Unfaithful

Unfaithful (2002) dir. Adrian Lyne
Starring: Diane Lane, Richard Gere, Olivier Martinez

***½

By Alan Bacchus

After posting '9½ Weeks' last week, here's a reposting of Adrian Lyne's surprisingly good, well-directed 'Unfaithful'.

Few people talk about Adrian Lyne. He reminds me of Peter Weir, a talented and picky director with a slim but memorable output of films. Since the 80’s he’s only made 4 films, and in his later years it’s been at least five years between films: Indecent Proposal (1993), Lolita (1997), Unfaithful (2002).

In this, his latest (yes, he hasn't made a film since 2002), Diane Lane and Richard Gere play Connie and Ed Sumner, seemingly stabile, middle class parents living in the New York suburbs. One day while in Manhattan during a windstorm Connie's knocked off her feet injuring her leg. She is helped by a kindly and impossible handsome Frenchman Paul Martel (Olivier Martinez). Paul’s European charm is intoxicating to Connie and slowly she begins to see more of him until they blossom into a full-fledged affair.

Ed suspects something’s up and starts snooping around. Connie’s conscience starts eating away at her but before she decides to call it off Ed finds her out, which results in a violent confrontation. Lies compound upon other lies the effect of which will test Connie and Ed’s commitment to each other.

Lyne's jumping off point is Claude Charbol’s 1969 thriller, La Femme infidèle. Not having seen that film I can’t compare the two, but interviews with Lyne suggest it serves more as inspiration than a remake.

Lyne definitely makes Unfaithful his own - a deceptively clever spin on his 1986 classic Fatal Attraction (click HERE for that review). Both films are simple in plot, pulling suspense from three-way character dilemmas. In “Fatal Attraction” of course it’s the father character that is seduced and has to reconcile his actions with his family. Connie’s situation is much different though. Her conflict is internal. She desires to stop but is addicted to the Paul’s youth, exoticness and sensuality. Richard Gere as ‘the other man’ is against type and his character is deepened more Anne Archer’s other woman character. The third act twists the point of view sharply to Richard Gere. Ed’s actions and lies add a tense Hitchcockian edge which contrasts the soft and romantic beginnings.

Lyne smothers the film with a familiar 1980's soft look. It was a style common to all those British commercial directors in the 80's - Ridley Scott, Alan Parker, Tony Scott. Long lenses, smoke-filled interiors and lush backlighting create an almost fantasy-like look and feel. It works for Unfaithful, because Lyne closes off most of the outside world to his characters. Only in the end do the police come into the picture, but even then the decisions made by the characters are internal choices not induced by outside forces.

Lyne still hasn’t made a film since Unfaithful and so we just have to wait patiently for him to be inspired and surprise us once again. Enjoy.

“Unfaithful” is available on Blu-Ray from 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment

9½ Weeks

9½ Weeks (1984) dir. Adrian Lyne
Starring: Kim Basinger, Mickey Rourke

**½

By Alan Bacchus

The career of Adrian Lyne fascinates me. He's a man of immense cinematic talent, who has made some of recent cinema’s most recognizable films. Whether it’s boiling Michael Douglas’s cat or having a barrel of water dumped over Jennifer Beals, Lyne has a knack for iconic imagery. And in 30+ years, despite many hits, he’s made only 8 feature films.

Lyne, of course, was part of the new wave of British commercial directors of the '70s, which included Ridley Scott, Tony Scott and Alan Parker, celebrated for their stylish lighting and moody atmospheric visuals. Lyne’s visual style is unmistakable and remarkably consistent over all his films. Looking back on his work, he’s also a filmmaker who has improved and matured considerably since his first two successes, Flashdance and the topic of this piece, 9½ Weeks.

