizabeth, who knows something isn’t right but can’t walk away from the relationship that she has succumbed to. Now the movie isn’t flawless by any means; it runs a bit too long and some of the dialogue is a bit tin-eared. But even with these flaws, the film captures the attention as an unusual parable about not getting swept into something you may not be able to get out of. A well-chosen soundtrack of songs about passion and dark intensity fits 9 1/2 Weeks like a glove and furthers the heightened feelings of looming darkness that can be found in the encounters between John and Elizabeth.

A film such as 9 1/2 Weeks is can be made or broken by the casting of the leads, thankfully the two leads put it in the former category. Kim Basinger is utterly believable as the spellbound Elizabeth; presenting her as passionate yet slowly seeing the dangerous ruin the relationship could bring as she heads towards mental breakdown. We feel for the character and a lot of that is down to the excellent work from Kim Basinger. Mickey Rourke is just as good as the suave and very dangerous John, who ensnares Elizabeth in his perverse games of sexual pleasure. The best way I can think of to describe Mickey Rourke’s performance is similar to the snake in the Garden of Eden; he knows exactly what to say to be cunning and lure Basinger’s Eve like character in. Both leads have good chemistry, though it has an underlying darkness not often present with most movie couple’s chemistry and this sets it apart from many other movies.

An unusual film that is by turns erotic and disturbing, 9 1/2 is one of those movies that knows how to crawl deep under the skin with its story of a perilous sexual relationship.

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Jacob’s Ladder

Tags

1990's, Adrian Lyne, Danny Aiello, Elizabeth Peña, Horror, Jacob's Ladder, Matt Craven, Psychological Horror, Psychological Thriller, Tim Robbins

Film Title

Jacob’s Ladder

Director

Adrian Lyne

Starring

• Tim Robbins as Jacob Singer
• Elizabeth Peña as Jezzie
• Danny Aiello as Louis Denardo
• Matt Craven as Michael Newman

A Vietnam vet’s tortured existence that blurs between reality and visions is captured in horrifying detail in Jacob’s Ladder, directed with creepy certainty by Adrian Lyne and anchored by a powerful turn from Tim Robbins. This is a film that will stay with you for a long time not just due to the haunting, disturbing story and bizarre visuals, but for its harrowing emotion rare in a horror film.

Jacob Singer is a Vietnam vet who after the war is now working as a postal worker in New York City. Although now living with his seductive girlfriend Jezzie following a divorce from his first wife Sarah, Jacob is also mourning the death of his young son and recalling a terrifying an experience during the war when he was stabbed with a bayonet by an unseen soldier. Yet as he tries to move on with his life through his new relationship and job, terror soon encroaches upon it due to visions of demonic beings plaguing him in a fragmented fashion. On his way from the subway, a passenger’s face appears distorted and strangely warped. A nurse appears to have horns under her hat. A wild party turns into a room of beasts. What is causing these sights and are they real? Has Jacob’s mind been fractured by the traumatizing events in Vietnam? He begins to believe this theory when fellow members of his platoon come forward with their stories and they become convinced that the government did something to them while they were stationed in Vietnam. But with his visions growing stronger and finding it harder to distinguish what is real and what isn’t, can Jacob uncover the mystery before the horror completely overtakes him and he completely crumbles? With assistance from his kindly chiropractor Louis and a mysterious man named Michael Newman, Jacob attempts to fathom the nature of these visions and the validity of them before it is too late.

Adrian Lyne brings the nightmarish world Jacob inhabits to life with assured direction, that also taps into the deeper emotions of the story. His successful direction gives life to the ambiguities that Jacob’s Ladder throws at us and places us like Jacob in this abyss of not knowing what to believe or see. Visually, Jacob’s Ladder is phantasmagorical with horrific visions and sights. The fragmented nature of the movie as it cuts between past, memories and possibly delusions is edited with a disjointed quality that creates fear and confusion. Two particular scenes stand out that convey the sheer horror of the piece. The first features Jacob witnessing a man at a party’s head spinning violently fast as if in a constant state of convulsion. The second and most memorably terrifying is Jacob being taken into the decaying bowels of a hospital, strewn with body parts and disturbed patients. Strapped to a gurney, he is investigated by sinister doctor, including a man with no eyes. It truly is terror at its most psychological and unsettling. And yet for all of the horror on show, there is a very melancholy tone that pervades the movie, and is embodied by Jacob’s descent. The film can also be commended for the avenues of possibility it opens up. You’ve got the prospect of government experiments, the grief felt by the loss of a loved one and biblical allusions all at play and giving the film layer upon layer of ambiguity. An ambient score from Maurice Jarre backs the mounting events of bizarre terror and unexplained horror excellently, while underlining the tortured soul of Jacob.

