Welcome back to 52 Pick-Up, my year long, semi-random journey through 52 movies will be encountering for the first time this year. The fun of going in new like this means I'm just going off the immediate reaction.
In a case like this, that means me going 'Oh God, why did I wait this long to watch this?'
As I said up top, and somewhat at the end of last week, I wanted to do something specifically queer to round out June for Pride Month (and after indirectly dedicating three entries to Bleak Week, I wanted to do something besides the already on the books John Waters movie.) With this in mind, the time came to finally check out the Wachowskis' directorial debut feature, the 1996 neo-noir Bound.
As you might have guessed from the start, yes – I liked this one. I REALLY liked this one. Its reputation had me expecting good, but I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this.
But, I should stop myself before going straight into gushing. This has evolved something of a format, so on with the elevator pitch.
Bound is your classic story – girl meets girl, girl flirts with girl over several encounters before they finally act on their mutual desires, girl learns girl is under the thumb of a violent mobster, girl helps girl come up with plan to rip said mobster off, leaving him holding the bag at the hands of his peers, except his own violent tendencies cause the plan to rapidly spiral into a bloody double-cross which both girls now have to fight to get out of alive.
You know. Classic story. Or as classic as I can make it without getting too spoilery.
Get you someone who can (consensually) eye hump you as hard as
either Corky or Violet is doing to one another in this scene.
Like last week, the casting is definitely a point in this film's favor. In particular, the core three performances by Gina Gershon, Jennifer Tilly, and Joe Pantoliano. Gershon and Tilly as the movie's leading ladies, Corky and Violet (respectively) have a chemistry and tension together that hits early and stays constant throughout the movie. Especially impressive is how quickly it gets going, starting with a non-verbal moment the two share in elevator that is already charged before the two even properly introduce themselves. From there, the sexual tension escalates quickly, and even after it's consummated, the two play well as a couple linked first by desire, then, as the stakes raise, by keeping alive. Part of me wants to see if they've gone on to work together any time after this or not. Rounding out the trio, and another case of 'I expected good, but hot damn', I can see why Pantoliano considers Caesar some of his best work. He's had a lot of great roles outside of this, but there is a genuine sort of 'caged animal' menace he brings here I don't think I've really gotten to see him flex in other roles. Watching that played off of Tilly and Gershon does a phenomenal job of ramping up the tension of the movie's third act.
Unlike last week, where I feel like the casting really helped save a kind of rocky movie, this is a case where it takes an already good movie and enhances it THAT much more. Watching this there were points where I had to double check and confirm this was the Wachowskis' debut movie, simply because it's always a pleasant surprise when you see a first feature come together this well. Which isn't to say it doesn't happen, let me be clear. Not every directorial debut is weak, but it's rare they also get it this strong out of the gate. For every Eraserhead or The Producers, there's a Dark Star or Mondo Trasho (maybe a slight spoiler on that last one for next month.) Bound definitely lands more in the former camp, with the Wachowskis hitting the ground with a confidence and control over the noir style here that, again, gives the sense they would have had more experience going in. Honestly, I'd love it if they could come back to this genre, but I can understand why they might figure if, between this and the heavy noir influence on the Matrix movies after, they might feel like they've already done all they needed or wanted to with the style/genre to this point.
it's that one of the best things you can do with your partner
is take an opportunity to set up a mutual enemy with a plan
that leaves them holding the bag.
Which, on the one hand, a bit of a shame. On the other, hey, makes a good case for appreciating how good their offering was already.
But, if they ever want to come back to this (and hey, bonus points if said noir wants to go this queer and horny on top of that) I will not say no. More likely, I will be asking 'When's the release date?'
As an additional moment of plugging goes – if you can and haven't looked into it yet, the Criterion 4k for this takes a good looking movie and makes it look THAT much better.
No, I'm not getting paid to say that, though again – if they're offering, I could be persuaded.
But, that's business for a later day. With this, June comes to a close here and next week marks the official halfway point for this project.
So, what do I have on deck for the big halfway AND for the 4th of July?
How about some Canadian indigenous folk horror?
Well, too bad. Cause that's what I rolled and I'm looking forward to seeing how it plays this week with 1991's Clearcut.
Till then.
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