As a curious seven-year-old, this film's reputation preceded itself. I never saw it as a child, only heard about the rumours of salacious sex scenes, nudity, etc. That said, I’m not surprised to be disappointed that the film is significantly less salacious than expected. There’s actually very little nudity and the sex scenes are so stylized and melodramatic it’s almost laughable. There’s also very little holding this film together other than the softcore pornographic plotting of a hip New York art gallery administrator (Basinger) who shacks up with an aloof Wall Street banker (Rourke) for nine-and-a-half weeks. I imagine it was pitched as Last Tango in Paris for the '80s, right down to the use of the city as a character and a sexy food sequence. But sadly, it’s merely a handsome piece of fluff, interesting to view only in the context of Lyne's career and its place in the creation of '80s pop culture.

The food sequence is probably the most recognizable scene, wherein Mickey Rourke feeds syrupy liquids to Kim Basinger, not so subtly mimicking the excretion of our sexual bodily fluids. It's the stuff out of The Red Shoe Diaries. This is no coincidence, mind you, as the film was written and produced by that czar of soft core filmmaking, Zalman King.

The entire film would be as completely laughable as The Red Shoe Diaries if it wasn't so well directed by Lyne. The fact is, 9½ Weeks exemplifies the 1980's visual aesthetic as well as anything filmed in that era. Mickey Rourke's awesome stand-up hair is rivaled only by Val Kilmer's Ice Man cut in Top Gun, and Kim Basinger's messy blonde locks are also seductive as hell. Lyne’s visual hallmarks are front and centre. His colour schemes consist of bone white tones representing the polished but soulless lifestyle of Mickey Rourke's character. The intense backlighting gives his characters a beautiful halo-like glow, and the use of long lenses creates dense and rich visual compositions.

The other grossly exaggerated scene is Basinger's backlit strip tease sequence, a ridiculously long music video sequence to the music of Joe Cocker. Instead of being teased I just couldn’t help but think where the hell that enormous backlight in the apartment was coming from. Nearly as ridiculous is the chase scene with a couple of frat boy homophobes resulting in a hand-to-hand fight scene in front of a backlit wind turbine in a rainstorm.

Adrian Lyne would go on to make much better films, including Fatal Attraction, Jacob’s Ladder and Unfaithful. These were all successful films, and yet he hasn’t made one since 2002’s Unfaithful. Maybe he’s hard to work with, or maybe he’s just picky and respects his own legacy as a commercial auteur and provocateur. Either way, there's some admiration in having a near pristine filmography of quality films (even including 9½ Weeks).

9½ Weeks is available on Blu-ray from Warner Home Entertainment.

Jacob's Ladder

Jacob’s Ladder (1990) dir. Adrian Lyne
Starring: Tim Robbins, Elizabeth Pena, Matt Craven, Macauley Culkin

***½

By Alan Bacchus

Before Shutter Island, there was Jacob’s Ladder, a comparable but much superior version of a man’s psychological troubles haunting him, causing him to see all sorts of demons, ghosts and other grotesque creatures. Whereas in Scorsese’s silly and contrived melodrama it was Leonardo Di Caprio’s long dead wife who plagues his mind, in Jacob’s Ladder it’s the Vietnam War which is on trial here.

Jacob Singer (Robbins) is a Vietnam vet trying to find answers to a series of frightful hallucinations and dreams he finds himself in. The film is manipulative, fractured and structured as a series of dreams, flashbacks, and alternate realities. Adrian Lyne’s direction and frightful situations he places Singer and us, the audience in, make for a wild ride. It’s a real mind fuck of a film and tough to place in a genre - part psychological thriller, part political paranoia, part horror, part war but in the end, ultimately, it’s a sad tragedy about the gentle mind of a man manipulated and destroyed.

We first meet Jacob Singer in Vietnam – smoking up with his Nam buddies, enjoying the camaraderie of soldiership. But when a sudden attack hits their camp something takes over their bodies. Jacob’s company start convulsing rapidly as a powerful unknown force strikes at their brains. We then cut to Singer waking up from this dream. He’s back home traveling on a New York subway train. Even when he’s not dreaming surreal people and events happen to him at random. Whether it’s a train of creepy demons that almost hits him in the subway, or an un-anaesthetized brain operation in a decrepit mental hospital, his life is a waking nightmare.

