Wednesday 26 May 2021

Basic Instinct (5 Stars)



Has it really been six years since I last watched "Basic Instinct"? Wow! I shouldn't have waited so long.

The Coronavirus has ravaged the film industry. Cinemas have closed for months on end, and films that should have been made last year are still stalled because of the danger of infection. It's a tragedy. Even when/if the virus has been defeated, the film industry will never return to the way it used to be. However, I thought about something yesterday while I was standing in front of my bookcases looking at my film collection: even if no films are ever made again, I have enough first class films on disc to watch and enjoy for the rest of my life. Why do I need something new?

I have the habit of calling films made since 1996 new films and films made before 1996 old films. That's not completely arbitrary. 1996 is the year when the first DVDs were sold. That doesn't mean that the production quality of films suddenly became better in this year. There were excellent films in the 1980's and poor films in the 2000's. All I'm saying is that from 1996 on films were made taking into account that more people would watch them on high quality discs at home than on a cinema screen.

By that definition, "Basic Instinct" is an old film, since it was made in 1992. It's an incredible film, one of the first erotic thrillers, and still the best erotic thriller ever made. It's a film that's loved for the wrong reasons and hated for the wrong reasons. It's infamous for giving a glimpse of Sharon Stone's naked vulva when she uncrosses her legs. Some people criticise this for exploiting a woman, but they just don't get it. It has to be seen in context. Sharon Stone plays Catherine Tramell, a powerful, self-confident woman. She's sitting in a police interrogation room facing four policemen and an assistant district attorney. This would intimidate any other woman, but not Catherine. She's already revealing a lot of leg in a short dress, keeping the men's minds off their work, but she gives the men a slow, deliberate flash in the middle of the questioning. I almost feel sorry for the men. They're sitting red-faced with embarrassment, trying to hide their erections while Catherine mischievously grins at them. She's turned the tables.


Power.

It's all about power.

Female power.

The film isn't really about sex. There's a lot of sexual interaction, but sex is merely a tool used by Catherine Tramall to remain in control. She flirts with the men around her, teasing them, intimidating them. Her main focus is the detective Nick Curran, played by Michael Douglas. Reading between the lines we can assume that she's had him in her sights for years, long before she commits the murder that he's investigating. She seduces him, but that isn't enough for her. She puts him in a situation where he thinks she's about to kill him. She wants to terrify him to keep him under her control.


Later in the film Nick tells Catherine he's in love with her. He isn't. It's pure lust, but by this point Nick is so mixed up that he can't tell the difference. Catherine is manipulating him, and he doesn't even notice.

The film is currently out of print in most countries, but I've read that a new remastered version will be released next month. The new Blu-ray should include the excellent commentary by the feminist critic Camille Paglia, which was only included on the DVD releases until now.

Success Rate:  + 5.2

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