In the role of the eponymous Jacob, Tim Robbins is emotionally powerful and devastating. He elicits sympathy for Jacob and the nightmare he is put through, and the audience feels the same way. As emotional as Robbins performance is, he also embodies the character physically. His movements are awkward and gawky due to his tall frame, his bespectacled appearance makes him look like a young boy and his expressive face is a marvel at conveying Jacob’s plight. In short, Robbins delivers powerful work of deep emotion and clarity. Elizabeth Peña smolders as the sexy but concerned Jezzie, whose name seems very appropriate given the biblical parallels of the story. While her sexuality is showcased often here, Peña gives the character a sense of mystery and fear as she watches Jacob’s slowly fall apart. Danny Aiello makes a mark as the almost angelic chiropractor who gives Jacob an important piece of advice in his search for answers, while Matt Craven is enigmatic as someone who knows more about why Jacob has been receiving these visions.

A deeply unsettling movie of horror and emotion, Jacob’s Ladder is simply an unforgettable movie.

Fatal Attraction

Tags

1980's, Adrian Lyne, Anne Archer, Fatal Attraction, Glenn Close, Michael Douglas, Thriller

Film Title

Fatal Attraction

Director

Adrian Lyne

Starring

• Michael Douglas as Dan Gallagher
• Glenn Close as Alex Forrest
• Anne Archer as Beth Gallagher

A torrid affair has terrifying repercussions for a lawyer when the other woman won’t let go in Fatal Attraction, a suitably infamous thriller that deeply unsettles and disturbs. Infidelity and obsession combine in this well-acted and frightening tale of a woman’s scorn.

Dan Gallagher is a young lawyer who has a beautiful wife Beth and a young daughter Ellen. He first meets the intriguing Alex Forrest at a book event, and though attracted to one another, he is unavailable. But when Beth goes away for the weekend, temptation gets the better of Dan and he engages in a steamy fling with Alex. Dan then wants to go back to his family and it is here when he first gets the idea that Alex is not going to let him go when she slits her wrists. After helping her clean her wounds, he returns to his family, yet Dan soon finds his life turned upside down by Alex. She incessantly calls him at work, she throws acid on his car, sends him a chilling tape detailing her love for him and famously kills the family’s pet rabbit( spawning the term bunny boiler in the process). It becomes very clear to Dan that Alex has now become obsessed with him and won’t take no for an answer. Terrified, he tries to smooth things over but Alex’s campaign of terror is only just beginning and she won’t stop until every obstacle is out of the way. What began as a fling morphs into a nightmare for Dan as the spurned and unstable Alex refuses to let go of that weekend and will go to the most extreme lengths to destroy everything in Dan’s life, including his family.

Director Adrian Lyne contributes a steamy and suspenseful atmosphere through his crisp direction that highlights the heat of the affair and later the increasingly disturbed and insidious ways that Alex takes revenge on Dan. It’s all about the build up in Fatal Attraction, as we witness Dan’s family life, the affair and slowly but surely the obsessions of Alex. This is chilling to watch as it started out so simple and then became very complicated as the terrified Dan comes to see that his mistake is coming back to bite him. Fatal Attraction contains many moments of suspense and terror, most notably Alex sitting alone flicking the light switch on and off as her eyes become catatonic and when she follows Dan who is listening to her bone-chilling message about how she isn’t going to let him get away with leaving her. The unnerving atmosphere is held up very well and only loses it in the finale which goes overboard but still emerges as tense and creepy. An electronic score excellently backs up the realization of Dan that Alex is very dangerous indeed and that he is not going to escape her campaign of terror on his life.

