Masterpiece Cinema - Bound

Bound

Starring Gina Gershon, Jennifer Tilly, Joe Pantoliano.
Written & Directed by the Wachowski brothers.
Genre: Thriller
Released: 1996
Running time: 108 mins/109 mins (Uncut USA version)
Rated: R (American rating for strong sexuality, violence and language).
IMDb link: http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0115736/

You may have heard of a little film by the name of The Matrix, and its follow-up films Matrix Reloaded and Matrix Revolutions. I think there might even be an official book of Matrix-inspired haikus in addition to all the other Matrix crap thats exploded all over the place and saturated every form of media there is today

If you know about The Matrix, you most likely also know about the Wachowski brothers, the shadowy pair of nerds responsible for the three multi-million-dollar epics. I wasnt a huge fan of the first Matrix, and I thought the follow-ups were sombre exercises in futility. This isnt mentioning how irksome I find it that the Wachowskis rely more on action than anything relating to some sort of character development, but Im getting sidetracked. Were here to talk about Bound, the directorial debut for the brothers, whose only previous studio credit had been as writers of the completely forgettable Stallone/Banderas film Assassins. Whats Bound all about?

Gina Gershon plays Corky, a chick fresh out of prison and looking to set her life straight. She accepts a job renovating an apartment in a ritzy apartment complex where she runs into Violet (Jennifer Tilly), a former dancer and current girlfriend of mob accountant Caesar (Joe Pantoliano). Corky and Violet are instantly attracted to each other, and its not long before they begin having an affair. Caesar is oblivious to this as he has bigger problems. Hes just been given the task of counting a pile of cash that totals roughly two million dollars (as well as finding a way to clean off the blood splattered on it by the moneys previous owner). With two million dollars sitting right next door, ripe for the taking, Corky and Violet have to see whether or not they can trust each other when they decide to steal it.

Bound is by no means a brilliant film, and I hesitated including it here. It's interesting because of what it tries to do with the film noir genre a genre thats been explored many times over from many different angles. The new twist on this thriller is, of course, that the protagonist is a woman. A gay woman whose love interest is, of course, another woman. Already it sounds salacious, Ill grant youand to a degree, it is. The whole lesbian angle is done for more than just the kicks of the writers/directors and the males in the audience. Though it starts off feeling somewhat clich and exploitative, it evolves beyond that.

The sex scene, though graphic by some standards, doesnt really ring as gratuitous. Maybe the fact that the Wachowskis had noted sex author (and lesbianthough I dont know if you can really put that on your resum) Susie Bright work as a consultant for it. The lesbians arent here to be subjects to the male gaze. Theyre here to be characters, as valid as any other. Its really something to be appreciated, and fairly commendable on the part of the Wachowskis for taking a shot at.

Otherwise, its a fairly standard noir-ish thriller, with the stock twists and turns that youd expect. If Corky were a male, thered be absolutely nothing remarkable about this film, a few fine performances aside. It would just be a fairly standard Hollywood thriller, but the fact that so many conventions are broken by having the protagonists be a lesbian couple really makes Bound something worth consideration. Whether or not you think its a fair and/or accurate portrayal of a same-sex couple is up to you. But hey, at least they gave it a shot, and they made something pretty cool in the process.

Next week: ZOMBIES!

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