Basic Instinct (5 Stars)

I watched "Basic Instinct" two months ago as one of my top 100 films, but I thought I'd return to it today to listen to the film commentary by Camille Paglia. It's very rare for me to listen to a film commentary more than once, but this is an excellent commentary, judging the film from a feminist perspective. It's been about 12 years since I listened to the commentary, so I only remembered the main points, not the details.

Camille Paglia is the Professor of Humanities and Media Studies at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. She's an expert on the films of Alfred Hitchcock, and she draws many comparisons with Hitchcock's films, especially "Vertigo". She sees a connection between Sharon Stone and the blondes in Hitchcock's films.

Paglia describes the police station as a boys club. With the exception of Elizabeth Garner, the police psychologist, we only see men. Among themselves the men feel strong. They invite Catherine Tramell into the station for interrogation. They seek to intimidate her by facing her five on one in the interrogation room. Within minutes the tables are turned. Catherine's sexual openness in her answers, combined with the exposure of naked flesh, intimidates the men. 

Catherine Tramell's body language proclaims her self-confidence. One of the most powerful strategies of a woman is to give overt sexual signs to a man when he's not in a position to answer them. This drives men into a state of frenzy. They desperately try to remain calm and do their job, but they end up shrinking away in fear. Catherine Tramell has emasculated the male horde facing her.

Catherine's main target is Detective Nick Curran. She's writing a book about a detective who falls in love with the wrong woman and ends up being killed by her. It's a cat and mouse game. Catherine lures Nick with her sexual wiles. She gives him glimpses of her naked body while she's a murder suspect. He can't stay away from her, even though he knows she could kill him at any moment. He willingly lets her tie him to the bed, even though she's suspected of having killed the last man she tied to a bed. This proves the words in Valerie Solanas' Scum Manifesto: "The male likes death. It excites him sexually and he wants to die".

When "Basic Instinct" was released in 1992 there were mass protests throughout America. It was claimed that the film shows feminists and lesbians in a bad light. I have difficulty understanding this, and Camille Paglia definitely disagrees. Sharon Stone portrays Catherine as a feminist icon. She's responsible for at least four deaths, but Paglia never calls her evil. She compares her with a pagan Goddess. If men like Nick come to her and beg to be killed, she's doing them a kindness by ending their lives. In ancient pagan temples it was common for men to offer themselves as sacrifices to a priestess.

The film ends with uncertainty. Catherine Tramell spares Nick's life, but she can kill him any time she wants.

Success Rate:  + 5.2