Singer’s wife is the lovely Jezebel (Elizabeth Peña). She’s a supportive and loving partner but when Singer’s surreal flashbacks and hallucinations move into his domestic life their marriage starts to crack. But Singer also had a previous life with another wife and three kids one of whom (played by Macauley Culkin) died tragically in a car accident. Singer frequently flashes back to Vietnam as well. All of these flashbacks seem so real to Singer we never know which is reality and which are hallucinations. With the help of his surviving Vietnam platoon-members Singer uncovers a government conspiracy about secret drug testing and psychological experimentation. But it isn’t until the very end do we really know what is going on in the head of Jacob Singer. It’s not a “Sixth Sense” twist shocker, but it does put the entire film into perspective and provides poignant closure.

“Jacob’s Ladder” puts style and substance on equal ground. The film looks fantastic. Adrian Lyne perfects the mood and atmosphere from the outset. The subway scene is a tremendous sequence, capped off with the haunting image of a demon in a subway car watching Jacob as it speeds away in the distance. The house party dance sequence is simply magnificent set piece. Starting off with the Lady Marmalade pop anthem it’s an innocent dance party until James Brown kicks in, the strobe lights starts, people’s heads start convulsing wildly, then his girlfriend appears to be getting banged from behind by a demon with a tail.

The film was made in 1990 and it has that late 80’s, early 90’s look of the British commercial generation (which includes Tony Scott, Ridley Scott and Alan Parker) - long lenses, underlit interiors with strong backlighting, and the ever-present hazy smoke-filled rooms. The result compliments the dreamy haze of Singer’s life.

Adrian Lyne is an interesting director. He’s only made nine films in 30 years – and only six since 1983’s hit “Flashdance”. Yet each of his films have been successful in one way or another. He should be getting more work than he does. Maybe he’s picky, or enjoys taking his time with his projects. He hasn’t made a film since 2002’s “Unfaithful” and his next film is still unknown. His career is as mysterious and thought-provoking as his films. “Jacob’s Ladder” is one of his best.

Jacob's Ladder is available on Blu-Ray from Maple Pictures in Canada

Fatal Attraction

Fatal Attraction (1986) dir. Adrian Lyne
Starring: Michael Douglas, Glenn Close, Anne Archer, Stuart Pankin

****

Erotic thrillers were a very popular genre in the late 80’s to early 90’s. In a recent posting I had argued “Basic Instinct” as the quintessential film of the genre, but a recent viewing of Adrian Lyne’s “Fatal Attraction” has changed my mind. Glenn Close is the nails on the chalkboard for Michael Douglas whose brief affair turns into a battle of the sexes for the ages.

Michael Douglas plays Ben Gallagher, a Manhattan big wig lawyer with a beautiful wife Beth (Anne Archer), and their cute daughter Ellen. They seem to have a perfect life together. Which is why when he is hit on by strong-willed professional colleague of his, Alex Forrest (Glenn Close), it’s a surprise that he quickly jumps into bed with her. Well, it takes them a while to make it to a bed. After a dinner and some wine, they consummate their affair on Alex’s sink countertop. It’s a rough and dirty scene, so hot that Alex cools herself down while in the act by reaching behind her back to turn on the water faucet.

Their affair lasts only a weekend while unsuspecting Beth is away at her parents’ house. When she returns, Ben goes back to his regular life, assuming Alex would do the same. Unfortunately for Ben, Alex turns needy and obsessive very fast. Ben tries his best to avoid her persistent phone calls, but the more he avoids her the more aggresive she gets. When Alex crosses the line and threatens his family Ben is forced to confess and confront his mistakes. With Ben clearly out of grasp, Alex resorts to violence to punish him.

Adrian Lyne, a great director from the 1980’s, makes a clear effort to control the colour pallette. He opens the film up establishing Gallagher's ‘perfect’ family, their innocence visualized with all white colour scheme. Ben, Beth and Ellen all wear white; the babysitter wears white; even the dog is white. The Gallagher family is perfect – perfect enough to be shattered by what is about to occur.