Michael Douglas excellently portrays Dan as a man who has had his fun and now wants to leave, but witnessing that this isn’t going to happen. By turns sympathetic and unsympathetic, Douglas gives his all as Dan becomes more terrified at the prospect of what his fling will cause. Glenn Close is the standout performer here, rightfully seen as iconic in this role. Exhibiting rage, obsession and terrifying intensity, Close knocks it out of the park and really becomes a frightening embodiment of a woman scorned acting out her anger. What really makes it such a great performance is the subtlety that it builds with. Alex in the beginning seems like a rational and flirty person with nothing sinister about her. But after Dan’s dismissal of her, the fury begins to emerge and Close reaches chilling heights displaying the anguish and warped mind of this woman. Anne Archer brings her great credentials to the supporting role of Dan’s wronged wife Beth, who is left reeling by his affair but who is willing to protect her family nonetheless.

A lurid and unnerving thriller if ever there was one, Fatal Attractions still remains sinister viewing.

Unfaithful

Tags

2000's, Adrian Lyne, Diane Lane, Drama, Erotic Thriller, Olivier Martinez, Richard Gere, Thriller, Unfaithful

Film Title

Unfaithful

Director

Adrian Lyne

Starring

• Diane Lane as Connie Sumner
• Richard Gere as Edward Sumner
• Olivier Martinez as Paul Martel

Executed with style and erotic frisson from director Adrian Lyne, Unfaithful examines the price of a chance encounter between two people and the subsequently dangerous affair that begins.

Connie Sumner appears to have it all: a beautiful house in a New York suburb, Edward, her loving husband and her excitable young son Charlie. While her marriage seems to be stable and all she could ask for, you can’t help but get the feeling that something is missing from it. One day Connie is picking up supplies for her son’s birthday party in downtown SoHo, when a fierce wind blows in. She is literally thrust into the arms of Paul Martel, a handsome, French book seller. He offers to help her clean up her grazed knee and begins to flirt with her. She initially dismisses this and returns home. Yet somehow this chance meeting with a dashing stranger has deeply left a mark upon her. Although she knows what she is about to do is wrong, Connie throws caution to the wind and returns to see Paul, culminating in a passionate love affair. As the relationship grows bolder and Connie becomes consumed by her obsessive desire for the virile Paul, Edward begins to suspect something is wrong. He hires a private detective to watch his wife’s actions to see if she is playing away. Let’s just say that events become complicated and tragic when passion, jealousy and rage meet head-on.

Director Adrian Lyne is the perfect choice to direct Unfaithful as he has dissected adultery and infidelity in many of his films. He gives Unfaithful a stormy and moody visual style as well as a burning amount of animal passion. The camerawork is marvellous in conveying a sense of foreboding such as the sensual windstorm that sweeps Connie into the path of Paul. One can read it as a precursor to the heat that will inevitably drive their affair, but also as a warning for the damage it will cause in the process. And speaking of intense passion, the many love scenes between Connie and Paul are provocative and supremely sexy. With genuine chemistry, sizzling direction and palpable connection, you can practically feel the heat between the characters locked in this love affair. Unfaithful may be billed as an erotic thriller and certain parts of it conform to the genre, but it fares better as a drama about the price of betrayal and obsessive desire. And while some scenes linger on for longer than needed, one can’t deny the steamy and dramatic pulse of the piece. A slow-burning score of clashing passion and serious indecision gives another layer to Unfaithful.

Diane Lane delivers a standout performance in the central role of Connie. We see that Connie is conflicted and passionate at the idea of an affair, but can’t resist the temptation. Rather than make Connie very unsympathetic as a character, Diane Lane brings something else to the part. Coming across as luminous and natural, we may not agree with what Connie is doing but rather we see her wrestle with the scale of what this affair could bring. The crowning moment of this complex performance is Connie on her journey back from sleeping with Paul. A whole collection of emotions flicker across her face: she’s excited, sad, doubtful and slightly elated by the whole thing and Lane makes her feelings so believable and palpable. It truly is a wonderful performance from Diane Lane that gives Unfaithful a whole lot of impact. Richard Gere turns in a quiet performance as Edward, Connie’s husband suspicious of her whereabouts. He is just a mild-mannered man who wants answers and that’s what makes Connie’s betrayal all the more devastating. There is also a rage to Gere’s performance as he begins to feel the betrayal of the women close to him. Olivier Martinez is mainly required to be virile, charming and seductive and he does this with aplomb as he captures Connie’s attention and won’t let go. While the role isn’t much of a stretch in terms of astonishing acting ability, it fits the part well enough.

Sensual and steamy while also being dramatic, Unfaithful is an erotic drama with stylish direction and excellent work from the cast, especially Diane Lane.