Lyne came from the class of British commercial directors of the 70's that begat Ridley Scott, Tony Scott and Alan Parker. That school of expressive and stylized lighting and camerwork is on display here as well. Attention is paid to Gallagher's apartment. Lyne uses long lenses to compress space, and selectively uses a limited number of camera setups which gives the feeling of Polanski-like big city clausterphobia

Michael Douglas and Glenn Close are a great pairing, with Close delivering one of the great villainous powerhouse performances. Alex is humanized first as a regular person then transforms into insane psychopathology. At the end of their weekend affair, Dan has to go home to his wife, thus ending the affair, Alex quickly goes from warm to stone-cold crazy bitch. As soon as we see her wrists cut we know we’re in dark thriller territory.

One of the great cinematic moments occurs at the third act turn when Dan walks into his apartment seemingly at his lowest moment, except when he walks in, like nails on a chaulkboard, he can hear Alex's voice speaking to his wife. Lyne continues the scene with some very tense dialogue between the three, and helped by a creepy music sting. Another great moment is the slow reveal of the famous boiling rabbit, which is built up well in advance by some great foreshadowing. After seeing the film twice, you'll never forget her line early in the film "Bring the dog, I love animals... I'm a great cook."

As villainous as Close's performance is, what makes the film great is that Ben is responsible for everything that happens to him. Alex is like the devil who teases Ben with some forbidden fruit, which he enjoys for a short period, then is forced to pay in extremes when he attempts to give it back. Alex though is always made human, even at her most extreme there is sympathy for her.

What would cause Ben, a seemingly intelligent man, who has so much to lose, to strike up an affair so recklessly? This unexplained answer feeds one of the themes of the film – the subjugation of men to women in the business world. Alex enters the picture as the only woman in an office full of macho, suit-wearing, scotch-drinking cigar-smoking ubermen. In one of their last conversations, Dan says to Alex, "I pity you because you're sick". Alex responds, "Why? Because I won't allow you treat me like some slut you can just bang a couple of times and throw in the garbage?" This line expresses the extraordinary complexities of this great genre thriller. Enjoy.

"Fatal Attraction" is now available on Blu-Ray from Paramount Pictures Home Entertainment



Other related postings:
Basic Instinct

Indecent Proposal

Indecent Proposal (1993) dir. Adrian Lyne
Starring: Demi Moore, Woody Harrelson, Robert Redford

***

"Indecent Proposal" is the third Adrian Lyne film to be get the Blu-Ray treatment from Paramount Pictures. Lyne’s career output has been sparse, but remarkably focused, only making 8 films in 30 years. His elegent visual style and intense and naturalistic performances manage to transcend his often salacious melodramatic material.

“Indecent Proposal” fits in well with “Fatal Attraction”, “9 ½ Weeks” and Unfaithful”, four films unfortunately defined by the dreaded ‘erotic thriller’ genre. Each of these films are better than this restrictive definition, and "Indecent Proposal" is no exception.

Woody Harrelson and Demi Moore play Diana and David Moore, a loving couple who, like their middle class peers,  went to school, got good jobs, and worked hard to advanced their careers. But often, like in this current recession, and to quote Robbie Burns, 'the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry'. When David loses his job, the couple spiral down into debt finding themselves with no money except for the $5000 David reluctantly borrowed from his father. And so their last option is to go to Vegas and roll the dice on their future.

There they ride the ups and downs of luck, finding themselves once again in the hole. Until billionaire John Gage (Robert Redford) catches site of Diana in the casino. Whether its love (or lust) at first sight, Gage goes after Diana, and when she shoots down his advances he resorts to his money to buy a night with her. David finds himself at his version of the crossroads, faced with the ultimate decision and test of his love for his wife. When he goes for the money, he finds himself in the reverse situation as before, a comfortable life but an empty untrustworthy relationship with Diana which is ready to fall.

Lyne's great storytelling abilities are on display here. The opening half is told with a not-unsubtle, predictable path toward the fateful 'deal with the devil' Diana and David make with Gage. Once in Vegas we see the step-by-step, almost real time decisions which lead to the consummation of Gage’s offer. The pacing of the second half is completely different, playing out over many more years. Lyne exercises expert skills in compressing time yet making sense of the new lives David and Diana find themselves in.

From a storytelling point of view it’s a difficult task to make Diana's new relationship with John believable. With smart and real-world performances from Moore and Redford their blossoming relationship emerges slowly and naturally without artificiality.

Robert Redford, as the suave wealthy businessman, is great casting. Redford’s immediately likeable celeb/activist persona is a contradiction to the cutthroat big business attitude of John Gage. So even when Gage is at his most despicable something tells us that he’s not a bad man. In fact, he’s like the devil with a charming congenial exterior, testing and teasing the moral fortitude of Diana and David. But fFor Lyne, Gage is testing us, the audience, forcing ourselves into their shoes to provide our answers to their dilemma.

"Indecent Proposal" is much better than the fleshy love scenes the film unfortunately has become famous for. Enjoy.

“Indecent Proposal” is available on Blu-Ray from Paramount Picture Home Entertainment

UNFAITHFUL

Unfaithful (2002) dir. Adrian Lyne
Starring: Diane Lane, Richard Gere, Olivier Martinez

***1/2

Few people  talk about Adrian Lyne. He reminds me of Peter Weir, a talented and picky director with a slim but memorable output of films. Since the 80’s he’s only made 4 films, and in his later years it’s been at least five years between films: "Indecent Proposal" (1993), "Lolita" (1997), "Unfaithful" (2002).

In this, his latest (yes, he hasn't made a film since 2002), Diane Lane and Richard Gere play Connie and Ed Sumner, seemingly stabile, middle class parents living in the New York suburbs. One day while in Manhattan during a windstorm Connie's knocked off her feet injuring her leg. She is helped by a kindly and impossible handsome Frenchman Paul Martel (Olivier Martinez). Paul’s European charm is intoxicating to Connie and slowly she begins to see more of him until they blossom into a full-fledged affair.

Ed suspects something’s up and starts snooping around. Connie’s conscience starts eating away at her but before she decides to call it off Ed finds her out, which results in a violent confrontation. Lies compound upon other lies the effect of which will test Connie and Ed’s commitment to each other.

Lyne's jumping off point is Claude Charbol’s 1969 thriller, "La Femme infidèle". Not having seen that film I can’t compare the two, but interviews with Lyne suggest it serves more as inspiration than a remake.

Lyne definitely makes “Unfaithful” his own - a deceptively clever spin on his 1986 classic “Fatal Attraction” (click HERE for that review). Both films are simple in plot, pulling suspense from three-way character dilemmas. In “Fatal Attraction” of course it’s the father character that is seduced and has to reconcile his actions with his family. Connie’s situation is much different though. Her conflict is internal. She desires to stop but is addicted to the Paul’s youth, exoticness and sensuality. Richard Gere as ‘the other man’ is against type and his character is deepened more Anne Archer’s other woman character. The third act twists the point of view sharply to Richard Gere. Ed’s actions and lies add a tense Hitchcockian edge which contrasts the soft and romantic beginnings.

Lyne smothers the film with a familiar 1980's soft look. It was a style common to all those British commercial directors in the 80's - Ridley Scott, Alan Parker, Tony Scott. Long lenses, smoke-filled interiors and lush backlighting create an almost fantasy-like look and feel. It works for “Unfaithful”, because Lyne closes off most of the outside world to his characters. Only in the end do the police come into the picture, but even then the decisions made by the characters are internal choices not induced by outside forces.

Lyne still hasn’t made a film since “Unfaithful” and so we just have to wait patiently for him to be inspired and surprise us once again. Enjoy.

“Unfaithful” is available on Blu-Ray from 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment